October 13th, Florence, 0 k

This am, we cooked and ate breakfast at the campgrounds outdoor cafe, cooking campside first, and then getting the coffee from the bar. We walked to the center and marvelled at the Duomo, other grand edifices of the Renaissance and Medici eras, all the glorious gelato displays, and of course, coffee... However, that being said, we find Florence, congested, polluted and frenetic, and more beautiful from our campsite, actually.

October 12th, Radda in Chianti to Florence, 56k

Taday we had left St. Gimignano before getting here. Another gorgeous day and another beautiful route through the Chianti region of Tuscany. Before departing we had coffee at a cafe in Radda. A German couple stopped on bikes and asked us about the tandem (they had one too). This ended up being a delightful and long conversation for which they joined us at our table. Such are the joys of being on the road and making yourself available to rub elbows. We departed later than hoped, but arrived in Florence in time to enjoy a wonderful descent from Chianti, around a beautiful botanical garden and down a windy street into our campground, the Michelangelo campground. The campground is perched high on a cliff overlooking the Arno river and a stunning view of all of Florence. It has great amenities, including very hot showers, a bar and cafe, internet access, store, bus and foot access to town, etc. We also got assigned a tiny spot in an area all to ourselves. It is quite cozy. Thus is the end to the riding part of our trip to Italy. Stay tuned as we explore on foot, Florence, Lucca, and Cinque Terre.

October 11th, to Radda in Il Chianti, 50.2k

A glorious ride out of our campground. Another warm day and we even rode with short sleeves by 11 a.m. The views were fantastic, and the hills long, but with good grades. Regardless, pedalling uphill for 20 plus k peaking at 600 meters is tiring, especially loaded wih 25 plus kg. Going through Poggisbonsi was a nightmare and we had to stop and ask many people many times, the way...to San Jose. Our first goal was Castellina in Chianti, obviously in the beautiful wine country where Chianti is made. In spite of these moments of being lost, we made it there in good time. There we had coffee for a short break, and ate our salami and cheese sandwiches. Now, I am sure many of you are pondering our very bad diet. It is true, but these seem to be our limited choices while cycling...hopefully we are getting rid of the cholesterol fairly quickly. We will get back to our healthy routine once we are back home and can buy fresh produce, refrigerate, etc.

We also made it in no time to Radda in Chianti, a small town in the Chianti region. It was best to stop here for the night, so we grabbed the first place advertising camere (rooms) and we got a lovely spot in a home in a walk-in basement. We had a terrace and window that overlooked a drop dead valley of vineyards. Our host had grapes on our table ready to eat, and spoke very clear and animated Italian. We really enjoyed her. After unloading we walked 1k into town and had a look, to use the internet, buy groceries. At our host's recommendation, we also bought a bottle of the local Vin Santo and Cantucci (biscotti)...and we went back to our little abode and poured and watched the sun set on the hills. The locals like to dip the biscotti in this sweet wine..so when in Rome....Our big discovery in Radda was that it was a hub for a hell of a lot of peanut butter (we treasure and hoard when we find it). ...and who said there was no peanut butter in Italy.

October 10th, San Gimignano, 37k

We spent the day in and around this lovely hill town. We had our breakfast of cereal campside as the sun was slowly shining on the town, our view from our camp, and then on us. We walked up the steep path to the bar for coffee and croissants. We then rode the bike 2k to town. We visited the cathedral with its storyboard like art frescoes depicting the history of SG. We climbed one of the town's 12 towers to get a birdeye's view. Ironically, some of the towers align like the World Trade Center. A few had tables and chairs on top of them. We listend to yet another street musician who played a beautiful harp. We took our lunch up another path that overlooked the valley below and had our packed peanut butter and jelly sandwich. We had a session at the Internet cafe trying to do damage control on the ever declining stock market, and then hopped on the bike to do a 25 k ride on a scenic road recommended by Lonely Planet. This was on the way to Volterra which we were going to visit. However, the description seemed very similar to some other hill towns we had been to and we were seeking uniqueness. The roads were hilly, but we ate up the k's in record time, sans panniers. We returned back to town afterwards having earned our right to a world-renowned gelator (and I am ashamed to say we had two of them, so good were they and so deserving we felt).

The day was warm at 25 degrees Centigrade. Cyclists are everywhere and we talked to many at the main plaza here. Everyone is intrigued by our tandem. It is a real conversation starter. We met a large group from Norway, a couple from Seattle and numerous local cyclists. We returned to the local supermarket/Coop for our dinner suppliles. At camp, we showered, cooked pasta and made a salad.

October 9th, Sienna to San Gimignano, 48.4k

What a beautiful day we woke up to. Ate, packed the bike and when we finally showed ourselves in front of our hosts home, they came out to say their goodbyes. I guess the language barrier prevented them from being more social with us. They even suggested we stayed longer, but we were satisfied with what we had seen in Sienna and wanted to move on. We were thankful for an opportunity to have our independence anyway, providing a bed, kitchen, pots and pans, towels, etc. (even though we have our own).

