Italy-May 2014

Went back to Italy for a fairly quick trip in May, to see some places I hadn't been before, such as Genoa, San Remo, Aosta, and Turin.  And of course Bellagio...

Genoa was OK, but kind of a big city for my taste:

 Genoa also has a pretty cool aquarium with sharks, dolphins, manatees, penquins, etc.  Manatees are pretty weird-looking creatures:

 This kid was fascinated by the strange beast in this tank:

 Always fun watching penguins swim around:

 Big old Italian ship in the harbor:

 The prow-carving (what is that called?) on the ship:

 Lots of beautiful buildings in Genoa:

 Usually I don't bother going into the million churches in Italy, but I checked out some of the ones in Genoa, they were very nice:

 A cool little shop:

Stayed in Genoa a couple days and then went to San Remo, up the coast.  Here is a pic from the ride:

Somehow I don't have any pictures from San Remo; it is pretty unremarkable.  Stayed there for a night or two and then drove up to Aosta, in the mountains.  Very nice ride from Turin to Aosta, pretty mountains, etc.  Here is a picture of the town:

Aosta is near Mont Blanc, so I rode up there and took a cable car to the top--cool views:

After Aosta I went to Bellegio for a few days; no real pix but here is a nice shot of the lake from the road to Bellagio:

For a variety of reasons I rode the road between Como and Bellagio several times this trip, I think it was something like seven times in the course of seven days--a personal record.  It is an awesome road.

I went to a conference in Castello di Pavone, near Turin.  Pretty cool old place:

After the conference I went to Turin for one night; somehow I don't have any pictures of Turin either.  Very different from most Italian cities.  After Turin I spent one more night in Bellagio, then dropped the bike off at the airport.  Good trip but at this point I'm kind of tired of Italy...I think it is time to move the bike!