Geo: 45.3246, 8.42369As this was the first day when our hotel didn't include breakfast, we decided just grab something on our way to find the team buses. A little bakery was on the way, so with a couple of croissants and 2 cafes in hand, breakfast was served -- and consumed on the steps of a church in the plaza.After following the Tour de France once, and the USA Pro Challenge a few times, we've come to the conclusion that the start of a stage is a much better place for meeting cyclists. Since we have Gnorm the Gnome with us, and he's a big cycling fan, our plan was to try to meet a few of the riders that we haven't had an opportunity to meet before.The 2nd bus to pull in was that of ... read more

Geo: 44.6984, 10.63Any day that brings you a view of the Italian countryside from your hotel window can't be all bad.This morning fit that description just dandy. Throw open the wooden window covers, and gaze out onto rolling hills, all green and a tiny touch dewy.Our goal for the day was to catch the Giro stage 11 as the boys tackled the first categorized climb.The Passo della Calla is a "cat 3", meaning it's not all that terrible, comparatively. 16 km in length, about 850 meters (about 2,790 feet) in elevation gain, and an average grade of 5.2%. Easy peasy (if you're a pro).After stopping at a local grocery store to grab something for a lunch (peanut butter and bread, with a banana, 2 Cokes and 2 huge bottles of water), we were on our way ... read more

Geo: 43.1073, 12.4194Meanwhile, back in the tiny Yotel room....I zonked out for a solid 3 hours or so, and Dejo got some reasonable rest as well.When we woke up to the alarm at about 7, Dejo was feeling quite a bit better, and we made our way to the terminal. Or rather, the lounge.May I just say, the Air France staff was simply lovely and terribly helpful, just all around? I'm a fan.We had a little breakfast, and then moved to a couple of armchairs to wait out the morning.Now we had a little re-planning to do.The plan had been to land in Rome, get to our hotel near the Colosseum, have a tiny tour of the area, and the next morning, take a train to Orvieto where we would pick up the car, and some ... read more

Geo: 49.0037, 2.57798We'd had our flight to Rome booked for several months. Denver-Rome (by way of JFK), then back from Milan. We booked a higher class of coach ticket than normal, so that they were upgradeable.I was able to use my miles (which have been building up for several years) to bump us up to business class on the outbound.My thinking was this: We have one afternoon and a little of the next morning in Rome, and I was hoping we could arrive with some decent dozing done, so that we were better rested than we usually are after an international flight.We got to the airport a bit later than we'd like, and learned en route that our flight out of Denver was delayed. Seems weather in NYC is affecting flights throughout the system. If we ... read more

Geo: 39.3759, -104.86Quite contrary to our Tour de France trip, where we only planned a few places to stay ahead of time, this trip is entirely pre-planned.For the TdF, we rented a campervan, and while we more or less knew what general areas we'd aim for, we didn't know exactly where we'd be staying each night.For this trip, we decided to go a more traditional route, and rent a car, and stay in hotels or B&Bs along the way.Part of the reason for this decision was.....well.....Italy. We've heard the stories/rumours of driving in Italy, and decided it might not be as wise to try to drive a campervan along the roads of Italy.We also wanted to be certain of staying near important stage starts or finishes.So, we've got all hotels set, and today, we finalized the ... read more