June 2009, Costa Family Tree in Vidor and Trento, Italy Day 32

From Ljubljana to somewhere in Italy. At the beginning of the day I was planning to go to Milan or Verona, but after finding Vidor (the home of the Costa's) I pushed North West to Trento instead.

Beautiful day to ride. Sunny 28 to 30 C and great roads. Took the side roads to the border to avoid tolls and to ride some curves. Rok gave me great directions and I found myself on the best drive of the trip to date (Ljubljana to Vrhnika to Godovic to Ajdovscina to Nova Gorica). C8/9,R6/7,T3,V6/8.





Italian Border.

Made it to the border at Gorica. The Italian's were actually checking passports due to the G8 conference being held that week in Italy. From there it was back on to toll roads, which in Italy you get a ticket for and then submit at the end of your journey once you exit the toll road. About 2 euros for 100+ km. Stopped in Treviso 30 km north of Venice for directions to Vidor at this hotel which was the only place open on a Sunday. Even gas stations are closed, except for their automated pay stations.



Battled through the Italian traffic on the secondary roads, motorbikes flying everywhere, and got in to Vidor around 4 pm which sits at the base of the Italian Alps. It was a little bigger than I expected (2000 instead of 300), but I still managed to find the cemetery. I even had to use my broken Italian to find out if I was even in the right place. This very elderly gentleman didn't quite understand me, but took the time to walk with me until we found the first grave. I was taken back by the graves of my distant relatives who had stayed in Italy when my Great Grandfather Luigi had left for Canada in the early 1900s to become a Saskatchewan farmer. The Canadian Costas are only three generations and here I was standing in a place that saw endless generations of Costas. Quite an experience.




After the Vidor, I was so happy to continue riding in the mountains I forged north towards Trento, instead of going back on to the Motorway to Verona.

A quick stop for a pizza. What no pre-cut slices!

Sad I didn't see Verona, but pleasantly surprised with Trento. I found the HI (Hosteling International) near the centre and parked up for the night around 9:45pm. Very nice hostel (Ostello della Gioventa) with lots of space and good hosts that directed me to a fantastic restaurant with great beer.

Piazza Duomo




Duomo

Beautiful meal at Pedavena who also make their own beer. Being more of a beer drinker then wine I realized this was definitely the area where my Grandfather and I were from.