Again today we get to ride on this fantastic rail trail. It is lovely while it lasts, but unfortunately it ends after 12 km. Part of the trail at the soutnern end is still under construction and I am looking forward to the time when it is completed. Maybe next year?
Instead of trying to fix ourselves breakfast in our B&B, we cycle up to the old train station which is now a cafe and is of course on the bicycle path. They have good coffee and some pastries. The day is sunny and the bike path is beautiful from the start. It's a downhill ride where you neither pedal nor brake, just sit back and relax and watch the scenery go by. It all goes by much too fast. When the perfect path stops, we are perplexed at where we should ride now. Yes, there are signs, not too obvious and they leave us doubting if we should really be on the SS 13. There is also a detour over the hills, not sealed and longer, which we decide not to take. We have a safe shoulder on the SS 13 but it isn't the kind of road where you stop and gawk and take pictures although the views are still gorgeous.
We reach Venzone around noon and enjoy the atmosphere in the center of the historic little town. From here the signs direct us to small paths, some paved, others not, through flat terrain. It's a bit of an anticlimax after the rail trail, but pleasant riding. Towards the end of the day, we cycle over little hills on country roads that go through villages.
It looks like rain most of the afternoon, we are traveling under the edge of the rain clouds. Sometimes it drizzles, sometimes we wait a bit under trees and can then continue. We look at the booking.com portal and don't see too many hotels along our route. While waiting out another little shower, we finally settle for a hotel in a suburb of Udine. It's in a commercial zone, more or less in the middle of nowhere but our bike path goes right by it. When we arrive, we see it's an anonymous, eight story building, modern with a cool atmosphere. Not the kind of hotel we would generally choose, but the location and price are right and it is very comfortable.
Hotel Meditur is miles from nowhere, and now it's raining. We aren't keen on cycling in the rain to the next restaurant but we get a good suggestion at the front desk. We can have food delivered. They are very helpful in telephoning our order, that is they do it for us. When the food arrives they invite us to sit in the lounge, even bring us knives and forks and have a good wine for us. The sparkling water is on the house. What friendly treatment we get! I'd check in here any time again.
