Tuscany, Italy

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I arrived in Florence on August 1 - It was just as hot in the Tuscan region as it was in Greece. Florence is a lovely city and I spent a day just wandering around. I didn't see any of the sites, I just walked and ate - 3 gelatos in one day isn't too much is it?? Cocoa alla aranzia (not sure if that is spelled correctly) is my favourite - although Tiramisu gelato (combining my two favourite deserts) is a close second.

I then took the train and bus to San Gimignano, an old fortified town and the start of my tour. San Gimingano is incredibly full of tourists, I spent a day walking around and a day in my hotel reading - then the cycling tour started.

The tour was self guided - meaning I was cycling on my own with a map, but had a route manager i could contact if I ran into problems. I cycled from San Gimignano to Colle Di Val D'Elsa, then from Colle Di Val D'Elsa to Monteriggiani, and then to Siena. Luckily, each days ride was just over 40km and I could get the ride over with by about 11 each morning. 37 degrees, which was the temperature at midday, is just too hot!! The cycling was hilly, but the scenery lovely. The towns were sort of the same - not much to write home about.

I spent 2 days in Siena and enjoyed the food and a wine tour and then returned to Florence.

Since Pisa is only an hour from Florence by train, I decided I needed to make a side trip to see the leaning tower of. It was well worth it! This was the highlight of my trip in Italy. For me the leaning tower is one of the great icons that defines a city. France has its Eiffel Tower; New York has the statue of liberty; Pisa has the leaning tower. It was maginificent to behold in real life and lived up to my expectations, unlike the other two icons I mentioned.

I am now in Krabi, Thailand and have discovered that my bank card has demagnitized - should make the rest of my trip interesting. Tomorrow I head off into the rural areas for my 2 week volunteer project - no internet or other technology!

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Comments

[Matt]

Are you on Crack!
T, You can't be serious about the leaning tower of Pisa - I truly hope you aren't serious!!!

[TJG]

I'm not on crack, but to each their own.