Today was a terrific day in Tuscany and I decided to take a bike tour. It was just 6 people including the guide and the van followed us. We met near the river and were driven to the garage with the bikes were waiting. Everyone was given a helmet and a water bottle to keep. WE started off on some beautiful back country roads that wove through olive trees and grape vineyards. The vistas were amazing. The hills were challenging (read this as I had to get off my bike and walk on a few of them and even took the van once), but I did make it with the help of the real bike riders in the group. (read this as EVERYONE else!) It was a fabulous ride. We ended up at an 12th century villa called Torre a Cona. Everybody went swimming in the pool before lunch. We had a wonderful lunch complete with 3 different kinds of wine and a digestive called Grappa. I had a little of each. The lunch was salads, eggplant, baba ganesh, barley with tomatoes and pesto and a great ricotta with pine nuts. A vegetarian's dream. Then we took a tour of the winery and they showed us how they make olive oil too. It is still done with non mechanical tools. Then we took the trip down the hills. This was an exhilarating fast paced ride at breakneck speed at times. I paid my dues and had a slight mishap! Mouthfuls of dirt didn't stop me. I finally made it back and if I am still alive tomorrow I may go see a Medieval city called Lucca.
Hope all is well with you and I am looking forward to sharing all the photos soon.

Love,
Kerry