2TU160A - Il Migliore Degli Amici - Tuscany by Scooter
What a fantastic last day! We woke up to some grey skies and rain, and 7 of us headed to the pasta cooking class in Villa Pitiana. We had a great time helping to prepare our own lunch, and by the time we were done, the skies were blue and sunny again! So we headed up the Passo Della Consuma again, and were treated to a great view this time around. We even had some of our self-made Cantuci biscuits with the coffee. Once we got back, 4 of our bravest scooterista's joined tourguide Laurens for a final ride to the Ponte Vecchio, fighting their way through the craziest Florentine traffic, on a scooter, that actually is a lot of fun!
Another great day is behind us! It was a nice blend of the previous days: a taste of the Appenine mountains going over the Passo Della Consuma (where the view was hidden by the clouds unfortunately), then hitting our highlight of the day, the city of Arezzo. Such a contrast with Siena; it's not as grand and bombastic, but it's also not overrun with tourists, making it very nice to walk around the little alleyways. Then back through rolling hills with vineyards, ending the day by rolling down some of our favorite streets in Settignano back to the hotel. The clouds in the sky didn't even bother us today, it's nice to have a cooler temperature, and no sun glare in our eyes!
Back to cruising through the rolling Tuscan countryside it is for day 3! We started our day with a familiar section through the Chianti region to Greve again, and then continued past Castellina into the province of Siena and its capital city. Instead of braving the steep, small Siennese alleys, we parked our scooters at the gate and walked around the city for a few hours, seeing the main highlights of the Piazza and the Duomo. After that more curvy roads lay up ahead to the sleepy town of Montevarchi where we had coffee, after which we headed on back to Florence. This evening we then went to the famous "Perseus" restaurant, known for it's beef and steaks!
Oh my, what a day! No sightseeing or shopping today, just 120 miles of curves through the Appenine mountains. We headed straight North in the morning, avoinding the Florence morning traffic, and were woken up instantly by a bit of autumn morning chill! First highlight was the Mugello circuit, famous for its MotoGP race. We were lucky to get free access and took in the sights and sounds of Lamborghini's roaring over the track. Then on we went to Firenzuola and Pallazzuolo, before heading back south again of the mountain roads that took us over the well-known Passo Muraglione!
We had a great first day, cruising through the famous Chianti region (known for its wine), while taking in all the typical Italian sights that Tuscany has to offer. Our highlight of the day was a visit to San Gimignano, a UNESCO World Heritage site, known for it's medieval streets and buildings, as well as the 14 surviving towers that can be seen from afar. At the end of the day we braved the Florence traffic up towards Piazza Michelangelo, and eventually made it to the hotel. Well done everybody!