ROME

I woke this morning lamenting the fact that the riding was done but that was soon tempered by a soaking rain that made it so much easier to board the bus for Rome.

The courtyard at our last hotel in Tuscany


...and the gardens

Waiting for the bus

Wet Tuscan morning



 After a 2 1/2 hour ride, we arrived in Rome and clear blue skies. After settling into our newest hotel it was off on a whirlwind tour of the highlights of the city.

Our first stop was at one of my bucket list items, The Vatican. On the walk there we quickly became aware that we had left the simple tranquility of our Tuscan visit. Rome is a big, busy bustling city with a lot of people. Because we only had the afternoon to explore, we did not get any tickets for tours but rather did a highlight tour. So, our Vatican visit was really only St. Peters Square. It was none the less an amazing experience to be there.

In the center of St. Peter's Square. The Egyptian obelisk here is 4000 years old and was placed here in 1568

Swiss Guards at St. Peters Square. The Swiss Government has provided these Guards to the Vatican since 1506

In St Peter's Square. The center balcony on the upper floor of the Papal Palace is where the Pope appears to give his blessings to the crowds that gather in the square. The Pope doesn't actually live in the palace though. Previous popes have lived in the Papal apartments to the left but the current Pope prefers to live in the much simpler Vatican guesthouse.

 

Caffe latte at St. Peters Café

 

After St. Peter's, we walked to The ruins of The Forum and the Colosseum. It is amazing throughout Rome to realize that so much of what you encounter is still here after over 2200 years and there is a lot of it.

The Colosseum was completed in 80 a.d. and is currently undergoing a bit of repair. Imagine that those walls have been there for 1934 years! It could hold up to 50,000 people. 

Later, we visited The Pantheon. Originally built in 27 BC as a temple to all of the Roman Gods, It was alter acquired by The Vatican and is a Catholic Church Of Saint Mary and The Martyrs today. Inside the Pantheon you can find the tombs of the Renaissance painters Carracci and Raphael as well as The Composer Corelli and the Architect Perussi. and Kings Vittorio an Umberto.

                                                                    The Pantheon

 

                               Inside The Pantheon is beautiful and is much as it was in 27BC!

On our tour we also visited St Agnes Cathedral, Piazza Nuvona and several other sites while on a Rome Illuminated Tour arranged by VBT.

The Piazza Nuvona has as it's center the Fountain Of The four Rivers by Bernini and ahs several other significant works of art as throughout.

We ended our day with another delicious dinner at a small local restaurant on a side street, one last gelato and one more time getting lost. Sunday afternoon we flew out of Rome for New York and then a late night arival in Syracuse.

As I reflect on this great trip, I realize how little prepared I was for what I experienced here. I didn't realize the beauty I would encounter in Tuscany, or what the tour meant by "advanced" (can you say Climbing BIG hills) or the spectacle that is the history of not only the Midieval towns of Tuscany but especially Florence and Rome. It was a wonderful, wonderful experience and one that I will cherish.

ARRIVIDERCCI ITALIA!!!!! (for now)

 

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Last Tuscan ride..........for now

Today is our last day in Tuscany, our last day of riding our bikes on this trip.

When we first got up we were not sure we would be able to ride. It was a bit chilly, the valley was fogged in and it looked like rain. By breakfast though most of the fog had lifted and although it was still chilly, the clouds started to clear and so we were off. Unlike the other days, today we started with a 6 kilometer downhill. That's because Pienza is at the top of a hill so we knew our day had to end with at leas a 6 kilometer uphill.

                                                 Early morning fog in the valley below

Way up un top of the hill in this picture you can see Pienza. It is yet another Medieval Town

Our ride itinerary today had us going to Montepulanciano, a walled town that is a bit different that the others we have visited in that we not only rode up to the town but we also walked up and up and further up inside of the town. Like the others it is construction from the 12 or 1300's. I am always amazed that these towns have managed to withstand all that history and the years have thrown at them. There were some things unique about this town including the bell on the tower but we have found that most of them are trying to survive on the tourist industry and the shops and stores are mostly the same from one town to another.

The view from the walls of  the town

The bell tower. We did not see it operated but guessed that the man swings around and strikes the bell with whatever is in his hand.

Today was also yet another ride filled with long up hills and fast fun downhills all surrounded by fantastic vistas. We were more than sorry to turn our bikes in and know that we are done for this trip.

Tonight we had a group "last supper" at a restaurant down the street. A delicious 4 course meal. Tomorrow it is off to Rome and the last phase of the trip. I will leave you tonight with some random pictures from the last week.

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Relaxing after a ride

THE BEST!

Tomorrow has a lot to live up to because today was really the best day yet. Best weather, best climbing, best downhills, best vistas...............

We started the day in Siena and after a short bus ride to avoid some high traffic areas we arrived at the Monte Oliveto Maggiore Abbey. An Abby of the Benedictine Monks founded in 1313. It is still a working Monastery with a fantastic collection of frescoes. It was interesting to enter the monastery via a drawbridge.

The entrance to the Monastery is a drawbridge, if you look close you can see the chains

The Monastery and statue of St. Bernardo, it's founder

It is a treasure trove of beautiful works of art

...and is still a working Monastery

After leaving the Monasltery, we headed uphill for the first leg of out ride. It was a gloriously sunny and bright morning, just warm enough to raise a good sweat but not too hot. We were immediately treated to our first vista within a few turns of the start. That would not abate for the rest of the day.

