The Tour of Tuscany started on Friday. We have quite an international group - Karim from Kuweit,

David and Kristin from Arizona, Gary from Australia, Chris and Niloo from New Jersey.

Our start hotel the "Villa Pitiana" is outside Florence inmidst vineyards and olivetrees just a wonderful place to start a vacation. Come join us....

1. Riding Day: Florence - Siena

Domenico is checking that nothing goes wrong

Rolling hills, vineries inbetween and curves, curves, curves....

Greve in Chianti was our first stop

The black rooster is the icon of the Chianti vine

Macelleria Falorni - the best prosciutto is coming from here, made from a special breed of pig

Giovanni da Verrazzano - he discovered New York harbour. The Verrazzano narrow bridge is named after him and connects Brooklyn to Staten Island. 

Karim - in the background the area where Mona Lisa was living

The Jersey boys

2. Riding Day: Siene - Le Crete

The unique thing on this tour is - we are staying in every hotel 2 nights. Means not packing every day und provides a lot of options - riding, sleeping in, going to the cities for sightseeing. Makes everybody happy.

Of course we offered a restday ride around Siena, typical Tuscan landscape, which you know probably only from calendar pictures.

San Galgano - a gothic monastery built in the 12th century. A lightning hit the clock tower, the clock tower crashed into the roof of the church. It was never restored. Nowadays classical concerts taking place in this "open air" cathedral

Michael and Kristin

Karim in Monte Oliveto Maggiore

Le Crete - alleys of cypress trees leading up to farmhouses on the top of the hills

Karim is looking for a summer residence

Back home in the Garden Hotel Domenico was waiting with a delicious picnic

The Cathedral is one of Italy`s great Gothic structures. Building began 1215.

In 1339 the city`s leaders launched a plan to enlarge the cathedral and create one of Italy`s largest palces of worship. The daring plan, to buld an immense new nave with the present cathedral becoming the transept, was scotched by the plague of 1348

The cathedral`s interior is truly stunning. After looking up, look down, and you`ll see the cathedral`s most precious feature- the inlaid marble floor, decorated with 56 glorious panels, by about 40 artists over the course of 200 years, depicting historical and biblical subjects. 

The rest of the group were sightseeing downtown Siena.  Piazza "Il Campo" - one of the most beautiful plazas in Italy

For Dinner some of us went in a "slow food" restaurant. Great food, great location!

3. Riding Day: Siena - Assisi

Mr. Michelangelo is preparing the briefing

Bagno  Vignoni - this tiny spa town dates back to Roman times and was later a popular stop for pilgrims eager to soothe weary limbs. The hot sulphurous water bubbles up into a picturesque pool, built by the Medicis and surrounded by stone buildings.Some 36 springs are collected in the pool and cook at up to 51 C!

Tuscany simply makes happy

a typical drive way to a farmhouse

a flexible group, good riders - so we decided to try a new picnic spot - Bagno San Filippo.

Thermal water is flowing into several natural pools - just amazing.

Group picture in front of Fosso Bianco

The dreamteam

4. Riding Day: Assisi - Monti Sibillini

So much things to do, such an amazing town. The boys decided to stay and see the city.

Karim, Kristin and Michael had a royal treatment and the tourguides as well

Norcia

The town was put on the world map as the birthplace of St. Benedict in 480 AD, the patron saint of Europe.

Norcia delivers a fair share of impressive churches and museums

Norcia isknown throughout Italy and the world as a capital of pork butchery. In fact, the word "Norcineria" is now used to denote the butchers specialising in pork products. The techniques used in Norcia date back to Roman times. Norcia is also known for lentils, wild boar, mushrooms and of course black truffles.

Beautiful Norcia was just a coffe stop - our goal for today are the Sibillini mountains

The area is really, really beautiful. In May and June wild flowers covering the Piano Grande, the "Great Plain" - called the Tibet of Italy. 

These days the area is home to peregrine falcons, royal eagles and porcupines. Eighteen hundred botanical species have been counted in this one area

Can you see the "Italian Boot" in the background??? 

The dreamteam in front of "Italy"

Monte Vettore is the highest peak in Monti Sibillini - stands at 2.476 m.

Castelluccio looks impossible. The crumbling village sits atop a lonely hill-top like an outpost in the middle of the vast expanse of the Piano Grande.

5. Riding Day: Assisi - San Marino

Everyone had an exciting rest day. Some went for the restday ride into the Monte Sibillini, some went for sightseeing in this awesome city and some ended the day with a Schubert concert in the Basilica of Saint Francis - Ave Malia

We made it on the highway around Perugia, thanks to our great riders. First stop was high above Lago Trasimeno, where the deadliest battle of the Roman Empire took place

Lago Trasimeno and Isola Maggiore

Vineyards along the way

Cortona - the film set of "Under the Tuscan Sun"

Urbino - the Renaissance town, birthplace of Raffael and Valentino Rossi was our coffe stop int he afternoon after having enjoyed the curves of the SS73

The palace of the Duke of Montefeltro

Behind this good looking guy you can see the Adriatic Sea

6. Riding Day: Restday San Marino

San Marino, the smallest state in the EU, 30.000 inhabitants, located at the  750 m high Mount Titano is overlooking the Adriatic Sea as well as the Feltro Mountains in the west.

We had a kind of hop on hop off day today - so much to see

First stop was at the Adriatic Sea the beaches of Rimini, called the German barbeque

all umbrellas and sunchairs are in a row, for kilometers and....

their are all numbered - Nr. 8 for Mrs. Schneider, Nr. 9 for Mr. Müller and so on.....

it happend in Sepang, 2011 on a Sunday at 4 p.m. - Marco Simoncelli`s memorial in this hometown Coriano. His No. was 58

the exhaust pipe is running every Sunday at 4 p.m. for 58 seconds...

What a sympathic and passionated guy...

Gabbice Monte - high above the Adriatic Sea - what a view

At "Bel Sit" we had the best lunch ever

7. riding day: San Marino - Florence