Day 5, Cooking Class in Villa Pitiana

Last day of this beautiful Tuscany by scooter tour! Is there a better way to finish it then with a cooking class? The chef Marco showed us how to prepare very tasty bruschettas and pizzas and, after eating them and relaxing a bit, we took our scooters again and rode back to Florence. On the way we stopped at the Abbey of Vallombrosa, founded in the 11th century!

It was a great week together, thank you everybody and hopefully we'll meet again on another Edelweiss tour!

cooking class

Ron cutting tomatoes

Chef Marco

Jonathan

Preparing pizza

Laura and Roberta

The view from Villa Pitiana

Abbey of Vallombrosa

Italian children... a bit loud!

Happy birthday Pablo!

Day 4, Arezzo

After leaving Florence we could enjoy the twisties of Passo della Consuma, reaching a height of 1050 metres above sea level. After a first "coffee stop" in Poppi, listed among the 100 most beautiful little towns of Italy, we finally reached Arezzo, a charming old town that now is the centre of the Italian jewelry industry. Roberto Benigni filmed many scenes of his Oscar-winning film "Life is Beautiful" in the "Piazza Grande" of Arezzo, its most noteworthy medieval square. After a good lunch and of course a coffee, nice little roads took us back to Florence.

Mexicans in Poppi

The castles of Poppi

One small Ape Piaggio, 50cc...

... maybe a good idea for a new kind of tours...

The "Piazza Grande" of Arezzo

very inviting fresh made ravioli!

Afternoon break in Reggello

Group picture... always somebody missing!!!

Day 3, Siena

Crossing again the Chianti wine region, we reached the beautiful and famous town of Siena, where we could admire one of the most beautiful squares in the world, the famous "Piazza del Campo". A traditional horse race takes place in this square twice a year, the "Palio di Siena", where the contrades of the city compete against each-other. This horse race has been held since the Middle Ages! On the way back beautiful curvy roads took us close to the Arno river and we rode torough its valley to reach Florence again. Tonight at dinner we also celebrated the birthday of Miguel! Tanti auguri!

Wonderful Chianti countryside

Jonathan

Laura

Piazza del Campo in Siena, one of the most beautiful squares in Europe

The Cathedral of Siena

South African rain gear! Cut for man...

... and cut for woman!

The rooster, one of the symbols of the Chianti area

Dinner in downtown Florence

Happy birthday Miguel!

Day 2, Mugello and Muraglione pass

Curves, curves, curves and more curves! Today we rode through the Appennini mountain range and our first stop was in Scarperia to see the worldwide famous Mugello Circuit (owned by Ferrari) where every year the Italian Grand Prix of MotoGP takes place. The roads became then more and more "interesting" and some dark clouds above us were really threatening, but it wasn't very rainy along the route... just a few drops, not enough to scare our brave riders! After a nice lunch in Palazzuolo, we finally rode along the Muraglione passroad, very famous among Italian motorcyclists, before heading back to Florence. Then soon it was time for another delicious dinner allo together!

The main gate of the Mugello circuit

The Graziella, a legendary old Italian bicycle

Coffee break in Scarperia

Lunch

Typical products in Palazzuolo...

Palazzuolo

Mountain Road

Riding on the Muraglione passroad

Our scooters on the Muraglione pass

Are you cold, Laura?

Day 1, San Gimignano

Our scooters are ready to explore Tuscany, the region where the Vespa was born! On our first riding day we went south of Florence, through the winding roads of the wonderful Chianti region, famous for its good wine. After a first stop in the nice village of Greve, we went to San Gimignano, the "Manhattan of the Middle Ages", famous for its towers and listed in the Unesco World Heritage sites. We experienced some heavy traffic when we finally came back to Florence, but it was definitely a great day, despite also bad weather forecast!

Ann and Rob

Ronald and Roberta

Miguel Angel and Carolina

Peggy

A view of the Chianti wine region

Vespas in Greve

Carolina, Miguel Angel and Pablo

Greve

Jonathan in San Gimignano

The view from San Gimignano

Manhattan of the Middle Ages

David and Laura

San Gimignano

Nice saddle, Ronald!

Florence

South Africans in Florence

Finally dinner!