Alison and Alison and the art of re-tyrement

Cycling adventures in retirement

Departure day

The morning started at 2.30pm. The taxi arrived on time and although it was a squash and a squeeze we fitted everything in.

It is a challenge travelling with the bikes. You can’t see what you are bumping in to.
There she is. Dwarfed by the bike. There are some advantages to travelling with unusual loads. Inexplicably people back away.
We were shown to an express check out. I think that had something to do with our luxury luggage bags.

We arrived in Brindisi and the Hitch Bike representative was waiting for us. We loaded his van and he dropped us off at the shop but then vanished with our bikes and luggage for 20 minutes. A worrying moment. Apparently a parking issue.

The marvellous team at Hitch Bike. They collected us from the airport and put our bikes together. A brilliant service.
Leaving locks on railings is so passé. In Italy (home of fashion) it is of course de rigeur to leave coat hangers on the fences.
The welcome station in our room. Great excitement about the coffee machine. However, we couldn’t get it to work, even with the help of Google, ChatGPT and Nescafé. Only one solution for a cup of tea. The heating element made a reappearance.
We celebrated our arrival with a nice cold drink.

After that we had a walk around the town, searched for the Via Francigena pilgrim route, visited the Cathedral, went to the pilgrim office three times, the tourist office twice and finally had a pleasant dinner with a policeman.

After all the excitement we need a lie down.

The pilgrim route starts tomorrow. That is if we can find it.

Good night.

alisonmiddleditch

3 responses to “Departure day”

  1. chrisincarshalton avatar
    chrisincarshalton

    Superb!To start with those lovely Hitch Bike folk and end with the police- what a great way to kick off.I was a bit concerned that your ‘welcome station’ looked to be inside a rock, but I guess they had heard about the dangers of Al’s overseas tea making methods. Much love for a great trip!ChrisXSent from my iPhoneOn 8 Sep 2026,

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  2. Liz ‘n Linca avatar
    Liz ‘n Linca

    Great to see you’ve got a sunny, blue sky there … a successful arrival – all in one piece, bikes included!

    Good luck with your first day of cycling 😎

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  3. lynnbuckingham avatar
    lynnbuckingham

    You were so lucky to have an early departure. Can you imagine having to get the bikes and your luggage back home due to the air traffic control debacle. Anyway this good fortune bodes well for your adventure. Lx 

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