I sampled the great breakfast provided at the B&B and headed off. I could have done with a few more hours sleep or a rest day but I left, looking forward to the downhill to start the day.
My first act of the day after setting off, was to make a series of wrong turns which had me stopping, climbing but generally following my nose out of town.
That led me to some fairly busy roads which I’d encounter for large parts of the day. It was on one of these busy roads that I stopped at a bakery. It looked very nice and there was just one couple in front of me being served.
The lady asked a million questions. There were only three types of bread left, and the answer to most of her questions was for the shop assistant to point to the three types, count them out, then say “No”. Even I had got the message. I felt like saying “Lady, there’s only three types !!!”
She finally ordered the bread then started asking about the cakes. Husband was now embarrassed, looking around, glancing at his watch. I’d been there ten minutes by this stage, so I shrugged and walked out. That lady needs to spend some time in the hall of mirrors and have a long hard look at herself.
The next place was five minutes down the road. They were lovely. I sat outside in the cool shade with a Machiato and two pieces of Focaccia, daydreaming and blissfully unaware that a squadron of mosquitoes had landed on my arms and legs. Everything was finished very quickly as a result
The rest of the day involved super quiet riding up some nice river valleys towards Popoli. I would have stayed in Popoli if I’d been quick enough on the booking app and even rode past the place I’d wanted to stay at. Nothing else in Popoli appealed, so I stayed about six kilometres south west in Vittorito (including a climb of course).
The B&B in Vittorito was a little hard to find and nobody was there. Then I remembered that the lady ran the restaurant up the road. That’s where I ended up. She’s the sort of person who just solves stuff and she works morning, noon and night. She found a place for This Moment, put me in a different room and sorted everything.
So, I went back for dinner and had the best Spaghetti Carbonara that I’ve ever had.
I was definitely tired and sleep came early with a belly full of Antipasto and Carbonara.