More beautiful vistas. So good we have to shoot them in panorama

At the 35 kilometer mark of our ride we were treated (that description may not be shared by some on this trip) a 1k plus climb of  15 degrees. Our reward at the end of the climb was Luca and a first class picnic at a town park.

Luca prepared a picnic for us

The rest of the ride was simply more of the great climbs, more screaming downhills and more breathtaking vistas. The only mishap of the day was when I was on one of the faster downhills and had a bee fly inside my shirt and sting me a couple of times...OUCH! I killed it!

At about 2:30 we arrived at our new home for the next few days, the Il Chiostro de Pienza, another converted Carmelite Monastery. It is not only a really nice hotel but has a spectacular view of the
valley below us.

The view from our window

After gathering in the gardens for a few refreshments, cleaning up and having a private wine tasting we had another delicious dinner.

Sadly, tomorrow will be our last day of riding so we are all hoping for continued good weather.

A day of riding, fun and fun while riding.

So far on this trip we have been riding under mostly cloudy skies, but today we were mostly bathed in the Tuscan Sun.

Our day started with the usual pre ride brief from our guides, Paulo and Luca. Everyone who rode today (some took the day off to explore Siena) was excited at the prospect of a day in the sun and what promised to be an exiting ride.

Paulo and Luka

After our brief we followed Luka who was riding with us (Paulo drove the van today) out of the city. Now you should understand that out of the city means almost 3 kilometers through the narrow streets,

 with cobbled pavement and lots of people walking. So, it was an exciting start to the ride for the day.

 After we made it out of the city, the traffic dislsipated, the fog lifted and we were climbing hills 

again on our way to our mid day stop at Castellini. 

On the way to Castellini-what a view we had!

Paulo met us there with the van and a nice selection of fruit and snacks and we went shopping (remember, that means bike shops) and found a place that had a really nice selection of riding jerseys. We may have made some purchases.😉

Now one of the things that has captured our interest on this trip is that any public toilet has a fee to use it. In Castellini, we found the best one yet. It was coin operated and cost 1/2 Euro. The best part though was that between users, the door closed and it had a system that sprayed down the inside. So when you went in EVERYTHING was clean.

After we left Castellini the real fun started. Luca led us on a 40 kilometer combination of challenging climbs each one complimented by a screaming downhill, full of really tight turns and switchbacks. Can you say FUN!!!!

At one point we stopped in front of what we assume was an elementary school. A bunch of the kids came to the fence and were cheering and waving at us.

We got back to the hotel around 3, cleaned up and headed out for something to eat. Both of us were sure we couldn't stand another late, long and lazy 3 course meal just before bed so we went to The Piazza del Compo. Now this plaza built in the 12th century was once the central market place of Siena. Today it is lined with restraunts and shops. It is probably best known as the site of The Palio de Siena a twice a year horse race between the Tuscan regions that is called the most dangerous horse 

race in the world. The plaza is covered in dirt just for the race each time.

Piazza del Compo

As we were eating our dinner a huge rain and hail storm erupted and the awning gave way completely swamping the table next to us including the people that were eating there and all of their food

After dinner it is time to go back to the hotel, relax and get a good nights sleep as tomorrow is supposed to be the most challenging ride of the week.

Moving Day

Today was moving day from our Monastery at San Gimignano to the Convent in Siena. Our luggage was moved by the Tour Company and we moved the bikes.

These guys that make up the routes have a sense of humor I think because it was another day that started with a couple of kilometers of hills..........up hills! Now I love this and think it is the only way to start but some of our fellow riders are not so sure. Oh and by the way my bike friends will understand how big these hills are when I say that I am actually using my small chainring, a lot!
Anyway we had a great ride, there is not a moment that we are not surrounded by perfect picture post card views and there were some incredible, long downhills with some really nice switchbacks so I am very happy.

Always time to stop and enjoy a caffe latte

...and to take a rest

Our lunch stop was at another classic walled in town that dated back to the medieval times with a town square and cobbled streets. Monteriggioni is the smallest town that we have visited but it was nice for a bit of exploring and shopping plus there was good pizza and of course, gelato.

Our lunch stop

After lunch, it was on to Siena and our new home for the next two nights.here we are staying in The
Chiostro del Carrmine, A converted Carmelite Convent from the 17th century.
Our ride to Siena was more of the same, fantastic views of the hills and valleys of Tuscany. One thing that we noticed in addition to the usual grape and olive farms were a number of sheep farms, the first livestock that we had noticed.


Once we reached Siena, we entered through the north gate of the walled city and proceeded to get very loslt. Siena is a city of very narrow cobbled streets that are built like a maze. What should have been a fairly short 2 kilometer walk to the hotel became 45 minutes of wandering before a kind man walked us to the hotel entrance which in itself was not really evident.

The very non descript entrance

Narrow streets are the norm

Nice courtyard inside the walls of the hotel

The Hotel

This hotel is quite different from the last two in that it seems to be in transition from the convent to hotel. Many of the rooms seem to be as they might have been when it was a convent, with upgrades done to bathrooms. It is quite nice but a bit plain.

After settling in we decided to do a little exploring  (can you say bike shop?) then gathered for yet another of those late night, long and lazy 3 course meals at a local restaurant.

Tomorrow will be another day of riding and exploring a new and different part of  Tuscany, around Siena and later some time to explore the sights of the City of Siena.

This is what we see all day on the bikes