7-22 Prato, Italy
 

Stopped at the pizzeria just outside of Sant' Antonio, Italy No one spoke English but they had an English menu. Jim finally found his tortellini en brodo. He didn't like it very much. Played in the mountains, abundance of twists and curves. Found a cute little town called Fiulmalbo. Was going to stay there for the night but there was a very large bicycle race tomorrow. People coming in from all over to spectate and/or participate. All of the mountain hotels were either completely booked or there was only one or two rooms left and they were asking $200+. Was mostly concerned about not being able to get off the mountain, since one road in/out closed for the bike racers. Stayed at Ibis hotel in Prato, Italy. This one was a really bad one. No ac and had to fight toilet to get it to flush

7-23 Hotel Guerrin Meschino, Montemonaco, Italy
 

Riding around the Parco Nazioale dia Monti Sibillini. Staying at the Guerrin Meschino, a small hotel on the edge of the park. The owner gave the bike a parking spot in the garage in front of the tractor. Dinner at hotel...trout, salad, anti pasta. Jim asked for a coke and whiskey. Owner said Jim would have to mix it himself. He came back with a large glass 3/4 full of whiskey and a tiny bottle of coke. When dessert time came around, Jim asked for a coffee to go with it. The owner said no coffee, the coffee would come after dessert, not with. The look on both Jim and the owners faces were priceless. The owner is very boisterous but also very concerned that we liked our room and dinner.

7-24 Hotel Frederico II in L'Aquila, Italy
 

Heat advisory for the area, temp will be a whopping 84 degrees. Rode through the national park. Staying at the Hotel Frederico II in L'Aquila, Italy. Had dinner at Arrosticini Divini. The owner is from Greece and rides a Yamaha. Food was outstanding

7-25 Hote Miramare, Latina, Italy
 

Rode through the mountains, visited little villages, wound up on the coast. Staying at hotel Miramare in Latina, Italy. Balcony overlooking ocean. Good waves and some rip currents. Went to Koskey's Tavern for dinner. Food was really good. The next morning high tide left the life guards and hotel crews work to do, getting chairs un-buried from the sand. There were some people in the water and for some reason a lady was pointing out into the water. The lifeguard starting blowing his whistle and made the people come out of the water.

7-26 Fiuggi, italy Day 1
 

Heading for Fiuggi, Italy today. Staying at the Ambasciatori Place Hotel in city center for 2 nights. This is a SPA hotel, Fiuggi is famous for it waters that are supposed to have healing properties. We like the town because it is so neat, clean, friendly with great shops and restaurants. Built on the side of a mountain, it has lots of different things for different folks. Went the to the La Bottega della Carne (butcher shop) for dinner. Fiuggi population exploding due to championship street race (sprint cars) being in town this weekend. 900 km track using mountain and small-town streets. Each car has 2 people. Tons of cars, people, news crews and rigs. Town is buzzing

7-27 Fiuggi, italy Day 2
 

Riding through the mountains. Checking out the race course. Ride around most of the day. Went to favorite coffee shop in Fiuggi when we got back. Monique bar... the owner makes great pastries. Got a tart that had lemon filling with fresh blackberries on top.

7-28 & 29 To Rome and heading home
 

7/28
Staying at the Marriott park in Rome near the airport until our departure on Tuesday. Emptied bike out. Went to get a box to pack bike gear and on the way back to hotel, guy was looking at his phone and hit us. Luckily want going fast because of heavy traffic. Damaged to left wheel well. No injuries. He told the cops that Jim came into the middle lane and hit him. The police said that since they didn't see him on the phone, there was nothing they could do about it. You would think the number of cameras in Rome, it would have caught what happened. His car already had the whole headlight taped together where he had accident before. Jim showed the police the GPS tracking to prove that we were going to go right not straight like the guy said.

7/29
Bike and clothes wash day.
Ate dinner at hotel. Found out they only had airport shuttle one a day at 630am. Taxi is $50

7-30 Rome and the Jewish Ghetto
 

Went to Jewish ghetto in Rome. Very commercialized. All the restaurants were typical tourist Italian.. getting bike and documents ready for cargo customs tomorrow. Downtown Rome traffic is horrific. Almost got hit a few times.

7-31 Rome Airport and Customs
 

Took bike to customs, the bike has to be in customs twenty-four hours before departure. We met Mairicio, our cargo specialist there, to get bike into cargo customs... flying out ending our journey. Back at the hotel, we had pizza by the pool then Sheila was given a gelato.

8-1 Leaving Rome for Toranto and home to Texas
 

We depart Rome at 6 PM on a 12-hour flight, arriving Toronto at 9 PM, we are chasing the sun. Knowing we will be exhausted by the time we get there, we have a room at the Quality Inn. Our plan is to retrieve the baggage when we arrive at the airport and head to the hotel. We will go to customs and retrieve the bike tomorrow and then head for Texas. We called our trike builder in Mobile Alabama and made arrangements to drop the bike for repairs after the crash in Rome We made the detour, dropped the bike then headed home to our paradise on the bay. We managed to make it home on August 4th.