Saturday 18 June 2016

The Deep Pleasure of Tuscany

Greetings from the Maremma region of Tuscany. Over the past two days we've moved from the manicured busiest, most well-know area of Tuscany to a wilder landscape. I hope you enjoy the post about our journeys. Here's a picture postcard to start off with ...


Do you wish you were here?

This is another double post as the hotel we were at last night had non-existent WiFi. The venue more than made up for that one shortcoming however, as I think you might agree once you've read the first half of this post.

Rapolano Terme to Sorano

115 kilometres; 2131 metres elevation

The area we rode through for the first part of the day is known as the Crete Senesi, due to the clay-based soils that are prevalent here. Fantastic for growing grapes but, in places, not so good for major transportation links due to erosion issues. After Dylan gave us a bit of a talk on these soils the evening before, I was pleased to see a great example of this erosion ...



It will be obvious from the title of this post that we found these two days of cycling quite magnificent. In the first part of today's ride I couldn't help stopping often to photograph the landscape around but after that it was a case of not wanting to interrupt the flow of images so there is little from the latter part of the ride.

Here is the one little video I shot from early on, and it can speak for itself ...


The rolling terrain meant that new vistas were appearing regularly, and there were ample opportunities to stop and take pictures. Here Jo is powering up towards me, with Di not far behind ...


A little further on José got this nice photo of Di rolling by ...



It was a picture postcard day or, as Dylan put it, movie set country. So many films have been shot in the area we were cycling through today. Here's another shot of the villa you can see over Di's right shoulder in the first picture of this post ...


The next thing to really catch my eye was this small flock of sheep alongside the road, with the rolling fields behind (this image is a reasonable-sized panorama, so you might like to blow it up if you're on a machine with a reasonably large screen) ...


Apart from the bucolic beauty of the scene the most interesting thing was that some the sheep were shorn and some not. I wonder what the reason for that is?

Further along the road I saw José taking a photo of a castle in the distance so I opted to do the same ...


Not far along from here was a great image of a tractor at work amongst the vines ...


My guess is that this isn't a vigneto biologica as the tractor seemed to be spraying insecticide, but I reckon I'd still drink the wine!

Our morning coffee stop was scheduled for the famous wine town of Montalcino. The old gate leading into the town, which is now bypassed by the road really deserved a photo, so I got off the bike and walked down on to the old road to get this shot ...



Dianne and I arrived here on our mountain bikes about 16 years ago, after about 70 kilometres of riding in 70 degree heat. The Giro d'Italia was on and we had lunch in a bar with a bunch of cycling fanatics and then took off down the hill to this station ... 


It was the same, beautiful, long swooping descent today that we did all those years ago. The reason I stopped to take a photo of this station today was to reminisce. We had planned this ride so that we could catch the train back to Rapolano Terme, near where we were staying at Montalto with our friends Mary and Tim. We'd combined cycling and train trips a couple of times on that particular holiday and this looked like a good plan on paper. The problem was that when we arrived at the station it seemed a little quiet, and eventually we were made to understand, by a young lass strolling along the rusty tracks with a couple of kittens tucked into her blouse, that this line was very much chiuso! Knowing that the line did go to Rapolano Terme we set off along it. Two punctures from blackberries and a very scary experience with three Maremma sheep dogs later, we finally made it to Rapolano Terme where we were rescued by Tim and Mary, enjoying with them a fantastic late pizza dinner as only the Italians know how to serve it. 

The coincidence of riding past this same railway station all these years later brought those wonderful memories flooding back so I just had to stop for the photo and, as it turned out, that was the last picture I took on the road yesterday. However, our arrival at Sorano and our accommodation for the night was cause for a flurry of photography by anyone in our group with a camera in their possession. I took a picture of Di in front of the exterior arch leading into the castle ...


Ride and Seekers were soon thronging the place recording each and every angle ... 

 


This is the 11th Century Orsini Fortress, now also known as the Hotel della Fortezza. We didn't know it at this stage, but the room that Di and I were to occupy for the night happened to be at the top of the tower front and centre in this photo!

The castle has been extensively restored and, besides the hotel, now houses a museum and a theatre, but there are still bits that are still in ruins ...



At the entrance to the hotel itself we posed for another happy couple on holidays photo ...



Do we look tired? Well, we are! It was a fantastic but challenging day on the bike. Arriving at this magical place seemed to lift everyone's spirits.

Up in our room, it was the usual round of washing before dinner. Here's our day's laundry hung out to dry in front of the old fireplace ...


This was the day of the week where dinner involved going out and grazing. On we strolled into town for a cold drink and a bit of sightseeing before dinner. I liked the look of this arrangement at the bar where we had our drink ...


We had an excellent recommendation for dinner from Dylan, and met Roberta, Chris and Patrick at Fidalma where we enjoyed an excellent repast with a great local bottle of red wine. After that it was home for an early night and perhaps, for me at least, the best night's sleep of the tour so far.

Sorano to Capalbio

111 kilometres; 1654 metres elevation

Both Sorano and Capalbio are a bit off the beaten track. Our inspired itinerary for the past couple of days has given us an experience of less travelled roads and two great little towns to explore. While yesterday's ride had a difficult middle section, today's journey was much easier with gentler gradients and less distance. While not quite a rest, it was joyful riding, despite a major "silly sausage" moment on my part.

