Lake Bohinjka – Tolmezzo (Italy) – Matrei (Austria)

6th October 2014          11-15’C          264km
Lake Bohinjka – Tolmezzo (Italy) – Matrei (Austria)

Three countries in one day today.  I started the day with breakfast in Slovenia, before crossing into Italy for lunch, followed by dinner in Austria.

It was a cool morning leaving the lake, but I cruised out of town and entered Italian territory at around 11am.  I made my way to the first pizza place I spotted in the town of Tarvisio, and enjoyed an excellent, proper pizza for the first time in months, followed by some excellent gelato, bacio & chocolate.   Italians really know how to do gelato, no surprise.

From Tarvisio I rode onto Tolmezzo and through a string of stunning little villages nestled in the valleys, before commencing the ludicrously steep climb up the Strada Statale 52 to the Austrian border.   Hairpin after hairpin turn, it was a brilliant ride to the top before a fast and long descent on the Austrian side.  The villages now very Austrian, just a beautiful, but with that Tirolean style.   I missed my turn in the town of Lienz and had not realised my error, continuing 30km down the road and ended up it Matrei, which means some backtracking tomorrow.  But I have a great guesthouse for the night in a family home, with the bike parked in the garage.   I located a good restaurant and enjoyed some locally caught trout and Austrian wine, both of which were stand-outs of Sud-Tirol cuisine.

Its been a brilliant day for eating and riding!