Brian's too tired to write tonight, so I get the honors. You'd rather hear from me anyway, as best I can tell!
So the last few days have been long. Not really hard - a few climbs here and there - but long. We've averaged about 95 miles each day. But the cool thing - just a few days ago, I was overlooking the ocean on the ride at Cinqueterra. Today, I'm looking at the ocean on the OTHER side of the country! Yes, we've made it across...
The ride through Tuscany was incredibly beautiful. While you can only see so much from a back pocket, there were some incredible things. The vineyards and the olive trees create a beautiful patchwork across the mountains. In fact, as we were riding through, I felt like we were in the middle of someone's picture! However, I checked out Brian's pictures, and you can only get so much from the handlebar of a bike... SO, for those who'd like to see, you'll have to wait until Brian gets Peter's pictures after the trip is over - his are great.
Now that our cook and driver have joined us and we've rented a second vehicle, life is good for us. We leave in the morning around 9:00 after a good breakfast, ride a few hours, stop at a supermarket and buy supplies and eat lunch, and then arrive at the camp around 6:00 or so. That means our riding pace isn't extremely tough - just long days.
Interestingly, in Italy, Sundays are totally different than every other day. It's been Brian's observation that "church" and "faith" are basically irrelevant here in Europe - they're historical, but not practically a part of living. However, leisure is alive and well! And Sundays are a leisure day - there's NOTHING open! That's the difference between a country where leisure is god versus a country (like the USA) where materialism is god - even though the church is largely more relevant in the US, we would NEVER see everything closed on Sundays...
I say all that to say that there are no supermarkets open on Sundays, which threw off our schedule. We had to stop at one of the restaurants along the route, which happened to serve a house specialty of seafood pasta. Since Brian's pics of this part of the trip stink, here's a few shots from lunch! I'm really enjoying myself - except for where the clam thing attacked me... Also, please observe Peter greatly enjoying his food in the background of the last picture!
We finished our route after lunch, arriving at the campground about 6:00 or so. All went well and we arrived in one piece. However, Brian got a flat again today - that's THREE this trip already! What he hasn't realized yet is that he only gets flats when he stuffs me into that dumb stem bag under the seat of the bike - first of all, it's a lousy view... Secondly, it's under the seat, if you know what I mean. YUCK!! If he would just keep me in the pocket, I would probably stop popping the tires...
Anyway, we got to our campground for tonight. Tomorrow we head another 50-60 miles down the coast, and then head inland towards the camp that we'll be spending both tomorrow night and our off day. For those who remember, we'll be very close to L'Aquila, which was where the earthquake was just a month or so ago, and so we may go see what's happening there. The rest will be much needed, however. Bodies are tired, but minds even more so. However, this time next week, we'll be done riding and wrapping things up in Rome!
As I sign off tonight, here's quick view from directly outside the door of the tent... Don't be too jealous. Talk to you all soon!
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