Dianne and I both had slightly sore legs this morning so we thought we'd leave a little early and mosey out of town. Down the hill we coasted. At the bottom I decided to stop to photograph the madonna ...



Not a bad picture to start the day, I thought. When I reached into my pocket I wondered what the heck was in there alongside my camera. To my deep dismay I discovered our room key. There was nothing for it but to pedal back up the hill. Here's an edited image from Google Maps to show where we'd got to when I had to turn around and head uphill again ...



At least the switchbacks meant that the gradient wasn't too bad, but it wasn't quite the start to the day that I was looking for.

As I rode back up the hill I got all sorts of quizzical looks from my fellow Ride and Seekers. It was Roberta that guessed that I'd forgotten something, and when I arrived Dylan twigged immediately that it was my room key. I guess he's had this happen at least once previously!

Back on the road I had some catching up to do. Meanwhile, Di took this photo of holes in the tufa rock ...


After riding for quite a way I finally caught up to Di who had stopped to photograph this church at San Martino sul Fiora, some 20 kilometres from Sorano...


She and I rode along together for a while until we tracked down Sharon, who was warming to the ride. I paused shortly afterwards because my eye was attracted to something small on the road. Some readers of this blog might find this next photo a bit macabre, but I there is an undeniable beauty in colours and textures of this vignette (and even more so in the enlarged version) ...



Back to the more day-to-day, I next paused to record a collection of farm machinery that was in the process of being moved for the harvest ...


I didn't linger as this happened to be just across the road from a dairy farm and there were lots of flies immediately coming to say hello.

We were still in heavily farmed land at this point, although vines were less predominant. I stopped at a raised bend in the road for a panorama of the fields below ...


After descending and turning more towards the north and climbing a hill through forested terrain there was a descent that brought us to this scene, which could have been another movie set ...


Lunch was at the town of Scansano, where I took a few photos because its little square had so much ambience packed into such a small space. Here's Di who's just parked her bike ...



The lovely outdoor terrace of one of the two bars on the piazza ...



... and José posing with the statue of Garibaldi that is at the heart of the square ...



After a nice descent and some flat riding we were back into some high quality farming country again, as attested by the grandeur of this estate ...




This next photo is a tribute to Sam, my next door neighbour. Sam is the best recycler I know, especially of building materials. When I saw this pile of blocks and tiles my first thought was of Sam,   knowing that he'd have stockpiled these materials given half a chance - and found a use for them eventually - so I just had to stop and take a picture. Here's to you, Sam ...



By this time we were right into the Maremma part of Tuscany. There were very few cars on the road, which made the riding quite idyllic - especially with roadside flowers and a mixture of forest and field. This next video (I know, my videos are extremely amateurish and I'll need to get a GoPro if I'm going to continue this caper) might give you some feeling for that serenity we found on these roads ...


That video was shot at about the top of the last hill (apart from our short climb up to Capalbio) of today's ride. Not long after we descended we passed a great field of sunflowers, which I tried to video but botched the job. If you google "Sunflowers Maremma" you'll find images of sunflowers together with cypress trees which will be pretty representative of what we saw.

The last part of the ride involved some flat pedalling into a headwind: not conducive to stopping for photos. I'll leave you with some pictures Di took around the old town of Capalbio while I was working on yesterday's story.

Here's a view from the ramparts looking over the newer part of town and across to the fields below ...



... and one of the clock tower ...



Some interesting architecture that I haven't been able to work out but I like the textures ...


... a lovely courtyard ...


... and finally a riot of purple, which Di believes to be bougainvillea and is found all over Capalbio ...



Tomorrow is a long day: 154 kilometres and 2000+ metres of elevation, so look out for the next post in a couple of days' time when we reach Rome after a shorter day. Cheers!

8 comments:

  1. Great reading Doug, love the pictures and sun!

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    1. Thanks Mary! :-) I saw your comment when I got up in the middle of the night because it was too hot for sleeping. Too bleary-eyed to reply at that stage but really appreciate the feedback.
      Cheers
      Doug

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  2. I agree with Mary, fabulous pictures and sun! Bronwyn

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    1. Hi Bronwyn
      You wouldn't believe how nice it is to get your feedback just at this moment. We've had a VERY, VERY big day today. The distance was one thing but some very rough roads after lunch slowed us right down. More about that in the blog tomorrow but suffice to say it's great encouragement to hear from you and Mary. Feedback like this has really helped me keep the blog ticking over.
      Cheers
      Doug

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  3. Well done Doug and Di for the spectacular display of beautiful scenery you're riding through ... we continue to enjoy your dialogue. Great to see that you have some sunshine and are finally void of wet weather gear after we left the tour in Como. Take care and best to all the riders. Jo and Tony

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    1. Hi Jo and Tony
      So nice to hear from you. We've really missed the two of you and your good cheer these past two weeks. So sorry you won't be riding into Rome with us tomorrow. Very short stage so I imagine we'll ride in as a group.
      Happy Targa touring!
      Cheers
      Doug

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  4. Hi Doug,very inspiring reading, and great pictures. Thanks for taking the time to blog. Cheers, Sue

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  5. Hi Doug,very inspiring reading, and great pictures. Thanks for taking the time to blog. Cheers, Sue

    ReplyDelete