SaraLynn11

This day's ride was exactly what I thought/hoped bike riding would be like in Tuscany. Lots of hills (but not too steep) with beautiful scenery all around. We started out by receiving a bit of rain, enough to stop, put my rain jacket on for awhile and then move on. I was thinking to myself, I hope this will not be an "Ireland Day", but it cleared up rather quickly. The highlight for me came towards the end of the ride. 10k outside of Montalcino, is the Abbey of Sant'Antimo. I arrived after a gently sloping downhill in time for the 12:45 Gregorian Chant service, lovely to listen to. I then enjoyed the ride uphill to Montalcino ( so much so, that I contemplated doing it again the following morning, but couldn't because our schedule was ... read more

We leave Cortona heading to our morning destination of Montepulciano, famous for their wines! Up until now, I have not seen any vineyards. Although I have passed through lots of farmland, they have been primarily plowed over fields of wheat with some sunflowers. Now I start to see the vineyards. Arrive in Montepulciano. I leave my bike with our guide Mark and walk the town utilizing my guidebook that I had downloaded onto my iPhone. It's nice for me to have a gudiebook to point out the usual items that I would walk right past. My afternoon ride is an extension ride that our guide Pierre mapped out for me. While the ride was rewarding with steep climbs to beautiful vistas, it had some very off-piste sections (gravel). The town of Petroio was particularly charming. I ... read more

Our ride today was a loop ride, with the planned highligh being Assisi. We leave the hotel at 9 AM, the "arrows down" time. Experience Plus sends one of the guides out early in the morning to draw chalk arrows along the route. We are not allowed to leave early because of the risk of riders overtaking the "chalk arrow drawer" (This would never be a problem in my case, but I go with the flow.) Our first stop is Spello, where I visit Santa Maria Maggiore to admire the chapel painted by Pinturicchio. I meet up with Bob and Kay from Seattle and we decide to do the extra 7 mile ride leaving from Spello around Mont Subasio to Assisi. It also promises to add some elevation gain to my day. It is a mostly ... read more

Benvenuto to my trip blog! This first post is to let everyone know that I have arrived in Italy without mishap (yet). At 7 PM last night, I took the good old C & J Bus to the airport - many thanks to Naira for the drop off at Pease! My Alitalia flight departed at 10:50 PM nonstop to Rom arriving at 12:50 PM today. There were no delays and it was the most pleasant international flight that I can remember. No crying babies, etc. The plane seemed brand new, and for those of you who know of my germaphobe tendencies, I can report that I only needed to use 2 of my wet wipes! I amused myself waiting for the flight by reading an entertainin article about fanny packs that VJ had passed on to ... read more