Tuscany part due

So today we woke at dawn and headed out to try and catch up with a bike tour through the wine country. It is based out of Florence but it was booked up when we were in town, so we scheduled it for today and would head back from Siena. We would be cutting it close on the connections back to town, but we were pretty sure we would make it. Our first Italian train delay put a stop to that (late Italian trains, who knew?). Oh well, no bike trip but whatever, there are tons of experiences ahead of us. We stopped a bit before Florence to catch a return train. We had a little layover so we hung out in a little town called Empoli. It was quaint enough and we bought some fruit, some grapes and figs and lulled around the square. Getting fresh figs is great, because they are almost never available in the States and if they are they are too expensive. The figs were great and the grapes, man the grapes. I mean I don´t need to tell anyone that the Italians grow grapes. They export more wine than any other country on earth. These grapes tasted like drinking wine. The green grapes tasted like Saviougn Blanc and the ´red´ grapes were nothing like we ever get. I only see red grapes in the US, but these are purple, and small and the juice is so red it will stain your fingers. Now these are grapes.


We figured we were up early enough and we needed to salvage the day so we headed to a nearby hill-top Tuscan town called San Gimignano. We heard this was a can´t miss city and since our bike trip was out we were happy that we could do this. It took us a bit to get to the bus station and figure out the logistics but we finally were on our way with a group of high schoolers heading home. Except for the youngest children, most school kids ride to school on public transport, so if you are lucky/unlucky enough to get on the bus at that time you are treated to a chattering horde.

Now we are getting a bit deeper into Tuscany and it just keeps getting more gorgeous. Grape vines everywhere with hanging fruit (it is harvest time now) and castles and hill towns across the landscape. San Gimignano is beautiful, a perfectly preserved medievel hilltop town (you can see the towers in the background here).

It is in great shape and perfectly nestled in the countryside. Again, a town crowded with tourists but for good reason. I am still hell bent on getting a bike and riding around so as we hike around the town this is consuming my mind. I see some people with bikes and deduce that they are Canadian and they speak English. I am able to deduce this fact because all 10 of them are wearing the same T-shirt with the Canadian flag on it. What is the deal with the Canadians and their need to advertise where they are from, a blog posting/rant is coming on this topic soon. They actually brought their bikes from Canadia so they are no help, freakin´ Canucks.

We eventually find a bike place and I start making some plans to ride around. The guys that run this place seem so detached that I start to wonder if this is just a front to launder drug money or something. It is actually a car mechanics shop, and sure they have some bikes and even some scooters, and they have a map of the area, but they sure aren´t gung-ho about biking and certainly aren´t trying to help us out. I believe all of this is turning Brooke off from the whole ordeal, but I am on a mission. They give me a bike, and I have to ask for a helment and they point to a wall with some on it. They give me an idea of a route (about a two hour jaunt), but they also sell a map for 7 Euros that I think it would be wise to pick up. Brooke sagely advises me to buy the map and decides to stay in this picture perfect town, while I trundle off into the not so unhospitable wilderness.

I hit the road and it is pretty trafficy surrounding the town, but a few minutes later I am on some open road careening down a hill. I figure I remember the route good enough so I keep going. I eventually stop to look at the map and can´t make hide nor hare of it. First of all it is about 4 feet by 6 feet big, and sure it has all the topographic lines on it, but none of the towns listed that correspond to any of the signs on the road. Whatever, screw it, I am on a bike in the countryside and I am going to enjoy myself.


I head down the hill taking in the scenery, then cut off onto a side road that leads to some vineyards. There are a bunch of farmhouses, B&B´s and restaurants along the path and it is quite scenic. There are tractors around hauling loads of grapes to be processed. I eventually hit a dead end and turn around and get back on the main road. Some more gentle downhill in beautiful scenery and I can see San Gimignano in the distance. It seems like this road heads around in a circle and I feel confident that I can loop back and hit the town before sunset and the last bus leaves. Another half hour or so of downhill and no peddeling and I start to get worried. What if it doesn´t head back where I want to go, then what will I do? I don´t want to ride back up all of this. Ok, maybe just a little more. No, I am definitely headed in the wrong direction. All these signs point to towns that are nowhere near where I need to go and the map sure isn´t helpful. I do the rational thing and turn around. It is uphill nearly all the way, but even after all the extra weight from gelato and pizza I manage to make decently quick work of it. I actually get into town a bit early and tool around and take some pictures with the incoming clouds as an epic backdrop.


I meet up with Brooke at our appointed time and catch up with her. She has done what any good, respectable woman would do while her husband was away - she went shopping (and bought a lovely green bufanda, i.e. scarf), ate world champion gelato, and drank wine. Of course being the sweet wonderful wife she is (her words), she bought me the local specialty, a wild boar sandwich. It certainly was appreciated.