The heart of Italy 4IT1402
02 Sep 2014
Day 5, Urbino - Florence
Unfortunately the last riding day of this great tour has arrived! Today we first rode to San Leo, a very important town in the middle ages, where we enjoyed a nice coffee break. Then we took the highway for a short stretch and enjoyed the last "approximately" 600 turns to our hotel in Florence, riding on the “Passo del Muraglione”, one of the most famous roads for italian motorcyclists!
It was a great tour! Thank you everybody, let's hope to meet again and let's keep in touch!
San Leo
The Cathedral of San Leo
Coffee break
Riding on the "Passo del Muraglione"!
Goodbye everybody!!!
Day 4, Urbino - San Marino - Cattolica - Tavullia - Urbino
Despite some rain in the morning, at 9am we were ready to leave for another great riding day! Our first stop was in San Marino (the oldest and probably the smallest republic in the world!) where we parked just outside the old walls and could enjoy a walk in the centre. On the way to the coast we stopped in Coriano to see the monument dedicated to Marco Simoncelli, and then we had a nice lunch in Gabicce Monte, overlooking the Adriatic sea. Going back to Urbino we could not miss a stop in Tavullia, hometown of "The Doctor" Valentino Rossi, where some of us tasted the famous "46" cappuccino!
Nice view of Urbino
San Marino
Marco Simoncelli's memorial in Coriano
lunch!
in Tavullia
Rossi's Cappuccino
Some mist when we came back to Urbino
Day 3, Perugia - Urbino
After a rich breakfast, we were ready to leave Perugia for another nice riding day... Urbino and the Marche region were waiting for us and Luciano, our Australian-Italian, could not wait to finally enter the region where (a long long time ago...) he was born! After a coffee break and a walk in Cortona, a beautiful medieval town in southern Tuscany, we had a very tasty lunch at a friendly restaurant in the middle of the hills. Finally we reached the awesome town of Urbino (whose historical centre is listed in the UNESCO World heritage sites) in time to enjoy a pleasant walk and enjoy a bit of the italian lifestyle with a nice "aperitivo" on the central square before dinner!
Group picture on the way to Cortona
wiew from Cortona
Square of Cortona
Another view from Cortona
walking in Urbino
Urbino
Aperitivo before dinner
Day 2, Perugia - Castelluccio - Assisi - Perugia
Today, after a "quick" visit at the Ducati dealer of Perugia, we went for a nice loop that took us to the Sibillini mountains, one of the most beautiful spots of the whole Appennini range, where we had lunch in the small town of Castelluccio. Unfortunately in this town you can exclusively find locally produced food, but we have to admit it was very tasty! In the afternoon, on the way back, we stopped in Assisi, a delicious town famous in the world for being the birthplace of St. Francis. There we could enjoy a visit of the Basilica... and of course also a nice ice cream!
Luciano and his Diavel
Nice view over the valley of Castelluccio
Lunch break
Rain gear on... but fortunately it wasn't really needed!
Marcelo and Cristiane
Richard
Cordula
Rod and Luciano
The St. Francis Basilica in Assisi
The basilica
Assisi is a very old town, look at this roman temple that is now turned into a church!
gelato!!
Nice spot of Assisi
Leaving Assisi
A walk in Perugia before dinner
Day 1, Florence – Perugia
Welcome to Florence, where another great Edelweiss tour is about to begin!
On the first day we left this wonderful town and started to enjoy riding the winding roads of the Chianti hills. This area, very well known for its excellent wines, seems like it was made for motorcyclists: beautiful landscapes, good roads... what a pleasure it is to ride surrounded by olive trees and vines! We reached Siena just in time for lunch and there we could admire one of the most beautiful squares in Europe, the "Piazza del Campo" where twice per year the famous "Palio" takes place. A relaxing afternoon break in Montepulciano was well deserved (and enjoyed!) on the way to Perugia!
Welcome to Florence, Edelweiss riders!
Magnificent view from Piazzale Michelangelo
what a nice group!
The american cemetery and memorial of Florence, over 4000 soldiers died in Italy during World War 2 are buried here.
First coffee break of our tour, Greve in Chianti
The square of Greve in Chianti
The skyline of San Gimignano
Evandro and Monica