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SPT23051 Beautiful Tuscany - the Brazilian way

Monday, May 22, 2023 | Angela | Europe / Italy

Tour Start in Milano

A bunch of Brazilian riders have arrived in the beautiful city of Milano. Rudinei, Raul, Rene, Joao, Paulo, Rogerio and Genaro are looking very much forward to get their motorcycles out the garage and explore the area south of Milano, respectively also the region of Tuscany. 

 

The map doesn't have much to tell about our riding days yet. But of course, we will do our best to get this changed in the days to come.
"Il Dottore di Casco" assisted with some last minute preparation of the riding gear. I can assure you, we had dinner before

Day 2: Out of Milano, over the Apennin Mountains and into Rapallo

Leaving Milano was unexpectedly unspectacular for such a major city

A short ride on the highway took us further south and also closer to the Apennin Mountains. Compared to the Alps, the Apennin is a lower mountain range but is covered in a lush green all over the place. Riding a motorcycle through the forests all day long relaxes you completely.

Our evening was a relaxed one, too. Rapallo is our tonight's destination. From our hotel we can enjoy the view of the Castelo sul Mare.

Ready to rock & roll
On these narrow and remote roads we were riding today, it didn't matter standing in the middle of the road. There was not a single vehicle to be seen for hours anyhow.
Don't you think its a bit "cheesy"?
Entering Rapallo
A well deserved beer at the end of a beautiful riding day
Castelo sul Mare in Rapallo

Day 3: From Rapallo through 5 "Worlds" into Lucca

Riding around 5 earths in one day? How can this possibly be true?

Well, the literal translation of "Cinque Terre" is "The five earths". But in reality, of course, these are the five colourful villages, which are nestled against the Italian coastline between Rapallo and La Spezia.

Despite the  drizzle it was a fantastic riding day with an unexpected finish before the hotel

Ciao Rapallo
If I lived in Italy, I would have a coffee break all the time Espresso, Cappucchino, Latte Macchiato.... it is all so delicious
Cinque Terre
Absolutely impressive to unexpectedly find villages like this around the next corner.
Like a coin has two sides...
... this picture, too, has two sides
Rogerio hasen't finally decided yet whether he wants to continue riding his bike...
... or if he changes for the local transportation with a view
Out of the five villages we picked Riomaggiore for our lunch break
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Quite unexpectedly we were forced to a stop by the Giro d'Italia which was crossing our route at the end of the day

Day 4: Leaving Lucca at a leaning angle and carving our way into Siena

This morning's drizzle didn't keep us from doing some sightseeing. Our first stop at the leaning tower of Pisa wasn't a far away ride anyways.

Famous places, of course, attract many visitors. But still it was quite something to see this tower that permamently causes the desire in you to install some support to prevent it from falling over

San Gimignano, with its medieval towers, was a perfect combination of lunch break and sightseeing. 

A fairly early arrival in Siena allowed some of us to walk into the old part of the city to see the Il Campo and the Duomo

Leaning tower and Cathedral of Pisa
San Gimignano
Arrival at our hotel in Siena
Our walk through the city of Siena was one of the best highlights of this tour so far

Day 5: From Siena to Assisi - a religious ride

In the morning at the briefing we were praying for the rain to spare us, at the Abbazia di Sant'Antimo we were asking for forgiveness for any flaws in our riding, during the day we thanked god for the beauty of the land we were blessed to ride through, and that we didn't stray from the right path. Finally, in Assisi we were contemplating in the gigantic Church of Saint Francis.

If this isn't called a religious ride.

 

The seven holy riders
Montalcino
They said they bought altar wine
Abbazia di Sant'Antimo
In Bagni Vignoni ...
... we thought the thermal waters would support our spiritual cleansing
Arrival.in Assisi

Day 6: Up up and away to Florence - immersed in Rennaisance

Even though today's ride would have been a relly nice one, the weather gods gave us a nice amount of rain, too. But of course, we stayed happy and got focussed more on sightseeing Florence, the cradle of the Renaissance.

Florence is famous for its history. As the center of late medieval European trade and finance, it was one of the richest cities of the 15th and 16th centuries.

Numerous artists and clergy were at home here: Leonardo da Vinci spent large parts of his youth in Florence, Michelangelo found shelter in the Medici church, and Galileo Galilei lived as court mathematician in the Medic palaces.

Look at our pictures to see our walk through the city.

Liquid sunshine with plenty of good mood
At the Plaza Michelangelo in Florence
Ponte Vecchio
The Duomo of Florence
Numerous famous statues at the Piazza della Signoria
Among others the fountain of Neptun
Palazzo Vecchio

Day 7: We're swapping David and Michelangelo for Ducati in Bologna

Another day that the sun couldn't find her way through the clouds allowed only for the first half of the day to stick to curvy roads.

We still were able to take in a bit of racing athmosphere at Mugello race track by watching the training session.

In the afternoon Ducati in Bologna was the main attraction.

Day 8: Ferrari - what more to say

We drove out of Bologna again this morning to take a last look at the Ducati Museum, and shortly afterwards stopped by Enzo Ferrari in Maranello.

 WOW!!  That was an experience!  The Ferrari Museum was an unbeatable highlight.  On the subsequent bus ride through the factory premises and the test track, we were able to learn a lot about the red cars.  Even if we weren't allowed to get off the bus.  Taking photos was of course not allowed either.

Emiglia Romana is definitely one of the most beautiful regions in Italy and turned out to be the greatest driving pleasure of this tour for us today.

With the small town of Salsomaggiore Terme we have reached our last stop of this tour.  Tomorrow we're going back to Milan.

Of course, even the roundabout has to be "Ferrarizised"
Inside the Ferrari Museum - I let the pictures tell the story ...
The bus tour through the factory area and the test track was very interesting
Even the Flowers in the fields show their best Ducati / Ferrari red
Passo Tre Croci
One of the many villages in the mountains of Emiglia Romana
The thermal bath in Salsomaggiore
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