We set off for San Gimignano. The ride was great. We had an unexpected treat en route. On the map, we saw a place called Monteriggioni as a place of interest. From afar, it looked like nothing more than an abandoned medieval fort. But we decided to take a peek, and were surprised to find that it had a tiny city inside of it that was quite charming, with wine tasting, a hotel, restaurants. We did a walk along the city walls and talked with some other bikers there, and of course, tasted some wine. We would definitely recommend this as a place to stay on any bike trip, as it is away from the maddening crowd, yet had all the amenities, including an internet cafe.
San Gimignano turned out to be one of our top favorite hill towns in Tuscany. The book describes it appropriately, in that it looks like you are entering Manhatten (it now has 12 standing towers, and once had 72 of them). In the summer, it also said you would feel like half of Manhatten had moved in, as it is a popular tourist place. We found a stunning campground and campsite, down a steep hill, that gave us a great view of the SG. We unloaded our stuff and headed into town. It was a delight to go in on such a light bike. After tooting around, we had a wonderful Tuscan meal and then went to the central plaza where some German students were playing outstanding classical music. An end to a perfect day!

October 8th, Sienna, 0 K

Having taken the bus last night back to our Servas host home, we were able to figure out how to walk into town today. A breeze...We visited the big fort (not mentioned in the tour books) and the market around it (Wednesday is market day all over Sienna). The weather was gorgeous. Went to an internet cafe and to see a recommended church only to find it now converted to a university. The view of the city was nice. We went back to Il Campo, picked up some gelato and laid down on it, like many other toursits, soaking in the Tuscan sun. We watched a mime entertain those at Il Campo and photographed many, many people eating gelatos.
We returned to our Servas host home and Mauny worked on the bike, changing the brake pads, worn out b all our steep descents we have done the last 800k. He tuned up the bike as well. This is the 2nd set of brakes changes on this trip. We made dinner in our room and went to bed.

October 7th, Sienna, 0 K

We spent the day exploring the wonders of Sienna. We decided to walk, using the map we bought yesterday. Although we had found our host with the map, the streets we wanted to navigate into town, did not exist, except for on the map. So we decided to take the bus. After we got on the bus, we found out that we should have bought a ticket at the tabachi. However, the driver did not seem to care, so we rode into Sienna free of charge. We got off near the center. After all the lovely hill towns we have visited Sienna did not seem as much of a surprise as we had thought. It is pretty, but very touristy with Americans everywhere. The cathedral was stunning, with over 50 marvelous marble created scenes on the floor.

We bought some groceries and returned to our host facilities. We have found our arrangement with this Servas host a little unusual, as neither he nor his wife come out to see how we are, offer us wine or coffee....nothing, no communication at all. We are feeling a little odd about this. However, we appreciate the generousity of shelter over our heads as always.

October 6th, Bano Vignoni to Sienna, 59.4 K

Today started out as one of our best days. We had a very hearty breakfast prepared by our British patron. The best we have had so far. The road from S. Quirico to Asciano was the most scenic we have experienced, in which we road a pathlike paved crest of a mountain, from which flowed vineyards and vistas on either side. To top that, we have had the best gelato in Asciano, which seems to be a hub for cyclists with great eats. Talked with an Aussie couple there.
From here we roade to Sienna, with a few challenging ups and downs with signs of 20% grades. Regardless, none were as tough as we had thought. We must be in shape. Entering Sienna was tricky to say the least and finding our Servas host a little bit of an adventure (more on this later). Stopped in a tabbachi for better maps, and the patron was kind enough to show us where the host was located outside of town. Elaine had tried to talk with the host prior. As she had little Italian and he little English, she got out of him that he was in a neighborhood named Cappacini. We were able to find us and greeted us with a kiss on both cheeks. He showed us to our room, which was in the basement of his house, with a kitchenette and private entrance. In the Servas book, it said lodging only, and so we were not suprised that we were going to be on our own. However, we were a little disappointed in the cleanliness of the room, and we are still peeling off cobwebs from our clothes, several days later. When we could not communicate, he took us into his house, and we sat down at his computer, on which he had a translator. Thus, we were able to tell him how long we were staying, ask about hot water, etc. We washed our clothes in the sink, hung them to dry, admired the 5 kittens he had, made our dinner and planned our voyage into Sienna tomorrow.

October 5th, Montepulciano to Bagno Vignoni, 34.4k

After our Italian breakfast we walked around Montepulciano, a town known for its wine (name excapes me at this time, but you can look it up). We enjoyed the fantastic views which are regarded as a UNESCO World Heritage area. We tasted some wine in town, got food staples for the day and departed after noon. We made an hour stop in the hilltop town of Pienza which originally was not on our agenda, but the view of the valley below from its vantage point was recommended. There we sat on the perimeter stone walkway and had caffe americano and talked with two women who were on their upteenth trip to Italy. After that we set out for Bagno Vignoni, a short trip. En route, we talked with a biking family from Australia who were travelling with a teen son and baby in diapers in tote. We are so amazed when we meet families like this who are so adaptable. What an education they are providing. We headed toward S. Quierco, where we searched for a room for the night. All were chiuso (this is an inside joke for us, as it seems everytime we need or are looking for something, it is closed). We decided to press on toward our sight destiination of Bagno Vignoni, where there are hot springs once used by the Etrucans, and other old folks of yore. Of course, today they are used by old folks of today. Italy is full of agriturismos (working farms where you can get rooms for the night) and bed and breakfasts (different from US b&bs). En route to Bagno, Elaine saw a B&B named San Buonoventura (the Italian version of our own home town, San Buenaventura). Even though it looked like nobody was home, she decided to walk up the gravel road and knock. And indeed they had rooms available. We checked in, unloaded our bikes and flew down to the baths, crested on a hill. A place for the hoighty toighty and not for budgets like ours, we just had a look. We went back home, ate in our room, and watched Italian TV before retiring.