Cycling Day 4 - Levanto to Cogoleto

I didn't have a great night's sleep as struggled to get comfortable and the sea breeze kept blowing sand in my face. It was well worth it though as waking up on the beach as it became light was awesome. After a nice snooze period I hurriedly threw some clothes immediately after getting out of my warm sleeping bag as it was pretty cold. Then it was over to a local shop for some breakfast - this consisted of a massive bit of round bread and yoghurt. I didn't hang around too long as was eager to get going as had a big day ahead of me. The first town of the day was Sestri Levante. The ride between Levanto and here was brilliant. There were some big twisty climbs on small rural roads with the reward of some epic views towards the top. One bit looked like a Giro d'Italia climb with distance markings sprayed on the tarmac letting you know how far it was to get to the top. There were some foresty sections too which were especially nice. The rural road eventually led me to the main SS1 road shortly before Sestri Levante. This was where the long descent into Sestri started - a good 15km of easy coasting. I was very eager to get food asap when I arrived as had pedalled probably 50km without eating anything. So I stopped at the first petrol station that presented itself on the approach to the town centre. There was a little cafe area so sat down for a bit and had some hot chocolate and cake. Then it was the big push to get to Genova. I was very much 'in the zone' for this and maintained a good pace/momentum pretty much all the way. My route continued along the SS1 and it was a lovely ride passing through small old towns and hugging the coastline for large sections. As I neared Genova rain threatened with increased dark cloud and a bit of mist in the air (there had been white cloud up until this point). I entered the city making sure I followed the SS1 road signs not wanting to get lost. Very hungry by now. There weren't any places to eat by the roadside, and I had to get right into the centre before anything presented itself. I stopped at the port area where there appeared to be food options. Upon closer inspection there was in fact a big boat exhibition taking place (tickets were needed). Someone who was on their way out kindly gave me their ticket so I went in to have a look. I didn't have any interest in the boats but there was bound to be food and wifi around. In amongst all the exhibitors' stands there was a temporary restaurant set up. I went in and ordered a burger. They brought me out some pasta (it was very busy and they had got my order mixed up) I ate it anyway as was too hungry to wait any longer. The portion size was small and I was still hungry so showed the waitress my receipt for the burger. After a short wait I was presented with my burger (so got 2 meals for the price of 1). Having consumed the burger my appetite was satisfied and I wandered around in search of a decent wifi signal - this turned out to be a waste of time. I left the exhibition later than intended and continued my way through Genova. It had now started raining. Not far down the road I spotted a McDonalds so went in for a wifi weather/route check. Thankfully the rain looked set to ease off shortly for the rest of the day before reappearing later that night. Once I had finished my wifi session the rain had virtually stopped. My mission was simply push as far as I could until darkness set in in a few hours' time. There was one supermarket stop at the far side of Genova getting snacks for now/breakfast for the morning. Once I'd bought my bits I went into the supermarket's toilet. Once done I went to go out but had been locked in. A brief moment of panic set in and I was banging on the door. Thankfully a few minutes later one of the employees let me out - the person before me must have unwittingly locked the door behind them and given the key back to a member of staff. Anyway free from the toilet I went outside and it was already starting to get dark. I managed to smash out a fair distance stopping at the second town along the SS1 once the lack of light became too much. Next was to find a cheap hotel. The small coastal town of Cogoleto that I'd ended up in didn't appear to have many options. There was one that presented itself straight away but was too expensive for my tight budget. So I pedalled around the streets in the hope of finding a cheaper alternative. I came across this hotel tucked away down a small backstreet owned by an old couple with a cat. She spoke broken English and was happy for me to pay €40 for my room (I bartered her down from the original €50 price). I put my bike in the front room with the cat and went up to my room. A quick shower and change and it was off to find food. There was a kebab restaurant just around the corner so went there not wanting to venture too far in the now heavy rain. This turned out to be a great shout - proper tasty kebabs and very cheap. I ended up getting 2 meals in there and being very full. After a lengthy eating/wifi session in the restaurant it was back to the room and bed. Alarm was set early for another big day tomorrow.