We are in the mountains! Incredibly to both of us, only two days after leaving Venice we are undeniably at the foot of the alps.

The route out of Venice was flat, but challenging, starting with the long bridge to Mestre which, to put it politely, was not made with cyclists in mind. Rain clouds followed us all day and cought up with us twice. The first time, we had just gotten out of Mestre and onto the country roads when the sky opened up and it started raining so heavily that it almost felt like there was more water than air around for a bit. A generous person saw us getting drenched under a tree and offered us shelter under her carport, which defintely helped. Luckily, the downpour ended after about ten minutes. After that, all our little breaks were accompanied by looks behind us, trying to outcycle the next shower. And we did: we just about managed to get our tent up in the evening when the next downpour started up, this time with the extra addition of hail. However, the timing did not prove as lucky as we first thought: a puddle rapidly started to form right under our tent, requiring us to move it again in all haste. To the credit of the tent and our bags, most of our stuff stayed more or less dry. We spent the evening in the corridor of the bathrooms... but at least the company was delightful! We met a very nice family with three daughters who were on the way to Venice with their bikes (I am in awe of their organizational skills.... Matt and I find it a challenge to get just the two of us ready in the mornings!) , so we exchanged informations about the respective routes. There were also a few nice people from the Netherlands, including another long-distance cycle tourer.

The saving grace of the campsite was that we woke up in the morning to brilliant sunshine, which allowed us to pack up a dry tent for the next days ride.

Our first day of (admittedly still very moderate) climbing yesterday went much better than we expected: We didn't even have to push once! The views are stunning and incredible and make us understand why people love cycling in the mountains so much. They also make us want to stop for pictures about every five minutes.

Even more mind-boggling is the thought that according to our current plans, we will leave Italy less than a week from now. That thought finally makes us feel a bit like we are actually on a long bike tour....

Right now, we are enjoying our first actual private place since we left Rocca San Giovanni ten days ago. Our legs are resting up for the challenges to come, but just for now we are feeling much more positive about crossing the alps than we ever have. Here's to hoping the feeling will last!