(Riccardo)
| (Andreas)
|
Andrea(s), the Trento Bike Pages manager, was on holiday at 100 km
from Trieste so we managed a date on the Carso (the flatland over Trieste)
on Tue 29 August 1995.
| I was on holiday at the beach, near Caorle, and couldn't
ride much, especially because of family duties, but I was very happy
to have a chance to visit Riccardo and see his home turf.
|
| Monday morning a sort of tornado-hurricane submerged Trieste under
1 mt. of water (180 mm of rain in a few hours) so I tried to contact him to
fix another date. No way. Late in the afternonn the sun came out again and
a strong wind began to blow (and dry the land ...). Andrea called me and we
decided to risk.
| Call it the advantage of not having a portable
phone. Riccardo tried to reach me in the early afternoon, when the
storm was at its best (or worst) to cancel
the ride, but could not get at me. So when I rang him up in the
evening, the sky had cleared, and there was no talk of cancelling.
|
|
Lucky us! On Tue. sunny sky, gentle wind only some clouds.
|
We met at the end of Austostrada, and drove to Sales. This border area
is bilingual, Slovenia is just over there.
|
| We
started from Sales (from my parents' house). A few km on-road through
Gabrovizza and Prosecco and then on the "Napoleonica" (yes, Napoleon was
also in Trieste), a gravel road surrounded by maritime pines and typical
"Carso flora", from where we could see km and km of the adriatic coast,
from Croatia to Bibione (Rob knows it very well!!). The sun was shining on
the sea, Trieste on the left and the Miramare castle on the right (Thanks
yo Maximilian of Augsburg for it and the magnificent park around;-).
| Riccardo may be used to it, but the Gulf of Trieste offers a
fantastic view, especially nice in the clear air after yesterday's
storm. There was an intense traffic of pedestrian having their health
walk, so we had a chance of displaying our good manners.
|
|
At the
end of the "Napoleonica", near Opicina we turned left down the main road
and, after a few hundred meter turned left again to a camping site. A few
km on the first carsic path (Nr. 49), really rocky, with some hilly spurts
(?) we easily ;>) climb.
| The terrain is really nice and pleasant. Riccardo tells me that
there is a tiny layer of earth, and then you immediately find very
hard rock. The terrain is slighlty slant here, you can really see its
geology wide open in front of you.
|
|
Again a paved road (turn left) and, after a
gentle descent, a right turn (barracks on the right). Then an old tank
field (I mean an area where the Army used to train with tanks) we enjoyed
very much. We arrived at the "Globojner Park" where an underpass took us
beyond the freeway. We took the path on the left, passed the grotta di
Padriciano, left on the paved road and, after 300 meters, left near the
golf ground. 2 Km in the woods and we reached the "strada statale" that
brings to Basovizza. We had to cross it and, on the left we found our path.
We've visited a "Foiba" which is a vertical cavern in which the Yugoslavian
Army put hundreds of bodies (fascists and nazis, but not only :-( after the
II war. And then S. Lorenzo from where you can see the Val Rosandra a
wonderful valley with a (really cool) stream and a beautiful waterfall. We
finally go back to Sales (same way). My computer said 47.6 km. We were very
happy about the trip and (specially) the weather.
| Riccardo's mother provided a hearty meal (including "cornetto",
the kind of ice-cream that I have loved for ages). We have a pleasant
chat, and then it's time for me to hit the road again, on four
wheels. This was a very nice day; the Net really gives you a unique chance
of making friends.
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