Italy – 01.01.2022

Leaving Croatia was actually not easy for me. In this country, you can find amazing spots for camping, the bars, restaurants, and cafés are equipped with free Wi-Fi, there is great wine, coffee, delicious food, friendly people, and at this time of year there are very few tourists around.

In Italy, I first had to get used to things again. There is more traffic on the roads, the country is much more densely populated, and there are more people around. Of course, this is a great advantage when it comes to coffee breaks. However, finding a place to sleep is not always easy. Sometimes it happened that I thought I had found a quiet spot for the night, only to discover that it turned out to be a popular meeting place. And in Italy, it is honestly impossible to cycle as much as you eat delicious food.

What I find very interesting is how different the regions are in terms of mentality, landscapes, and people. In the countryside, the areas become more rural, less populated, and the people are more relaxed, very kind, friendly, curious, and open. Along the coast, it is much more touristy. Sometimes you get the feeling that everything is only about money here. The region around Naples is a completely different and crazy world of its own. On a bicycle, people look at you as if you came from another planet. Everyone is honking, everyone drives however they feel like, there are countless scooters everywhere—and the crazy thing is: somehow it works. The only shame is that the area is extremely littered and there is dog waste everywhere, even worse than Pforzheim.

Rome, on the other hand, feels very German. Everyone follows the traffic rules, there is hardly any honking, and you find wide streets and bike lanes everywhere. Tuscany is full of campervans, amazing camping spots, and currently has wonderfully quiet roads.

But no matter where you are in Italy—you can always get a good coffee.