teerex51
The Italian Scallion
During the Easter weekend the Northern Italian road network is under heavy load with frustrated cagers squabbling over a few inches of hot tarmac.
The idea, therefore, was to sneak out on Saturday, hit the back roads and come back in the evening while the Fiats and the VW's were still out there near the beaches hunting for parking spaces.
We decided to avoid the coast altogether but we still came pretty close to the Med, just a couple of 3,000 ft ridges and we'd have been stuck in one of the inevitable jams at Cinque Terre or near Portofino.
American FJR rider (TDY in Italy) Rentaroo (aka Louis) and his wife Julie joined us South of Milan and from there we took a baffling ruote through the back roads, effectively losing most of the car traffic in the process. Those cagers we still found on our way were courteous enough to move aside as we whizzed by.
We made a first "cappuccino pit stop" some 40 miles South of Milan in a sun-drenched little town by the name of Borgonuovo.
As we proceeded to the SW roads became narrower and the surface got trickier, but we kept the rubber side down all the way to our 13:00 rendez-vous with Italian food. Knowing more twisties were out there waiting for us, we kept it as light as we could and a mere 2 hours later we were riding again, this time heading for the little-known, narrow Vobbia Valley. As the crow flies you're within a handful of air miles of Genoa and the sea, but the best part of 90 minutes away if a motorbike is your chosen form of transportation.
Last time I published a photo of the signature geological formation of this valley, someone on this Forum equated it to a dog howling at the moon. That was 2 years ago and since then I've always associated these strange rocks and their man-made castle in between to a huge furry dog's head pointed at the sky.
This narrow valley was part of the Salt Route, one of the favorite trade itineraries between the coast and Northern Italian towns.
Back in 1200 AD this castle was built and anyone traveling down the valley had to reckon with its masters and pay the toll they demanded.
This remained the case for centuries (with different rulers taking over control of the castle and the route). In its last days of active duty the castle had 5 bronze cannon pointed at the winding valley road and a crew of soldiers manning their stations.
In 1797 the castle was torched and the local bishop had the 5 bronze pieces removed and melted to make church bells for the nearby abbey in Crocefieschi.
The old ruin straddling the rock formation is the natural background for a photo op and we shot a lot of pics there. Louis said this valley and the area in general reminded him of some back roads in California and Colorado, minus the castle of course
Here the three ladies are pictured with the "howling dog" in the background. From the left: Tina, Julie and Chris.
It had taken us over three hours to get there from Milan (OK, five hours if you include lunch )but, on the way back we hit the deserted northbound motorway and made it home in 60 minutes.
Stef
The idea, therefore, was to sneak out on Saturday, hit the back roads and come back in the evening while the Fiats and the VW's were still out there near the beaches hunting for parking spaces.
We decided to avoid the coast altogether but we still came pretty close to the Med, just a couple of 3,000 ft ridges and we'd have been stuck in one of the inevitable jams at Cinque Terre or near Portofino.
American FJR rider (TDY in Italy) Rentaroo (aka Louis) and his wife Julie joined us South of Milan and from there we took a baffling ruote through the back roads, effectively losing most of the car traffic in the process. Those cagers we still found on our way were courteous enough to move aside as we whizzed by.
We made a first "cappuccino pit stop" some 40 miles South of Milan in a sun-drenched little town by the name of Borgonuovo.
As we proceeded to the SW roads became narrower and the surface got trickier, but we kept the rubber side down all the way to our 13:00 rendez-vous with Italian food. Knowing more twisties were out there waiting for us, we kept it as light as we could and a mere 2 hours later we were riding again, this time heading for the little-known, narrow Vobbia Valley. As the crow flies you're within a handful of air miles of Genoa and the sea, but the best part of 90 minutes away if a motorbike is your chosen form of transportation.
Last time I published a photo of the signature geological formation of this valley, someone on this Forum equated it to a dog howling at the moon. That was 2 years ago and since then I've always associated these strange rocks and their man-made castle in between to a huge furry dog's head pointed at the sky.
This narrow valley was part of the Salt Route, one of the favorite trade itineraries between the coast and Northern Italian towns.
Back in 1200 AD this castle was built and anyone traveling down the valley had to reckon with its masters and pay the toll they demanded.
This remained the case for centuries (with different rulers taking over control of the castle and the route). In its last days of active duty the castle had 5 bronze cannon pointed at the winding valley road and a crew of soldiers manning their stations.
In 1797 the castle was torched and the local bishop had the 5 bronze pieces removed and melted to make church bells for the nearby abbey in Crocefieschi.
The old ruin straddling the rock formation is the natural background for a photo op and we shot a lot of pics there. Louis said this valley and the area in general reminded him of some back roads in California and Colorado, minus the castle of course
Here the three ladies are pictured with the "howling dog" in the background. From the left: Tina, Julie and Chris.
It had taken us over three hours to get there from Milan (OK, five hours if you include lunch
)but, on the way back we hit the deserted northbound motorway and made it home in 60 minutes.Stef
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