Udine – Grado

Hello Grado and the Adriatic Sea! We departed Udine this morning eager to hit the road, not because today is our last day of cycling, but because we needed to get out of the tiny and uncomfortable hotel room. On this journey we have stayed at a lot of places. Some better than others, and last night was not on the better than others list. Granted it was clean, the staff were nice but the room was tiny with a bed that was barely 1 foot high and with perhaps the cheapest mattress available in all of Europe. Picture a metal spring mattress with a thin fabric on top and you get the idea. My back can probably count the metal twists used to make the mattress. Anyway, enough complaining…. The breakfast was pretty good with fresh fruit, a jumbo apricot croissant and good coffee. And thus we hit the road eager to see the Adriatic Sea.

The path today took us through a few small vineyards, but mostly it was more of the same. Open plains farm land and small Italian villages. We had a mix of roads and dedicated cycle paths.

As we reached the halfway point of the day we arrived at Palmanova a Fortress City that dates back to 1593. It was built by the Republic of Venice as a fortress city to strengthen the Friulian region against the Turks and Austrian empires. The city is walled with a nine point star and has three gates. In the center of the city is a hexagon square. They seem to be preparing for a carnival as the square was filled with carnival rides. It was here that we stopped for a cappuccino. Afterwards we stopped by the cathedral before getting back on the bikes for the final push into Grado.

Before long we reached the Laguna di Grado and the iconic lone tree that welcomes Alpe Adria cyclists to Grado. We stopped for a few quick pics before completing the final few km into Grado.

We located our hotel and said goodbye to the bikes. With a quick change of clothes we set out to find some lunch/dinner. We did not have to go far, on the next block was a highly rated restaurant and we sat down to enjoy a good meal and reflect on this journey. We had another delicious Italian meal where we split a Caprese salad. Lori had seafood ravioli and I had lasagna.

After lunch we walked the two short blocks to the beach and strolled the promenade and the city. We have another night planned here for tomorrow so we will have time to explore more tomorrow. We will wrap up our trip with a few days in Trieste before heading back to Frankfurt for the flight home.

And so ends the 1500+ km (1000+ mile) cycling part of this adventure. It’s hard to believe we have reached the end of the cycle path, as it seems like just yesterday we started off. It’s been a fantastic journey filled with sights and wonders along with a lot of pedaling. We have enjoyed every minute. We will now take a few days to act like real tourists, rest and reflect. Thanks for coming along with us on this adventure. We will share a few more posts as we explore Grado and Trieste.