By the time we got to Grosseto we were all happy to find a central hotel and recover. Having done it before in a car and a campervan, I can say a bike is much easier to get into and park in an old walled city centre.
Today's ride was a bit far, with some fairly long climbs. We left lunch till too late, arriving in Magliano to find most shops closed for the afternoon. After a lunch of Coke and ice cream we pressed on. Fortunately after one more relatively short climb we enjoyed some great downhill and flat riding.
Apart from being a bit much for one day at this stage of our trip, the day's ride took us through some almost breathtakingly beautiful countryside, with views out to the coast, lush fields, and roadsides covered with wildflowers. Riding through Tuscany in the Springtime - I can hardly believe we are doing this. Grosseto is a beautiful town. Not long after we checked into our hotel, Tracey realised she had left her brand new phone somewhere. We were very tired which probably made us both feel even worse than we should have at that type of loss. I repeatedly tried to call the lost phone, and after about six tries someone answered! It was the nice man we had bought our ice cream lunch from in Magliano. He spoke no English, but handed the phone to someone who could, a bit. This was about 6.40pm. The shop in Magliano would be open till 9, and closed tomorrow. I went down to reception and asked the manager, who speaks less English than I do Italian (hardly possible), about a taxi to pick up the phone, about a 60km return trip. By about eight I was back with the phone and met Tracey and Rod at the little pub/restaurant they had found for dinner. Rod was well on his way through his first bowl of gluten-free pasta (a rare find in Italy). After a good meal we headed back to our hotel feeling tired but much happier. Here are the photos as promised:
Our campsite in Riva dei Tarquini
Morning tea in a little town
Beautiful countryside an wildflowers
In the hills, more beautiful countryside
Typical hilltop town in Tuscany, winding narrow cobbled streets. Another world.
This scene is typical of the lush countryside.
The shop in Magliana where we had a gelato lunch and Tracey managed to leave her phone.
Our much anticipated hotel at the end of a tough day.
Tracey checks out the streets of Grosseto.
Re mobile phone: A Senior moment???
ReplyDeleteJust sounds beautiful, That was a pretty challenging day to start with Pat. We've been catching the highlights of the Giro, SBS covering it this year, a terrible irish commentator tho, doesnt convey much excitement.
ReplyDelete"Breathtaking beautiful countryside" - good for the soul of you pilgrims.
ReplyDeleteGreat start to the trip. Says a lot for the months of careful planning and preparation. Rod's "body bag" tent (seen here for the first time in my experience) looks like the last word in minimalist accommodation.
ReplyDeleteBloody hell... the phone thing sounds horrible. Very gallant of you to go and fetch it Dad.
ReplyDeleteOther than that, you look like you're having fun, particularly with the humungeous ice creams (or gelato maybe) in the previous post. :)