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

A little travel, bikes and kilometers

So, because we didn't have internet last night, I was unable to post!

Yesterday was a day for packing and moving and a little bit of catching up with a few of our favorite things before we left Florence. After breakfast I went on a walking tour of some of the sights that I was fondest of. I revisited The Duoma, the Plaza Reppublica and the Porta Veccio. I also broused through a few of the open air markets that were in progress.
When I got back to the hotel, both Chris and I were hungry so we set out to find the little slandwich shop that our guide had pointed out to us on Friday  but had too long a line. This time we seemed to arrive just in time as the line was short and we were able to order quickly and just in time too as the line grew to more than a block as we were eating

The sandwich shop

                                                

We did find this nice piece of art dedicated to Mike Nortman and myself

When we got back to the hotel, the VBT (touring company) people were there and ready to load out luggage and transport us to San Gimngnano, about an hour and a half drive.
As we left the city we got our first real look at the Tuscan Hills and it is beautiful.

                                   

San Gimignano 

Our Hotel

Our first order of business was to get our bikes and take our maiden voyage on them. Now those of you that ride with me will detect the bike snob here. The are not Cannondales (Fuji) they are not Ultegra (Tiagra) and they are not Di2. Other than that, I guess they will do😏

Chris and I both brought our own seats and pedals and once we installed them we were off on our first ride, a 6 k loop that we did twice for good measure. It was our first taste of the hills that await.
                                         

Happy to be riding!

Dinner last night was a classic, 3 course, late and lazy affair hat left us stuffed . It was delicious.

Breakfast this morning was incredible as well, seems like we are going to eat our way through Italy.

The breakfast table

After breakfast we were off and riding. Our schedule this morning had us doing a fairly easy 26 miles through the hills with a stop for lunch in the town of San Giamingano. The town is a   Midieval town that is completely inside a fortress. We were able to do a little shopping as well, finding some great local riding jerseys.

After lunch it was on to the "alternate ride" (as opposed to going back to the hotel). They warned us it was difficult and it was. Several climbs of  over 15 degrees elevation and at least one downhill at 20 degrees. I LOVED all of it. I am right in my element!

After we shower and clean up it is back to San Gimingnano for dinner then back to the hotel as we will be moving again tomorrow.

The grounds of the hotel

Pre ride check in this morning

The streets of San Gimingnano are very narrow!

Headed back after a ride

The entrance to the walled in City of San Gimingnano

A well in one of the Town Squares

Markets, churches and Michelangelo

Today was a day for random exploration.

After breakfast we went in search of the central market that we had been told about for the past few days. It is really quite incredible to experience. Outside this huge building is block after block of vendors selling all kind of goods, mainly leather and clothing though. Inside is another story. Think of anything that you have ever seen in a grocery or any food that you have ever heard of and I would bet you that it is there. We spent at least a couple of hours just walking around and looking at all of it, then went to the 2nd floor where they have a series of nice light food slrestaraunts for lunch.

One of the more interesting items at the market

Wild Boar

On our way to the market and after lunch we wandered through a number of churches which is not hard as they are everywhere. If I remember  right, our guide, Ramona told us here were something like 300 churches in Florence. Most of them don't allow pictures so I can't show you but it is awesome to be in a church where Michelangelo or Gotto or Botticelli is buried.


We had hoped to visit the Pitta Palace but when we got there we realized that it closes early on Saturday. We were able to walk around the outside though and it is unbelievable.

Pitta Palace

We had a quiet afternoon relaxing on the rooftop plaza at the hotel then decided to take a walk to see the Michelangelo Plaza that overlooks the city. We were treated to a spectacular view but paid dearly as it is quite a climb first up a street then what seems like hundreds of stairs.

As you can see it is quite a view of the city and the hills surrounding it. 

Tomorrow we head for those hills as our time In Florence is done and it is time to get on the bikes and do some riding!!

History Lessons

If Florence is nothing else it is all about history. In a city that dates back to Midieval Times, you don't take a step without crossing some great historical sights.

