Bob on BAC Umbria - Rome to Assisi 2009

Rest Stop at Lago di Bolsena

Our day started out sunny and almost warm. Our breakfast was the same as yesterday – fruit-filled croissants, plain yogurt with fresh strawberries to put into it, individually brewed coffee and a lot of packaged products that I passed on. I did take a couple of small packaged cakes that looked surprisingly like Twinkies to eat on the road for energy.

I was the last one to get my bags out to the van. Tom was driving today but Julie was ready to ride. We teamed up and rode together for the entire route. We met most of the others along the way.

The route took us east on rolling terrain through farm country. Then it turned south and went through Grotte di Castro. We eventually reached the shoreline of Lago di Bolsena and continued counter-clockwise to its southeast corner. Along the way, we stopped with Ted and Kathy at a roadside park with picnic tables to rest and have some energy food. The weather was perfect – sunny skies, no wind and temperatures in the mid-70’s. By this time, the arm and leg warmers were packed in our bicycle bags or jersey pockets.

Marta Flower Shop

Passing through Marta, Julie noticed a flower shop with a decorated bicycle. I, of course, had my eyes on the pavement and missed it. She said, "Stopping", so I stopped. It was a good photo op.

Tom and Julie at Lunch

A few kilometers past Marta, the road turned back to the lake and then kicked uphill as we slogged 1200 feet up to Montefiascone on the last 5 kilometers of our “Rome to Assisi” tour. Tom was at the hotel to greet us. Since it was just past noon, the three of us went searching for food. The trattoria near the hotel was closed. So was the pizzeria. So we settled in at a bar. I ate a panino with a peach tea drink followed by gelato.

After checking into my room (a small single with a shower that sprays the whole bathroom), I walked down the street to the local bicycle shop to see if it had any local cycling jerseys. Like most of the food places, it was closed. So I’ll have to find my Italian jersey somewhere else.

Locals Filling Up with Wine

Montefiascone must be the city for wine tasting. Of course, this is the region for Est! Est! Est!. We had a tasting session at our hotel when we arrived several days ago and late this afternoon we had another one. This time it was in a wine cellar up the street. We sampled three whites, a red and a sweet red. I really liked the sweet red. It had a hint of cherries. While we were there, some locals drove up to fill their jugs with wine.

After the tasting, we walked back down the road to our hotel for dinner. I stopped at a grocery store for some supplies for the next few days – bananas, Mars Bars and salty peanuts.

Dinner was at the hotel. We had a set pasta dish – spaghetti noodles with tomatoes, peppers, etc. For some reason, many of us ordered tripe as our main dish. It was cooked in a tomato sauce. Even after doctoring it up with salt and pepper, I couldn’t eat much of it. It had too much “flavor”. Must of us left a lot on our plates. Dessert was gelato. We had no trouble eating it.

Tomorrow will be an early morning. All but six of us will be taking a bus to the airport. The rest of us will be going to Florence on the train or in the van. We have to load everything early to make our scheduled plane and train trips.