July 2027 (G. T.) – Here we are with the chapter five of the road adventures of the motorcycle travellers Andrea and Sabrina, or ‘SabrinAndrea’ as they make their way across Europe. Their new Moto Guzzi V85 TT, ‘Rudolph’, plays a starring role. Here is their photo-story.
Article and photos by ‘SabrinAndrea’. There are journeys that begin long before you start the engine. They begin when you look at your motorbike and realise it has a soul, a name and a very clear personality. For us, as ‘SabrinAndrea’, the ideal adventure companion comes in the colours of the wind and fire: it’s a white and red Moto Guzzi V85 TT. Its name?... Rudolph. She (hence the feminine pronoun in Italian), like Father Christmas’s tireless reindeer, has the power to take us anywhere, with her V-twin engine pulsing like a second heart.
Our latest destination was a magical place, a peninsula that seems to have been specifically designed for those who love to travel: Istria, the heart-shaped peninsula. A journey filled with bends, salty sea air, history, architecture and an evocative return journey along the geographical contours of our planet.
PADUA, WITH ITS TIMELESS MASTERPIECES AND THE RITUAL OF THE SPRITZ. Our odometer really started ticking in Padua, the first stop on this journey of ours. A city that immediately enveloped us with its cultured elegance, its amazing art and, let’s be honest, its incredible culture of living well.
After parading Rudolph’s red-and-white livery around the majesty of the Prato della Valle park, we set out on a tour dedicated to beauty and flavour.
https://www.turismopadova.it/en/places/prato-della-valle/
An immersion in art. We paid homage to the majestic Basilica of Saint Anthony (known as ‘the Saint’ to the people of Padua), before letting ourselves be spellbound by the starry skies and the stories painted by Giotto in the Scrovegni Chapel. But there was more: the Cathedral Baptistery was a must-see, with 14th-century frescoes by Giusto de’ Menabuoi that literally leave you open-mouthed in awe as you look up.
Scrovegni Chapel.
Baptistery, Padua Cathedral.
The culture of the ‘cicchetto’ (shot drink). Padua, however, isn’t just about history. Once the cultural part was finished, we parked Rudolph and dived into the lively atmosphere of the city’s squares (Piazza delle Erbe and Piazza della Frutta). This is where the real party began: spritzes of every kind – from Aperol to Campari, right through to Cynar and Select – always accompanied by an endless parade of cicchetti of all sorts (that’s what they call the nibbles they serve with drinks here). The best way to toast the start of the SabrinAndrea adventure!
With our eyes full of masterpieces and our hearts full of joy, the following morning we fired up Rudolph’s twin-cylinder engine and headed east, ready to cross the border into the heart-shaped peninsula...
ISTRIA: CURVES IN THE ROAD AND POETRY, FROM ROVINJ TO PULA. Once we’d crossed the border, Istria welcomed us with the scent of Mediterranean scrub and roads that seemed made to showcase our Rudolph’s handling. The V85 TT eats up the Istrian tarmac with charming ease, stable even through the hairpin bends and comfortable for both of us even after hours in the saddle.
The Gulf of ‘Quieto’, on Istria’s west coast, between Novigrad and Torre; admiring the wide lagoon and the mouth of the River Quieto (‘Mirna’ in Croatian).
Rovinj: the colourful pearl. Our second stop was Rovinj. Having parked our Rudolph, whose beauty attracted quite a few looks from passers-by, we got lost in the old town of Rovinj, a Croatian fishing port on the western coast of the Istrian peninsula. The old town dominates the landscape from a promontory. A maze of narrow streets paved with Istrian stone, glossy and smooth, leading up to the Church of Saint Euphemia.
Rovinj: Croatia’s Most Romantic Town & The Legend of Saint Euphemia:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krCt3glBw_c&t=581s
And this is the most magical part: colourful houses plunging straight into the blue sea. It felt as though we were inside a painting, with the sunset colouring the sky in the same shades as our motorbike.
https://www.facebook.com/VisitIstria
Pula: history with a Roman edge. Heading even further south, we arrived in Pula. Here, the change of scenery is dramatic. There to welcome us was the majestic Pula Arena, an amazingly well-preserved Roman amphitheatre dating back to 27 BC, which stands out against the blue sky. Riding round this stone giant accompanied by the soft rumble of the Guzzi was a spine-tingling moment. Pula is a perfect blend of Roman archaeology, Austro-Hungarian heritage and a vibrant maritime life.
