Today was our first day of bike riding. We all met in Florence last night and
had a very late dinner with lots of seafood, pasta and wine. There are 17 in
our group and it is a mixture of all ages from early 20’s to mid 60’s from
Americans, New Zealanders, Austrian and Germans. In the morning we caught the train for the
first 70km to get out of the city. We arrived in a town called Arezzo and it is a city full of churches and
a city of antiques and gold. We got to explore the markets in the medieval part
of town for about half an hour before we hit the road. The weather was overcast
but as we reached Tuscany it started to rain
quite hard so it wasn’t anything like under the Tuscany sun but our spirits were still high.
This was a half way of our 60km ride and our host’s wife Sonya had made us a
fantastic picnic lunch in the middle of a paddock with the view of Southern
Tuscany and some ancient farm ruins in the distance. We then went to Cortona
and up to the Trasimeno Lake which was the battlefield of where Hannibal fought the
Romans. We stopped for a cappuccino and fortunately it was only another 6 km to
our hotel where we could all have a hot shower and relax before another
dinner. There are not too many photos
because of the rain and tomorrow will be similar but fortunately we were
prepared. Tomorrow’s ride won’t be as
long as long as today but there will be a few more hills. This village is called Trasimeno and it is so
beautiful. There is a medieval village behind the lake and it is still
inhabited. Gary dragged me up the hill to have a look
but it was still raining and I have been wet all day so we decided to have a
look tomorrow.
I am very weary and hope I can keep up the pace. I am not
doing too badly. I find myself in the middle of the pack, not the strongest nor
the weakest but time will tell. We are both safe and well. So until next time!
Love to you all from Chel and Gary xx
Tuscany in the rain
Hi, I looked 2 hrs ago, and no blog.I thought I try again, and yes there it was. All the photos look lovely, despite the rain!! I hope the weather will change xxxmumxxx
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI am so glad that you are going well Rachel, all your training must be paying off. It is great to see the photos as well as read your blog, it makes your stories come alive.
It seems as though you are having no trouble finding wifi while in Europe, which is great for you guys and for us, as it is a great way to start the day, reading what you have been doing.
lots of love xxx
Fantactic pedalling Rachel,60km is no mean feat and that was only your first day! Pity about the rain, still better than strong head winds. You're travelling through areas of Italy I haven't heard of before, such history to digest, will get out my map to see if I can catch up with you. Hope your having fun with the International group.
ReplyDeleteMuch love Mum XX