Best of Italy BOI2401
Nancy, Leon and Julia don´t care about the rain, grab their umbrellas and start a wonderful city walk through Rome on Friday morning! The city is full of impressive buildings. No wonder with a history of almost 3000 years! We are impressed by the size of the colosseum, the largest amphitheater in the ancient world. Has anyone had a big house party around Foro Romano? The monument of Vittorio Emanuele is wonderful. The white marble stands out from the typical yellow/orange/brown buildings. Due to it´s shape and color the romans also call it "the wedding cake". After enjoying the view from the rooftop of the sweet building we fight our way through hundreds of spectators to get a look at the Trevi fountain. Make sure to flip a coin if you like to come back to Rome one day! (The money gets donated to social projects in the end). Of course we enjoy some great coffee and pastries, see the Pantheon, try Italien Gelato (don´t you ever call it ice cream!) and enjoy the lively flair at the piazza Navona! After our long and wonderful walk we deserve some typical roman pasta!
8.30 am. While most of the other hotel guest stroll tiredly to the breakfast room we've enjoyed our cornetto and cappucchino already and meet motivated in the lobby for our first welcome briefing! A wonderful first riding day awaits us. The rain heard about all the excitement and decided to join us, too. With our rain gear on it ain´t no problem at all. We get out of the impressive, yet very busy city of Rome and head north to the wonderful old town Narni. Nice and easy we get to know our new bikes. "How do you like your 800GS Fred?" -- "I love it! I need to get one" That was quick :) As we arrive in Narni we can hear the sound of drums from the parking lot! What´s going on here? Everyone is walking around in costumes, music and happy people everywhere. They celebrate one of their saints today! And we get to see the wonderful lively event! Everyone´s drinking wine, Negroni and Aperol Spritz. We stay with coffee and save that for tonight! Later on we have a wonderful lunch in Montefalco. Time for some delicious pasta and to warm up a little! Who would have thought we´d desire a hot chocolate more than a gelato today?
As we look outside the window in the morning a few clouds are left at the sky, but if the weather forecast is correct it'll stay dry all day! After a wonderful breakfast at Hotel Giotto with various cakes and great cappuccino we once more enjoy the view from this gorgeous terrace and get on the bikes! A fantastic day is waiting for us! Full of fun roads and a relaxed walk through the famous city Cortona! You might have seen it in the movie: Under the Tuscan sun. Instead of a big lunch we choose to have a cool picnic and enjoy various paninis and sandwiches with porchetta, prosciutto, mozzarella.. in any way full of flavor! After a successful and adventurous day we leave Italy and ride to the wonderful city-state of SAN MARINO! The oldest republic in the world. Located upon a hill you have a wonderful view down in the valley while walking along the three historic towers. Or would you rather go shopping in the city center? We can highly recommend an Aperol Spritz on one of the sunny terraces as well. Italy in a glass. Wait! We were in San Marino! Sorry. Either way, make sure to see the sunset!
Under a bright blue sky and after a delicious breakfast, we leave San Marino and head back to the EU, in particular to beautiful Tuscany. As the rolling hills pass us by, our senses are awakened by the promise of adventure. Before enjoying the delicious picnic Julia had prepared for us, we visited the famous La Verna monastery. With renewed energy, we set off on our adventure again, enjoying the bends and hairpin bends of the Passo della Consuma before happily arriving at our hotel in Florence.
A restday in Florenze, countless places to discover, seemingly endless shopping streets to stroll along or would you prefer a day trip to Pisa? We decided to explore the beauty and history of Florence, paid Da Vinci and Macchiavelli a visit and maybe enjoyed some Aperol ;) We also found some delicious gelato and mouth-watering food, as every day.
Before we leave the vibrant city of Florence we stop by the Piazzale Michelangelo for a group picture with the skyline of Florence in the background. Our way leads us through the town of San Gimignano. Fred fearlessly faces the horrors of the torture museum, while the rest of the group explores the old town, crests the tower of San Gimignano and continues the search for the best ice cream of the tour. Our final stop for today is Volterra, a charming little town in the heart of Tuskany. We explore the fascinating Palazzo Incontri Viti, take a stroll through the town and found some time for a cute little photoshoot.
As we look outside in the morning a blue sky with little fluffy white clouds awaits us! Wonderful! Just how we ordered it! Today we have plenty of wonderful curvy roads on the list! Yes, you could be in Siena in about an hour. But who would like that riding such great bikes? We get to see the wonderful little town Castellina in Chianti, pass by plenty statues of the black rooster, the symbol of the chianti Classico and of course one wine plantation after the other. The scenery is just wonderful. It feels like riding through a postcard. For lunch we stop in Greve in Chianti and visit the antique butcher shop Fallorni which was opened in 1806! Try their traditional bread soup (Ribollita). We arrive our wonderful hote which used to be a monasteryl in the afternoon where Babsi surprises us with a special boot beer! One with Aperol Spritz flavor :) After a glass or two and a refreshing shower we jump in a taxi and drive to the center of Siena. Today we have a very special Tourguide for a guided city tour! No one else than our lovely Kathryn has lived in Siena for half a year and shows up around. Of course the most important question: Where do we get the best gelato?
It´s hard to tell which of the 8 days is the best. Each day is just wonderful and unique in it´s own way! This day is somehow special. The roads are paved perfectly and wind in wonderful curves through the picturesque landscape. As we hold on for a short break and Fred opens his vizier his eyes shine like those of a child on Christmas. "This is like Disney Land!". It´s hard to keep the right balance of concentrating on the streets and enjoying the wonderful surrounding. Just breathtaking! On our way we pass by the roofless rural Abbazia San Galgano. Can you imagine this building is 800 years old?? We continue our way, pass by a cool coffee stop on a gas station. Yes! In Italy you even get a great and cheap coffee at gas stations! After another 1,5h of wonderful riding we end up at the parking spot of the little village Bagno Vignoni where we spot the blue Edelweiss Van? Babsi surprises us with a wonderful picknick in the sun! This Pesto Parmesan arugula salad and the tomato carpaccio. So refreshing and so flavorful! After our picnic we grab a cafe at the piazza of Bagno Vignoni. Did anyone bring their swim gear? The whole piazza is one big pool! So cool! In the afternoon we pass by the Abbazia Sant´Antimo. Such a peaceful place on earth. The city Montalcino is our next stop and known for the world famous Brunello wine! One wine shop after the other. Don´t drink and ride. But panniers are the perfect size to carry 2-18 wine bottles around :) Before we ride to our gorgeous hotel we visit the beautiful model city Pienza! These wonderful views (again)! Just wonderful! In the evening we get to watch a beautiful sunset and eat the most pillowy and delicious gnocchi cacio e pepe.
With a laughing and a crying eye we start our last day for this tour. After some more amazing breakfast and a quick daily briefing, we leave our beautiful hotel and head to our first highlight of the day - Orvieto. We discover the architectural masterpice the well of Saint Patrick, enjoy the lovely view over the region, have some delicious Affogato al caffè and are stunned by the beauty of Orvieto's dome. Then we head on to Civita di Bagnoregio, an impressive etruscan city, which is slowly crumbling apart. After a coffee stop in the sun near a glistening lake, we face the crazy roman traffic. Quite a masterpice to watch and even more amazing to be part of. At the end of the day, we make it to Rome and enjoy one final memorable evenning to seal the newly formed friendship we created over the whole trip.