Towards Kamenjak Point: our first taste of dirt tracks. Just south of Pula, the Istrian mainland becomes increasingly narrow, until it plunges into the deepest blue. This is where the Punta Kamenjak (Cape Promontore) nature reserve can be found, a wild paradise of hidden coves and cliffs shaped by the wind. But for us, this place held a special significance: it was the first real off-road ride for our Rudolph.
The chassis and structure of our Moto Guzzi seemed born to tackle the red, dusty soil of the Karst landscape. Our ‘Rudy’ tackled the unpaved tracks with the ease of a true ‘enduro’ bike, with the suspension absorbing the roughness of the terrain and giving us that feeling of total control that only a Guzzi knows how to deliver. It was pure joy to ride standing on the footpegs amongst the maritime pines!
Our goal? To take a step back in time by about 100 million years. Having parked the bike in the shade, we followed the footpath that leads up to the Grakalovac headland. There, in the bare rock just a few steps from the sea, we walked in the actual fossilised footprints of the dinosaurs (sauropods and theropods) that once roamed this peninsula. Feeling the Istrian breeze on our skin, looking out at the horizon and walking over our planet’s ancient history, with our motorbike waiting for us not far away, covered in a thin, proud veil of dust, was perhaps the most wild and unforgettable moment of the entire trip.
Grakalovac Headland, a palaeontological and naturalistic site, at the southern tip of Istria, within the protected area of Cape Kamenjak.
THE RETURN: HUNTERS OF THE 45TH PARALLEL IN THE PO DELTA. Having left the ‘heart’ of Istria behind, we set off for home, but not by the shortest route. A true motorcyclist is always looking for a story to tell, even on the road home. Ours unfolded along the Po Delta, an area suspended between sky, water and land. What made this detour so special? We wanted to find an invisible yet fundamental boundary: the 45th parallel north, the exact halfway point between the Equator and the North Pole.
The 45th parallel refers to the latitude and lies at a point that is equidistant between the North Pole and the Equator: exactly 5,000 kilometres from both points. In the image: crossing the parallel on the A21 Turin–Piacenza motorway, near Voghera. https://www.facebook.com/meteocloud.it
An outline of our journey along the 45th parallel. The Landscape: endless banks, reeds swaying in the wind, pontoons for boats and an atmosphere of tranquillity broken only by the sound of our Rudolph. The Ride: narrow, flat roads where the V85 TT takes the lead, keeping us in total comfort whilst the horizon stretches as far as the eye can see. Crossing that imaginary parallel, immersed in the silence of the Delta, made us feel part of a larger geographical whole. A feeling of total freedom.
Sign marking the 45th parallel at the Ca’ Giustinian water pumping station (Porto Viro, Rovigo).
The 45th parallel at Boccasette (Porto Tolle, Rovigo), before it plunges into the into the Adriatic Sea.
THE ‘SABRINANDREA’ REPORT. Back home, as we were cleaning the bugs off the windscreen and the red-and-white fuel tank, we looked at each other and realised that this journey will stay with us for a long time. Here’s why.
Padua really makes you fall in love with its architecture and its carefree atmosphere.
Istria wins you over with its romantic charm and its seaside villages.
The Po Delta captivates you with its proud melancholy and its vast expanses.
And right in the middle of it all, there we are: ‘SabrinAndrea’ and our Rudolph, which isn’t just a means of transport, but the tireless third member of a perfect team.
Until our next trip, on two wheels as always!
WIDE REWIND – READ THE PREVIOUS ARTICLE TOO:
https://wide.piaggiogroup.com/en/articles/travels/sabrinandrea-set-off-on-an-adventure-between-the-mountains-and-the-sea-of-the-balkans-in-the-saddle-of-their-trusty-maya-v7-850/index.html
