Addio Bella Italia

Marco, who either owns or manages A Due Passi del Centro B&B (we could never quite tell which) was very gracious when we asked him if we could extend our check out time.  He needed to clean the room, so check out time needed to be 11:00...but he told us we were welcome to leave our bags and come back and shower.  Sold.  We ate a quick breakfast, did some packing, and headed west of Pisa to the Marina di Pisa.  

Pete and Shirleen had told us that the Marina was a wonderful place to explore or have a glass of wine.  From Pisa, it was a nice, flat 12 mile ride that reminded us of Frenchman's Bar.  We had some headwinds going out, but OH the views!  Much of the marina infrastructure looked new and there were boats that were easily seven figures.  One was a motor yacht called Option B. 

We walked along the boadwalk and watched the waves crashing over the wall.  Every now and then, a handful of kids dared the waves...they ventured too close to the wall and got drenched, laughing the entire time.  We stopped for one last cappuccino and a slice of pear rum cake and then headed back to Pisa.  I'm not entirely sure why, but my GPS routed us back to the Leaning Tower so we walked through the square and enjoyed it all over again.

I had been hearing a squeak on my bike and when I looked it over yesterday, I noticed that a bolt was missing from my rear rack.  Uh-oh.  That rack has a lot of work to do on the flight home, bearing about 20 pounds of olive oil and limoncello.  But...I had an extra bolt...from where I had taken the front fender off at home before we left.  And wouldn't you know that it was just the right size.  We have had several things like this happen on our trip.  There was the time we were out in the middle of nowhere when it was getting dark and simply could not make it to Fredrica's  house...neither of us had noticed the AgriTurismo on our way out, but when we doubled back...to find a highway and perhaps a place to stay...here, in the middle of corn fields, grape vines, and pear orchards, was a place where we could spend the night.  Today we were out at the Marina di Pisa, and I don't know, maybe it is windy and the waves crash majestically over the rocks all the time...or maybe...we were in the right place, at the right time and they did it...just for us.

I let the GPS direct us to the airport because, seriously, Pisa has the most convoluted network of one-way streets I have ever seen in my life.  We rode through a portion of downtown and stopped to get some lunch.  My last proscuitto and formaggio panini.  While we were there, we met a couple who spend 6 months sailing in the Mediterranean and six months in...Portland.  What are the odds?

We arrived at the airport without any problems, and did some people watching because we were so early.  When it was time, we packed the bikes in plastic bags and taped them shut.  The ticket agent sent them to oversized baggage and my fingers are crossed.  Three flights and two loooooong layovers and I will be home.