Florence is definitely one of my favorite cities in Italy. You can pretty much walk everywhere you'd need to go, there is awesome food and shopping, and if you feel the inkling for open space, the reaches of Tuscany are at your fingertips. This time around we passed on the 4 hour Uffizi Gallery line and 2 hour Galerie d'Academia line (home to Michelangelo's "David") and ventured outside Florence proper. We had heard about a Tuscany bike tour from some tourists on the train, and decided to look into it. I think we ended up going through the company
I Bike Italy which ended up being about 50 Euro for a 4 hour bike tour, free bike and helmet rental, our lovely Hungarian guide, and lunch at a Tuscan restaurant en route. We paid our money and were off, eager to get some real exercise, as opposed to just walking everywhere for 3 weeks! After all the brochure promised a "leisurely ride." Not a chance! The 2 hours there was basically all uphill, and we're not talking
leisurely hills, these were switchback slopes up and out
of Florence. Our saving grace was some incredible views at some of our short lived pit-stops. Our guide must have been a marathoner or something, because he was hauling! After having to walk our bikes up some steep grades, we finally plateaued in a little village outside Firesole. We parked our bikes and found we were eating at a restaurant across from Galileo's childhood home (fun fact). Well, sweaty as we were, this meal was completely worth it - probably the best, most authentic Italian food I have eaten in my life! We drank local Chianti, a selection of antipasti meats and cheeses, amazing p
astas and soups - it was like one gourmet dish after another. Satiated from our meal, we were beginning to feel like this bike ride was worth it, and were thrilled to hear that the majority of our ride would be downhill! Hooray, especially since by then my legs felt of jello. We cruised down the hill, overlooking old Medici villas that had been converted into mansions, and countless olive orchards. Our guide gave us a 3 minute schpeal about how many olives are required to make 1 bottle of olive oil. We continued past some gorgeous Tuscan villas with stunning views of the region. Finally we made our descent back into Florence, peeled ourselves off the bikes, and remained achy and sore for the next 2 or 3 days. But overall it was worth it, I'd recommend it to my fellow travelers - just keep in mind leisurely activity it is not!
Florence is definitely one of my favorite cities in Italy. You can pretty much walk everywhere you'd need to go, there is awesome food and shopping, and if you feel the inkling for open space, the reaches of Tuscany are at your fingertips. This time around we passed on the 4 hour Uffizi Gallery line and 2 hour Galerie d'Academia line (home to Michelangelo's "David") and ventured outside Florence proper. We had heard about a Tuscany bike tour from some tourists on the train, and decided to look into it. I think we ended up going through the company I Bike Italy which ended up being about 50 Euro for a 4 hour bike tour, free bike and helmet rental, our lovely Hungarian guide, and lunch at a Tuscan restaurant en route. We paid our money and were off, eager to get some real exercise, as opposed to just walking everywhere for 3 weeks! After all the brochure promised a "leisurely ride." Not a chance! The 2 hours there was basically all uphill, and we're not talking leisurely hills, these were switchback slopes up and out
of Florence. Our saving grace was some incredible views at some of our short lived pit-stops. Our guide must have been a marathoner or something, because he was hauling! After having to walk our bikes up some steep grades, we finally plateaued in a little village outside Firesole. We parked our bikes and found we were eating at a restaurant across from Galileo's childhood home (fun fact). Well, sweaty as we were, this meal was completely worth it - probably the best, most authentic Italian food I have eaten in my life! We drank local Chianti, a selection of antipasti meats and cheeses, amazing p
astas and soups - it was like one gourmet dish after another. Satiated from our meal, we were beginning to feel like this bike ride was worth it, and were thrilled to hear that the majority of our ride would be downhill! Hooray, especially since by then my legs felt of jello. We cruised down the hill, overlooking old Medici villas that had been converted into mansions, and countless olive orchards. Our guide gave us a 3 minute schpeal about how many olives are required to make 1 bottle of olive oil. We continued past some gorgeous Tuscan villas with stunning views of the region. Finally we made our descent back into Florence, peeled ourselves off the bikes, and remained achy and sore for the next 2 or 3 days. But overall it was worth it, I'd recommend it to my fellow travelers - just keep in mind leisurely activity it is not!
1 comment:
I love the Florence Gelatto! You have been EVERYWHERE!
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