19 May The beauty and the Bike

What to do, what to do. Hmmm. After thousands of steps through the magnificent center of Rome, a dozen museums, four giant parks, probably a million pedal strokes across the tourist- and taxi-filled cobblestones, I’m searching for something else now. Something outside of the city. Something active yet cultural. On two wheels. No Vespa. No Chariot.  

My girlfriend is Roman and a real ‘ragazza Romana’, i.e. cursing about everything in traffic, highlighting that she’s living in the greatest city of the world, amidst complaining about those bloody bumpy roads, freaking parking spots and that shitty public transport. But, most of all: avoiding to use the bicycle. Period. Whenever she can. Period. Which is: always.

So I invited her for a lovely weekend in the countryside, with the prospect of fresh air, local wines, charming towns… by train… [Curse!] and bicycle… [Double Curse!!]

Picking (on) the Wheels

As a Dutchy, my whole life I’ve been doing everything by bike. Practically lived on it. From grocery shopping to riding to school and moving houses – not even figuratively. Cycling in the greatest city of the West therefore was evidently a necessity, which I did almost everyday for months. Nonetheless, someone told me about a whole new world to explore outside the Metropolitan area, and I wanted to go for it, together with my little Roman car-lover.
All digital roads led to Topbike Rental & Tours, which indeed organized tours further away from the city, to Bagnoregio and Orvieto: a full day filled with cycling the countryside, eyecandy-towns and culinary treats. After some research on the itinerary I was sold, but for the two of us it would be nice to spend a night away as well, I believed – also because with my non-cyclist it would have been ‘unknown’ how long the ride would take. Renting bikes for two days thus was the plan. I had to trick her, of course. So with the perspective of liters of the finest wines and most comfortable e-bikes, I didn’t even have to drug her this time (that’s a joke)(of course), although it took some perseverance from my side. ‘Romance’ was the keyword.       

Anyway, early in the morning we are there at the small entrance, and I gaze immediately to a corridor that’s literally filled with topnotch models. For a moment even a joyous curse escapes my girl’s mouth as she picks a solid, black E-bike with the promise from the office manager that ‘it feels like cheating riding that one today’. I am not at all aghast by that expression, of course, however, I decide to choose a more challenging model, through which I can highlight my masculinity; the colour blue, without electricity. ‘Of curse’.     

Enchanted…

The train leaves the central station (Termini) from a track far away, similar to Harry Potter’s platform 9 ¾, yet fortunately we are on time and after seventy smooth minutes we need to step off at Alviano. Just two bikes and two eyes filled with despair alone on the platform. For a good reason, since it’s nearly a ghost town. With a good cappuccino bar though. Of course.

The barista looks at us as if we just landed on earth and can’t understand why the hell we would cycle to Orvieto. Instantly she has a new friend, in the shape of my lovely empress. I have to pull her out of the bar, where the beautiful weather and a little adventure awaits.
We take an off-road path next to the train tracks, with vistas of a WWF-protected oasis – which I researched before this undertaking. Already after five minutes it doesn’t seem like the right choice. Weeds are everywhere and the prickly bushes make it a wild, bloody expedition. After noticing a snake on the track, my little adventurer has enough of the jungle and we take the smooth asphalt surface of the nearby road. It is a gorgeous ride, to be fair: mountains on the right, the Tiber river, vineyards and olive gardens on our left, almost no traffic. What a bike-heaven. 

After a well-deserved banana, we (read: I) need to push the calves in a climb (my shiny ebike-knight smiles and hums while she passes me without any drop of sweat), where stunning views lead to a long downhill. I’m having a ball, but someone else isn’t so happy with those tiny fingers constantly clinging to the brake levers. Luckily, the resembling rainforest we enter cools her mood again, and just before our longest uphill of the day we see our first objective from afar: Civita di Bagnoregio, one of the Borghi più belli d’Italia (most beautiful towns of Italy). Located on layers of volcanic rock and clay, this is a magnificent pearl in the surrounding badlands. They call it ‘the dying town’, because it’s in danger of disappearing due to erosion and landslides, whereas it has a history of more than 2500 years and was once inhabited by many. Apparently only 11 people still live there nowadays (Harry Styles bought a house here as well!).       

It’s a smooth uphill, and just before the bridge that will take us towards the ancient ‘island’, we jump into a restaurant with a romantic(!) garden to have a plate of fettuccine, that – woohoo – sweeps us off our feet. On a bike everything tastes nice, I know, but even my tough girl eats this delight with her eyes closed. Soon after, we are walking the bridge and spend about half an hour in the picturesque Civita, with heaps of panoramic lookouts. 

…bewitched

The pasta is kicking in so we continue our quest and fly over the asphalt. Such a great feeling to experience the Italian countryside on bicycles while passing meadows, wineries, sleepy towns… An hour later, without realizing, we wake up from the daydream and stand in front of another city on a tuff rock, this one with 3000 people on it!

Just as Civita, also Orvieto is an Etruscan built city and over the course of all those centuries 1200 grottoes, cisterns and getaway tunnels were dug. It’s practically a subterranean world under the urbs vetus (‘old city’ in Latin, hence ‘Orvieto’). We take the funicular to the plateau and are amazed by the maze we enter. Charming alleys, medieval passages, Renaissance-architecture – everywhere.
After the 50+ kilometers we are looking forward to something from the area, something festive, something red… or white… So, in search of a romantic(!) terrace we follow a narrow alley with artiganal workshops, to turn left, and our jaws drop instantly. A gothic, richly decorated, marble facade appears in front us: the Duomo. Spec-ta-cu-lar. Even my mileage-eater, who can’t be called the most Catholic girl in the world (understatement), is in awe. 

Halfway through our fine glass of Orvieto wine, we’re still in that state – also because the terrace is next to the Cathedral. We read that it’s been built over centuries, starting in the 13th, and that we sit right under one of the oldest, still operating, automated bell-clocks in the world, ringing every hour. It was even connected to the immense structure in front, because the bronze ringer (called Maurizio) hits the bell for a very practical reason: to indicate the beginning and ending of the daily shifts of the workers on the Duomo. For hundreds of years.
When he hits three times more, the glasses and plates stand empty on the table, which is a definite sign for these two overworkers to hit the sack. Cycling is not a good idea anymore, for obvious reasons, thus with Maurizio and the Evangelists on the Duomo watching our backs, we get lost again in the maze, this time with our bikes in hand. 

The following day, after some sightseeing, we only have to take the funicular down to get to the train station. Close to Rome in the train, my tempestuous flame curls up to me, asking unexpectedly: when are we doing another trip like this again? 

Thanks to Topbike for the excellent bicycles and suggestions; we had a blast.