Italy - Part 7 - Chiusi

The next morning we woke up here, having placed our tents so they'd be in the shade in the early morning. Some people showered in the morning and Alex lent me his razor so I could shave. I just shaved down to a goatee with mustache. Alex also decided he wanted to relax and spend a day at the campsite and around Chuisi which he studied when he was in Italy for the design school. So, I talked to Gordo and we decided we would go ahead without Alex to Rome that day and explore it on our own before meeting Alex the next day.

Before we left though we went down to the lake and out for a good lunch. This is the first dock we found at the lake, but then we went along further to a park where there were picnic tables and people fishing. No one was swimming but Gordo and I wanted to go swimming so we dipped our feet in the water at the end of one of the docks. Then I turned around and lowered myself into the water just to find out it was only up to my waist! I swam/walked out about 60 meters but it didn't really get any deeper... so much for that idea.

We went over and joined Alex, Greg and Jon in their game of Fluxx although it was soon over. Then we started to leave the park but Alex stopped and talked to an old couple who were having a picnic in the park. They gave him a cup of their wine and I had a little too. I could understand a little of what they were saying. They seemed to be enjoying life.

We got back to the campground where there was a restaurant called La Fattoria, which I believe means the farm. It was a nice restaurant though.

Alex and I both ordered the full 3 course meal which was kind of silly since it meant the other were watching us eat for some of the meal, although we did share some with them. I had spaghetti, a big piece of chicken, fries and then my choice of dessert.

For dessert, Alex and I were led into the building where there were 6 different dishes to choose from. We both chose tiramisu and it was excellent.

At the end of the meal we had to once again figure out who owed what and the payment of the meal was supposed to be what balanced out the bills for the trip. This was our last meal as a whole group. After the meal Gordo and I were ready to head off. There was some debate about where we should meet Alex in the morning. Alex thought we should pick the spot or meet at a place familiar to him but Greg said we should meet near the train station and Gordo and I had no idea of a good place to meet. We decided on a piazza about a block from the train station.

Gordo and I then biked off towards the Chiusi train station and despite taking a few wrong turns we reached the station with about 45 minutes to wait for the next train.

On the train Gordo read his whole journal to me from the point the biking started to when I arrived which was pretty sweet. They had some awesome times in France including some nice beaches on the island of Corsica, that it's too bad I missed.

Arriving in Rome, we found a hotel info booth where a lady was willing to book a hostel for us. Unfortunately she couldn't find Hotel Lodi, the name of the hostel Greg and Jon recommended. So we asked her to just book a place nearby and preferably one where we could keep our bikes inside. She asked if we needed our own bathroom or a private room but we just said No, get us something cheap. So then she booked a place nearby for us and gave us a map to it. She also charged us 8 Euros for booking it.

Here's Gordo being somewhat hysterical about how the day has gone so far - shortly after we got into our private room. Yes, at the hostel we had a private room with a TV and a fan. We also had a bathroom directly across the hall and they wouldn't let us keep our bikes inside anywhere. They had to be locked up on the street, so it was the opposite of what we asked for. It was however very close to the Colloseum and train station and it was cheap. Also, the guy said it was a safe neighborhood and there were a lot of other bikes and scooters on the street.

So once we took showers, we got ready to follow a walking route Greg had outlined for us through the streets of Rome at night. We wanted to lookup on the Internet how to take the metro to get to the start of the tour. At the Internet room there was a guy from Nicaragua who told us we should just walk it. "You are two big strong guys, you can walk. You go on the metro and you got guys all in your face and pick-pocketing you. You walk the street you get to see things on the way." He showed us a map of all the places he had walked which was all over. So we grabbed a map of the touristy areas for ourselves and set out on foot to explore Rome.

Italy - Part 6 - Last Days of Biking

This is where we spent the night. In the morning we woke up early although a number of vehicles had already driven by since it became light. Just before we were ready to move out a pickup truck (which there aren't many of there) drove up from the road that was part of the property and a farmer got out. He then had a long conversation with Alex while the rest of us watched. He wasn't angry. Instead he was amused that we slept in such an uncomfortable place! Through Alex's translation we heard there was a better place to sleep just down the hill, and some of the guys life story. He also mentioned there were good places to eat in another town.

Well we got back on the road again to start climbing the hill towards Montalcino. This is a view from part way up. Gordo went on ahead and I followed but couldn't keep up with him. Eventually I made it to a roundabout at the edge of town and there was no sign of Gordo and no signs for a COOP.

