Photo 1: Vieste
Photo 2: Vieste beach
Eighth stage of our Giro d’Italia. Today we did the Garganico stage, Vieste - Mattinata. 40 km approximately but with 1150 meters of altitude. It’s not that we did them all by bicycle, where we couldn’t do it, we got off and pushed the bicycle, but what does it matter to us, aren’t we athletes? As we said our purpose is to travel and have fun and we have no problem admitting our difficulties on the various climbs, we have to accept our age and physical limits.
Photo 3: Vieste beach with the “Pizzomunno” , rock on the beach
Photo 4: The climb is hard! Vieste on background
Photo 5*: Vieste beach*
Photo 6: Vieste. San Felice arch
At the start very strong wind and some problems because they are paving the avenue of the Vieste beach for the passage of the cycling tour of Italy, so the road was all rough, difficult to travel, moreover the strong wind made you go the sand of the nearby beach in the eye.
Photo 7: Break near Pugnochiuso, exclusive residence!
Photo 8: We are very high on Gargano mountain
Photo 9: Zagare bay ( zagare are the citrus flower)
First climb immediately at the end of the long avenue of Vieste, to get to the beautiful tower from which you can enjoy a wonderful landscape, with the arch pierced in the middle of the sea. Some ups and downs that can be pedaled and then begin to tackle the climb that leads to the crossroads for Pugnochiuso and Santa Tecla 390 masl. Too hard for us! From here begins the descent that brought us to the splendid town of Baia delle Zagare with its stacks.
Photo 10: Zagare bay with the stacks
Photo 11: Near Villa Scapone
From here still climb to get to Baia Scapone, where a few years ago we spent an unforgettable holiday. New descent to take the fork on the left, avoiding the tunnels to arrive, after a few more climbs that are quite easy to pedal, to Mattinata where our splendid “inner tube” is located in the brand new Hotel Residence “Il Porto”.
Photo 12: Anacamptis pyramidalis
Photo 13: Serapias Vomeracea
Photo 14: Our “Camera d’aria” in Mattinata - Hotel Il Porto.
We spend the evening with the friends of Mattinata orchidophiles Angela and Giovanni. These wonderful people have alone proposed to all of Europe to come and visit the Gargano and its orchids. Who does not know these splendid flowers and the particularity of the Gargano, let yourself be fascinated by the photographs we have published, even if pedaling it is not that you can see many orchids, or you pedal or take pictures. But I assure you that it is a wonderful thing, which can only be found here in the Gargano with this intensity and variety of species and enthusiasts come from all over Europe to be accompanied, by these expert guides, around fantastic places, on the banks of the sea or up in the mountains, to find these splendid flowers and thus also help to safeguard them.
