BAC Green Roads Of Tuscany 2009

I had a good day on the bicycle. It wasn’t quite as hot as the last few days and I only got lost once. I rode the entire route with Barry, Claudia and Janet. Larry was with us for about half of the route but he turned off to get in extra miles. We had a couple of stretches of almost level terrain where Barry pulled us for several kilometers. After we got lost we had to turn around and climb back up a hill that we just flew down. This added about 6k to our distance and made us very cautious to make certain that we were making each turn correctly.

Pete and Mari's Dolce in Rada

We had lunch in Radda in Chianti. We heard about a good alimentare where we were going to get hand-made panini. Fortunately it was closed because we saw Julie waving at us to come and eat at a small tratteria. I had ravioli with pomodoro sauce. We saw what other people were being served on our outdoor seating and were jealous. We would like to go back and try some more meals.

Janet and I stopped in Castellina for gelato and then rode to the Villa Casalecchi. This is the second time we have been here. This time I have a room off of the lower garden. It’s nice with antique furniture, but it has no windows – only a shuttered door leading to the garden.

Happy Hour was at 6:30. During the route wrap, Tom said to do the short route tomorrow. The long route is too hilly for the last day of our tour. This pleased me because my legs are getting tired.

After Happy Hour, we met in the rose garden outside my room for a group photo. Then we went to our last group dinner at 8:00.

Our Group Photo

This was one of the best dinners of the trip, in my opinion. We started out with a white bean soup. The we had a mixed salad with fresh tomatoes and cucumbers. My main course was lamb chops with a sauce that could have been reduced balsamic vinegar. I also had some finely sliced grilled vegetables. Many of the others has either fish balls or chicken. Our dolce was a slice of cake that looked a little like wine cake but lighter with a hint of lemon. This came with a mini chocolate soufflé.

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