Today, was our last full day of the trip, with no travelling. We cycled about 20 kilometres westward along the fabulous coastal cycle path that runs from Imperia to Ospedaletti. John had arranged to meet a friend and former colleague who now lives and works in Sanremo.
The cycle path follows a former railway line and passes through tunnels with background music playing and past former stations. It was very popular, with lots of cyclists, walkers and runners using it. Thankfully, the lanes were marked and most people followed the rules.
When we arrived at the harbour in Sanremo, we noticed lots of classic rally cars in a service area. As a former petrolhead, John was made up! He was excited to spot Lancias, Evos, Scoobies, 205GTI’s and Porsches in classic Rothmans and Gulf liveries, some of which he’d had posters of as a child, and a few of which we’d owned as adults. Turns out it was the weekend of the Sanremo Rally.
After a while, when I was bored of watching the cars preparing to race, we carried on slowly along the cycle track, which was now very busy. Progress was slow, especially when we became caught up in the middle of a huge group of primary school children on hired bikes! The bike path was closed soon after to accommodate more rally service areas, so we gave up trying to follow it.
We noticed people walking around between the rally cars that were parked up in neat rows under canopies, so we decided to have a look. We pushed our bikes and wandered through the service area for these cars, which were much newer. There were even works teams for Lancia and Toyota.
By now it was nearly time to meet Craig and his family, so we wandered back towards the restaurant, stopping for a photo on the ‘start’ podium. We ordered drinks and said ‘yes, please’ to appetisers. The selection that arrived was the best we’ve had since we were in Cannobio! No need to order lunch as well! We thoroughly enjoyed chatting to Craig and meeting his family, including Digby the dog. I’m annoyed with myself for not getting a photo though!
The ride back to the campsite was much quieter with far fewer cyclists on the track, and it was cooler too, with clouds in the sky and a few spots of rain! Thankfully, we didn’t get wet, arriving back at the campsite to shower and pack our stuff away, ready to head towards home tomorrow.
Although I’m sad the trip’s ending, I’ll be pleased to get home. It’ll be good to see my mum, and catch up with our friends. And I need to get back in a routine and back to the gym. We’re already planning our next adventures though ☺️.
Ramblings 
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