Our Guide, Romana

We began our day with a very robust breakfast at the hotel. There was everything that your heart, or your stomach, would ever want for breakfast.











We had previously arranged for a guide to give us a tour of the highlights of the city and give us an idea of what to see and what
to do (and as it turns out, she gave us a lot of advise on what NOT to do)        
So, Ramona was our guide. She is from the coast of Tuscany where she also own a bread and breakfast. Since she was educated in London and Orlando she spoke very good English which added to the enjoyment as we could really understand everything she was telling us.

Our first stop was the Cathedera di Santa Maria Del Fiore or
The Duoma, the largest church in Florence. (A little tidbit
here, Ramona tells us that the proper name for the city is
Firenze. Apparently no one can explain how it became
known as Florence.
The size of this church is simply overwhelming and the
facade is incredible, made entirely for white, green and red
marble from different parts of Italy. The Baptista in front of
the church is probably larger than most churches in Syracuse.
At 10 in the morning the crowds in the Piazza del Duomo in front of the church were huge. Today was liberation day, a
local holiday commemorating April 25, 1945 when the
German Army abandoned their occupation of the city.

Easily the most impressive stop of the day came when we visited the Galleria dell' Accademia and we're able to get in and see Michelangelo's David. I have seen pictures of this statue forever but to walk in the gallery and see this 17 foot tall work of art took my breath away. It is so beautiful and done in such great detail. Unfortunately, there are no cameras allowed in the museum so here is a picture of the scale replica that we saw in The Plaza Dell' Reppublica. Now, two things that Ramona told us about Michelangelo and David. First, he was only 25 when he did the sculpture and most incredibly, He had one of his slaves killed so he could dissect his body so as to get the anatomy correct!!!!

After our tour was done we had a very formal lunch on the streets of Florence. Romona had pointed out several small shops that offered sandwiches made from prosciutto and cheese. We were wary at first as we saw that they had them pre made and sitting on the counter. She assured us that was not a problem as they were so popular. Well, she was right. The lines in front of these shops at noon were amazing as
we're the sandwiches.





After lunch we decided to take advantage of being in Italy and took a little side trip. After an hour and a half train ride we arrived in Pisa and visited the leaning tower. Needless to say, it is quite impressive and was well worth the trip, including getting lost between the train station and the tower.

In many of the markets they have carts and kiosks with all sort of sweets, of course there are cannoli and this little treat, chocolate sandwiches!

One of our favorite spots is the Ponte Veccio or Veccio Bridge. This bridge, built by the Medicci Family in the 1300's. Originally it was where the butchers had all of their shops as the River Arno provided an easy place to discard of the waste. Most notably though is that it had a private passageway above the shops that allowed the Medicci family to travel from their house to their businesses on the other side of the river. Apparently it was to protect them from being attacked by their enemies. It is really impressive by night.

The bridge in day. Today the butcher shops have been replaced by gold and silver shops. It's quite amazing to walk across and see all of the gold glittering in the sun.

We made it!

After nearly 16 hours travel we made it to Florence at about noon today.
We left at 3 yesterday and unfortunately our itinerary had us flying first to Detroit, then Amsterdam before finally flying to Florence. it was very weird to land in Amsterdam and see the morning sun when our clocks still said 2:30 am. The only remarkable thing about that trip was flying over the Alps today. What a majestic sight that is.

Once we got here and got settled (including correcting the little snafu that gave us a room with just one bed) we did some exploring, walking through the blocks surrounding our hotel. It was a beautiful day, described to us as being "June weather" The hotel is really exquisite. It is quite old and has marble floors and wrought iron railings throughout and a plaza on the roof that offers some neat views of the city and the Tuscan hills surrounding us.

 This bed was nice BUT............

















Our home for a few days






The hotel sits on one of the many squares that we found. This one is dedicated to the Goddess of justice.

There is incredible architecture everywhere you turn

A little old fashioned transportation

Tonight we ate in a nice little Tuscan grill, our first chance to sample some real Italian food. We are both really tired so it will be an early night.

Tomorrow morning we have booked a walking tour of the significant sites that are in this section of the city. Sleep tight!