This is a view of the town from near the roundabout. I went on up some more steep hills until I met Gordo at the main junction of town. From there we ventured further into town and came across the COOP. We took turns in the store filling up the cart and then managed to pack it all on our bikes and started riding back down the hill. We met the others just before they reached the roundabout. Unfortunately from looking at the map it turned out we had to go back up to the junction. On the way up we stopped at a pull-out and ate the lunch/breakfast food. Then we climbed the big hill to the junction just to turn off and start back down another side of the hill. We went downhill for quite a while from here although unfortunately Greg got a flat tire. After an hour or two of riding we stopped for a seista in some shade in a field below the road. After everyone had napped for a while we started out again but it was a lot of uphill. We were a little afraid it might start to rain as there were some dark clouds in view.

At this point we decided to split up into two groups for a while. Gordo and I would bike on ahead and we would meet up again at Rocca d'Orcia, an old castle that was also one of the highest elevation points of the day. So Gordo and I biked on ahead and it was pretty tough to keep up with him! We only really stopped for a few minutes once in a small town to get some water from an aquaduct. We had some amazing 360 degree views at a few spots and also saw some lightning in the distance. We made it to Castiglione d'Orcia at around 6pm to discover that the Rocca was a little off our path. There was a COOP there so we bought a snack and some cold drinks and then went back to the intersection between the COOP road and the town's main road to wait for the rest of the gang.

We spent part of our wait sitting in the shade at this gas station. The lady working there started talking to us and I was afraid she wanted us to leave so I was trying to have a conversation with her. To accomplish this it ended up needing me, Gordo, my phrase book, the woman and two Italian guys, both of which didn't know much English. In the end, she didn't have a problem with us waiting there for our friends. The conversation wasn't really about anything except trying to communicate as we thought they might have a problem with us and they thought we had a problem.

Just before the COOP closed at 7:30, Gordo went and bought some groceries for dinner. Everyone else showed up around 8 and after they bought some cold drinks and dessert at a little convenience store we sat down to have a feast on this ledge. Everyone was in a good mood and the place was a very friendly classic Tuscana town. There were lots of old women or men sitting around chatting near the intersection. Before we left Beth told Alex to tell them they had a beautiful town. Just after sundown we were riding down switchbacks and out of the town. We crossed a major road onto a minor road following our route and then turned off onto a tiny road to find a place to sleep. We eventually ended up sleeping in a rather open spot again but this time it was in an unused part of a field a good distance from the vines. It was a less used road than the one before and I slept much better. In the morning we woke up early and as we packed up we said buon giorno to a few passing joggers.

We rode a short distance and then stopped here for breakfast. No not in this structure, just in a field by the road. The town in the distance is where we ate dinner the night before, Castiglione d'Orcia. After some peanut butter, apples and baguettes we were ready to roll out. The ground was so flat along this stretch that we were making really good time. Unfortunately Greg got another flat tire. Greg and Alex told us to go on ahead while they fixed it, so the rest of us kept going.

Eventually we had to go up some hills and so Gordo and I waited for Beth and Jon at a parking lot with some picnic tables and lookout in a tiny place called La Foce. Gordo took this photo of me there. We both wrote in our journals while waiting.

Here's Jon showing up at La Foce.

Luckily there wasn't much more uphill and then there was a lot of downhill. At the bottom Gordo and I found this great spot to spend siesta and although we'd covered a lot of ground it was only 11:30am. We waited there for Jon and Beth and unpacked some of our bags. When they showed up they started their siesta while we biked the 2 km to the nearby city of Chianciano Terme.

Once there our mission was to find a COOP and bring some food back to the group. We rode through the place looking for signs for a COOP and we just kept going and going. Eventually though just when it seemed we would leave out the other end, we found a sign. It pointed down a street that immediatedly forked but had a huge sidewalk sale on it so we couldn't really see much in either direction. After walking our bikes to the left, then to the right, then back to the left we found the COOP.

I watched the bikes while Gordo got the food. We drank our milk, and then packed all the food away on our bikes. Back at the siesta spot we showed up just a little while after Alex and Greg because they'd really had a lot of problems with the tire.

I took these closeups during what became our longest siesta of the trip. Beth is not a fan of photos taken of her so that's why it's just the 5 of us. It was quite relaxing and we ate some food and took naps, but Gordo and I calculated we left there 8 hours after we had first arrived as we didn't get away until 7:30pm. Greg and Beth took off before this but we ended up sticking around a bit longer while Alex figured out the budget for the trip. Figuring out who owed what to who was complicated because some of it went back before I joined them.

