Tax Evasion

Pineto  -  Vasto   89.3kms      687’ascent (Whew!)

While Alan went to retrieve the bikes, I went to pay the bill. The card machine wouldn’t work! Mmm…methinks this is the way to relieve the tax man of his share. From my point of view, it required a kilometre ride to the nearest cash point which nearly gave me a heart attack by saying half way through the transaction – ‘card captured, contact your bank’ – then in true Italian style carrying on with my request as normal, returned my card and gave me some money. I paid the bill and received a bottle of wine from the patron in recognition of our bravery or stupidity – not sure which as my grasp of Italian is non-existent.

We had to traverse Pescara which turned out to be somewhat larger than we had expected and it was the usual tussle with bikes, buses and cars and roads full of potholes. It was a relief to achieve the outskirts and return to the road along the coast. This changed quite significantly and the sea became much less accessible as the coastline became steeper and rockier which needless to say involved a deal of upping and downing again – always good to practice! There was no change in the level of heat, so by the late afternoon we began our search for accommodation. After several ‘no’s’, we got a result. A quick shower and a foray into the street and a convenient supermarket provided sufficient  nourishment for our evening meal, which we took sitting on our balcony washed down with the free wine (not the balcony!)