Travel Day (October 1-2, 2025)

Often the worst part of an international bike tour is getting to the start. Three air segments:

1. San Luis Obispo to LA was easy until the 1 mile walk through under-construction LAX terminals being prepared for the LA Olympics. The international terminal is beautiful.

2. LA to Zurich on Swiss Air was 11 hours. The on-line seat map looked wide open. We hoped to score a row of open seats to lie down but settled for aisle seats with open middle seats.

3. Zurich to Brindisi arrived on-time, at 7:30 pm, dusk. Brindisi flights park outside on the side of the runway; no jetways. We walked down a zigzag ramp across the tarmac into the back of the terminal. Our bikes arrived unscathed. 

Locating a taxi was more difficult, as none were queued curbside, and there were no taxi signs until we noticed “TAXI” painted on the pavement. The rain resumed, a taxi pulled up after 15 minutes, and we drove 3 km to our Casa Santa Teresa lodging in the center of Brindisi.

After weeks of dry weather, the Southern Italy pattern has shifted to thunderstorms, mostly at night, and strong winds. Off-and-on lightning, thunder, and rain through the night. 

John’s coupled bike requires far more assembly than my Bike Friday. Mine was ready in 45 minutes; John’s took about 3 hours. I went to bed before he finished. After breakfast Friday morning, John walked his travel case to UPS to ship to Marko's home near Rome.


10 Vicolo Moricino, 72100 Brindisi, Italy

Our Host. I texted him from the airport. Limited English on his part; zip Italian on my part. Gotta get better with Google Translate.

Casa SANTA TERESA. Inner courtyard entrance, spacious reception area, kitchen, and 3 rooms.


Casa Santa Maria Passage. Outside entrance on the right and each room has a door that opens to the passageway.

Brindisi is a city in the Apulia region in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, located on the Adriatic Sea coast. Brindisi played an essential role in trade and culture due to its strategic position on the Italian Peninsula and its natural Adriatic Sea port. The city remains a major port for trade with the Balkan Peninsula, Greece and the Middle East. Its industries include agriculture, chemical works, and the generation of electricity. From September 1943 to February 1944, Brindisi was the provisional government seat of the Kingdom of Italy, meaning that the city has been one of the 5 capitals in the history of Italy. Key attractions include the Alfonsino Castle, the Monument to the Italian Sailor, the Roman Columns, and the Virgilian Staircase. Brindisi also boasts beautiful squares like Piazza Cairoli and Piazza della Vittoria, and the New Verdi Theater, built over a Roman archaeological site.


WWI Memorial

Brindisi hosts a marine base and extensive ferry services.

Archivio di Stato di Brindisi. Closed at 8 am but a beautiful courtyard.

Remaining Ancient Walls

Breakfast courtesy of Casa SANTA TERESA. Cappuccino and chocolate croisette (Italian sp)

Via Francigena. Our tour roughly follows this route from the Brindisi seaport to Rome.



Comments

  1. Tim & BeverlyOctober 3, 2025 at 6:30 AM

    Welcome to Europe. Brindsi looks like a good place to get started. Make sure to carbo load on some great pasta. Bari (just up the coast from Brindsi) is the home of the orecchiette pasta (supposedly), but it is widely available throughout Puglia.

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