Back on the road we met up with Greg and Beth and then skirted around Chianciano following our route. At one point we thought we had taken a wrong turn but it turned out we just hadn't reached the junction yet. Then we were on the busier road and biking into the dark while looking for a campground. I was being careful because my back brakes had stopped working. Luckily it wasn't that hilly. We got a bit spread out and there was some frustration because the campground on our map didn't actually exist. Also Greg almost got hit by a car as the driver went right through a stop sign without slowing down. So, eventually we had to go all the way to Chuisi, the town with the train station, and then off away from it again to a campground by Lago di Chuisi...lake of Chuisi. We arrived there pretty late but the restaurant/office still had people working there and we got a site and went on in. We set up the tents although I was the only one sleeping in mine because Alex and Gordo were sleeping outside.

Once settled in I slept pretty well. It was a long two days but we covered quite a distance, saw some amazing scenery and an awesome little town and generally had a great end to our bike trip. The next day I would be heading to Rome.

Italy - Part 5 - From Siena to Montalcino

The morning of the 23rd of August, we woke up and started packing up camp as we had to check out by noon. It was also Sunday so we had to get to a grocery store before they closed down for the rest of the day. Jon, Gordo and I packed up quick and took off before the others to go to the COOP for groceries. Alex, Beth and Greg tried to get Internet at the campground, but it wasn't working.
Except for one small wrong turn we made it to the COOP easily. Unfortunately it was all closed and locked up, despite it being before noon and the sign saying it closed at 1pm on Sundays. Apparently it was a holiday. Since this is where we were supposed to meet the others, Gordo stayed at the COOP while Jon and I biked over to another grocery store he knew. This second store was in a mall by the train station and was open all day. Jon bought the groceries and then we managed to get them all over to the COOP just as the others showed up.

We ate some lunch in front of the COOP while people kept showing up to see if it was open. Unfortunately I had recently developed a sore throat and a bunch of canker sores that made eating not that much fun. After lunch we biked back to the second grocery store because there were a few items we forgot.
Outside the mall there were 3 fountains shaped somewhat like giant pinball machines. It would have been fun to have toy boats to race down these things. After buying the food we set out by bike and then walking our bikes into the historic center of the city to look for an Internet place. We found a couple closed ones but then managed to find an open one. We took turns waiting outside watching the bikes and people dressed up in costumes for the holiday. Alex and Gordo planned some of their biking route through Germany for the next week. Greg and Beth looked into flights leaving Italy in early September. I was on the computer for 20 minutes during which the guy who worked there was in the basement and just walked by a couple times. No one seemed to be paying and I didn't know how it worked so I just left. Later Greg and Beth were telling me I should go back and pay, as they had finally paid. When I went back to pay (1 Euro) the guy was so confused about why I was paying but not sitting down and using the Internet. Beth had to use Google Translator to finally explain to him that I had already used the Internet. After about an hour and a half that seemed way longer because I'm too impatient, we were ready to go.

Now we needed some food for dinner, and most people wanted McDonald's so we ended up going there. I ordered some food for Gordo and I who ate it outside while watching the bikes. I didn't deem McDonald's cool enough to take a photo of but the one above is just outside it. After the meal I led the way following a map to take some back streets that would be less crowded to get across the city.

When we came to this view of a church, we decided to take a bunch of group photos.

We took at least 4 different photos with different cameras all set on timers to take the shots.

They were some pretty sweet shots, and I hope
to get the other photos from everyone else at some point.

A block from here we came to the back of the city's Duomo which was pretty impressive.

The front of the Duomo was much more impressive though and quite pink for some reason.

There were a lot of little details carved into it. After taking a bunch of photos we were able to make our way to the edge of the city where our tour route started the day. From here there was an awesome view of the countryside just before sunset. Then we got to zip down a series of switchbacks and then stopped at a roundabout next to a large highway.

After consulting the map and directions we figured out
where to go and were soon on a smaller road.

We biked quite a bit that night. For the most part are bikes were fairly well lit up and there was very little traffic on the road. We stopped in a small town around 9pm and it was pretty active. A group of people walked by where we were relaxing and one guy said "Now that's real biking!" It turned out the group of people were from Ontario.

Despite a lot of uphill after the town we managed to bike at least another hour before Alex found this really good spot for wild camping. It was just below a pullout and the trail dead ended. Being down hill from the road it was pretty out of sight. We slept without the tents.

In the morning we were ready to go after some quick breakfast while packing up. We heard some other bikers shouting to each other above us as we ate. Here's the pullout just above our camping spot.

