The sun came out! A Magic Monday beckoned as we set off on the bikes to run some errands nearby, starting the ride in puffer jackets and stripping off layers by the time we returned. With supplies gathered early, in the local fashion by loading up the bikes with our groceries, we dropped things off... Continue Reading →

Today we went out for a massage and cellulite treatment, a.k.a. a bike ride around the cobbled streets of Firenze! As we bumped along, the rear end got a fine ol’ pummelling, the arms and legs got a good shuddering and I think we may even have come close to losing a filling or two,... Continue Reading →

Today we had planned to take the bikes out for a spin, to visit a garden on the edge of the city for a picnic and then take in the views of Firenze from the Piazzale Michelangelo, but the rain put a stop to those plans! So, none of those things happened. But…we were supposed... Continue Reading →

There sure was so much to like today, right from the start! I was woken at 5:00am by the sound of rain above and since it wasn’t going to stop, I sure wasn’t going to get back to sleep. The good thing about our little apartment though, is that I could get up and go... Continue Reading →

The plan for today was to head closer to Florence, so with only a short ride ahead of us, albeit under grey skies again, we left a little later than usual and set off pedalling. We managed to keep out of the traffic most of the way, with cycle lanes on the road, or at... Continue Reading →

I mentioned in the last post that Steve wasn’t wearing his usual blue raincoat for our soggy cycle yesterday. Well, the story in brief is this…when we arrived at Barberino di Mugello and were consulting the weather for the next day and saw that we were in for a wet ride, I asked Steve the... Continue Reading →

With the plan to ride on to Florence today, we spent some time last night looking at weather forecasts. Every site we looked at said there was going to be rain and storms, they just all said a different thing about when the rain and storms were going to start and finish. We tried to... Continue Reading →

Sunday October 11 Well, today was really just a nothing kind of day. We spent it in front of computers and iPads, trying to finalise arrangements, plans and bookings for the remainder of the trip. We still didn’t get everything done, but made some progress with the things that need doing. We did stop for elevenses... Continue Reading →

Thursday, October 8 Sometimes the mundane gets in the way of the interesting. Today's ride was held up slightly by the Code Orange laundry situation. We'd been having some trouble finding a lavandaria, so when we located one that was on our route out of Rovigo, we decided to take the opportunity while it presented... Continue Reading →

No rain this morning! Yippedy-yi-yay! Only fog. We were hoping the fog would clear or thin, so we could at least be visible on the road. With breakfast provided by the hotel, we wandered downstairs expecting to see the usual buffet options. Instead, we were met and escorted to our table by the friendly waitress,... Continue Reading →