We stopped in this small town and bought some lunch food at a local store. We ate in a park where there was a ton of ants crawling everywhere. We got in a good amount of biking that day and took our siesta in the middle of it. At one point we rode past a signed that warned about nuclear testing. It was very odd. The scenery was great and the road wasn't that well travelled.

We arrived in the city of Buonconvento around dinner time and I spotted the COOP just as we entered town. I got some yogurt to feel good for my throat but unfortunately the fruit stung my mouth. We all shared a quarter of a watermelon and Beth bought some ice cream that we helped her finish. Once again there were a lot of ants! Alex took a time lapse of them swarming over and destroying a piece of meat.

We had to go on a busy road for a km but then were again on a side road and about 10km from Montalcino but unfortunately it was all uphill. As it got dark we biked up to a crossroad with two smaller roads to look for a place to sleep. Choosing which road to take we biked along looking for a place that would be ideal for wild camping but found nothing close. It was too open and it was all vineyards with houses nearby. Eventually we settled on sleeping at the edge of one of the vineyards on the rocky corner. At this point we had been hearing gunshots once every half hour for the last couple hours. I believe the noises were setup to scare birds away instead of using a scarecrow. We looked all our bikes together and went to sleep but this was probably the worst sleep in Italy for most of us. The ground was uncomfortable and a bunch of cars went by during the night, catching us in their headlights. The next day we would have a talk with the farmer...

Italy - Part 4 - To Siena

We actually covered a decent distance this day although we didn't get that far on the map since we went to meet up with the tour route and take the beautiful scenic route through the country side. It was pretty awesome scenery.

Here we've gone about 15km, but we're back north at 2km from Colle di Val d'Elsa because of the circular route.

One of the many vineyards along the route.

We stopped at a small town called Strove which was in the middle of 5 star scenic riding according to the tour. There was a really small COOP there and we bought some hot dogs to replace the ones that had gone bad. We've always had a good supply of peanut butter on this trip and here Greg had some that had melted so much that he could drink it. We also bought some cold drinks and had a good game of Fluxx before getting back on the road. That night we slept about 5km away from Siena. We wild camped in a pretty good spot where cars driving by on a small dirt road could not really see us unless they were looking. We cooked the hot dogs in the dark and then set up the tents and crashed. In the morning we packed up quick and early and then ate some breakfast a little further down the road. Then we biked into Siena and followed signs to a campground to arrive about 10am.

After doing some laundry and taking showers Gordo, Alex and I played some Fluxx outside the laundry room while eating cold lentils from the cans for lunch. We were watching over our camera battery chargers plugged in in the laundry room. Then we were all set to head into town. Alex, Gordo, Jon and I took a bus and Greg and Beth would meet us later.

In the old center of the city we snacked on some pizza, visited a bankomat and then hung out in this piazza for a little while. It had a statue of Sallustio Bandini who founded the library of Siena in the 17th century.

At the top of the wall overlooking the piazza was a series of heads. I assume they are of people who ruled the city but they could also be criminals considering they are just heads.

Finally we came to the Piazza del Campo and the Torre del Mangia of Siena. Gordo and I decided we had to go up but Jon and Alex stayed down in the Campo because they'd already been up.

At the top there was a couple bells...

...and an amazing view...

...and us! I didn't look very good in any of the photos though.

The stairs up/down were ridiculously narrow at times...

...and the ceiling became really low. Gordo filmed the majority of the trip down.

The Campo is a huge space where lots of people come and just hang out and sit on the ground. It's shaped like a fan divided into segments and twice a year there's a horse race around the outside. Siena is divided up into 17 contrade (districts) which have competed in the race for centuries. Actually each contrada hires a mercenary from the surrounding towns to ride their horse bareback. Apparently there's quite the celebration right after the race but we were there about a week after.

After Greg and Beth showed up we went to look for a place for dinner.

The place we found was pretty nice and the patio we were on overlooked a valley although our table wasn't near the edge. Everytime we ate in Tuscany it was outside. All the restaurants seem to have patios. I had a lasagne and split a spicy pizza called Diavola with Gordo. The lasagne was really small but all the food was good. Alex, Greg and I split some wine again. At the end of the meal we tried to work out the bill but couldn't figure out why there was an extra $9 item on the bill and the waiter was really busy. So finally we just left some cash for it all and left. Apparently Alex wrote "Hmm..." beside the item on the bill.

We went and hung out in the Campo for a while and played a little Big2, but then headed for the bus station because it was late. We waited for the bus and then Gordo, Alex and I rode the bus while Greg, Beth and Jon opted to walk back. The next day we would spend a little more time in Sienna before riding out at sunset.