Intro:
Okay, I know this format is a pain in the ass if you don't read it every day (or even if you do), but you have to start all the way at the bottom and work your way up.
You can click on the photos to see larger versions of them.
Oh, and just to totally infuriate you, I'm going back and adding in links when I have spare time (working my way backwards). The links don't necessarily take you where you think they will - some of it's for the sake of comedy. But others are for educational purposes. This blog now qualifies for college credit.
Sorry. When I'm done, perhaps I'll publish all of this in book form. Haha.
Offline for a bit...
Now that I'm leaving this lovely hotel and heading to Rome, I won't be online quite so easily. So, stay tuned. I'll be back with an update in a day or two.
Ciao!!
Me toasting with a glass of fine Italian 'Acqua Frizzante' - what you thought I was sucking down WINE while I was riding my bike in 80 degree heat through mountains? 
First picture of my trusty steed. Rental bike, but not too bad all things considered.
Church in Siena. Once again, the intricacies of the carvings are stunning. How much money has the church earned over the years??
Don't even have this one on any maps - just a random castle in the middle of the ride back to the hotel
Monteriggioni - more castles that bring up memories of Monty Python and the Holy Grail - "Stupeed Eengleehmon. I fart in your general direction!!"
Day 11- Siena
Day 11 – Sienna: May 23, 2005
Updates are getting shorter – less to report, spending more time just kicking back and relaxing. Might mean that the ‘random thoughts’ section will grow a bit.
Getting really tired at this point. Riding to Siena and back was a major challenge – there were some pretty long hills that I wasn’t prepared for. Since the past couple days were optional ‘add-on’ days, the tour company didn’t put the level of detail into the directions that they had on the other routes.
Which meant that I unexpectedly hit a hill that was about 10km long (aka 6 miles). Probably only a 4 – 6% grade so it wasn’t incredibly steep, but with 6 days of cycling and walking behind me, even a small hill was becoming a challenge. And here I had to ride uphill for 10k – which took damned near an hour just for that because I had to slow down so much.
Riding hills in mountainous terrain is an even bigger challenge than you would expect because the road curves so much, so you ride and ride and ride. And you push yourself until your heart’s about ready to burst into chunks of meat. And you think ‘Ah. Almost to the top.’ Sweating buckets, breathing like you’re wearing an iron lung, pushing harder and harder. Then you get to the top of the curve and round the bend and…
Ahhhhh…more fucking hill!!!!! And it keeps going like that, curve after curve, climb after climb.
As I mentioned, a week ago it probably wouldn’t have been a big deal. But at this point, my legs are a little rubbery.
Not much to talk about with Siena – a very pretty city. The Piazza Del Campo is cool – a big open air plaza that’s been used for centuries as a gathering place in the city. Siena has been in existence in one form or another since a couple hundred years B.C. That’s pretty wild, even if the buildings are much ‘newer’ than that.
I ordered a sandwich for lunch. Without meaning to, I got the tomato and mozzarella sandwich. Tomato and mozzarella ARE NOT a sandwich. There are three types of sandwiches 1) It has freaking MEAT in it; 2) Peanut butter and jelly and 3) Grilled cheese. Other than that, it’s not a sandwich, it’s just some crap in between some bread.
Took me forever to get waited on – I’ve noticed that people dining ‘solo’ don’t get much service. I’ve been very friendly and gracious but I still seem to be the last one waited on in most places I’ve been eating.
I have GOT to learn to make Tiramisu – every time I’ve had it here, it’s been amazing. Much better than when I’ve had it in the US.
My waiter kept saying something in Italian that I couldn’t figure out. It sounded like “Fish Taco! Fish taco!” I have no idea what he was saying but mmmm… fish taco. I miss Mexican food. I think that’s my favorite of all the various ‘food groups.’
The restroom I used in Siena had a lot of graffiti in Italian. I was trying to figure out what it all said, but didn’t have much luck.
I think one of them said:
There once was a man from Montecatini
Who couldn’t seem to keep his hands off his weenie.
…I’ll let you figure out the rest.
Random thoughts:
Don’t know the whole story of Siena, but it has something to do with Romulus and Remus. It intrigues me a bit and I’ll have to read more since it was the inspiration for the heritage of the Romulans and the Vulcans on Star Trek. C’mon – you all knew I was a geek, it said so in the brochure when you bought me.
One shop window had an old ‘Bank Americard’ sticker in it. What’s it been – 30 years since they changed their name to Visa?
As I’m riding back from Siena, there aren’t even any towns along the way. Just miles and miles of fields. Not even grape or olive fields, just open fields and trees. How does a country that’s been around for thousands of years have so much wide open space? Especially when they’re all Catholic? Considering the Italian reputation for passion, you’d think the population would have exploded at some point so that it filled up all the empty land.
Took me a while to figure out that the word for ‘only’ is ‘solo.’ Shouldn’t have been a tough one, eh? I guess that means the song “O, Solo Mio” is kinda like “All By Myself” or “I’m Just a Bill.”
Interlude - Unpaid Announcement
For anyone looking to do their own blogs, journals, whatever... I've found a few pieces of software immensely helpful.
The first four are all courtesy of Google.
Picasa - photo album software from Google, allows you to organize the photos, edit them with basic edits and then send/upload them to your blog or via e-mail. Really cool interface and easier than anything I've ever used to move photos from place to place.
Hello - photo posting site that acts as a 'go-betweeen' with Picasa and Blogger.com. Blogger doesn't store your photos, it just links to them. Hello is where the photos 'live' and also allows you to purchase prints (similar to Ofoto or Shutterfly)
Blogger.com - the blog site that you're viewing this on.
Google translator - the Google language tools have been very helpful with 'on the fly' translations of stuff in Italian (when I've had the computer handy)
Then, of course there's www.wikipedia.com as I've previously mentioned. Your resource for pretty much anything you want to know. Because it's updated by contributors regularly, you'll find it includes far more than your typical online encyclopedia.
And www.weather.com for daily updates on whether I'm going to be getting soaked or not.
And, while I'm at it, one more plug -- Trillian - it's an 'all-in-one' chat program that lets you load your account info and buddy lists from AIM, Yahoo Messenger, ICQ and MSN messenger. Quit using more than one! Trillian puts them all together in one!
*sigh* - Shout out...
I have to include a 'shout out' to Melissa, who wants to be famous throughout Wisconsin and parts unknown...
you freak... here's your shout out :P
Closer view of San Gimignano
The San Gimignano torture museum - evidently world-famous. I decline to enter.
San Gimignano in the distance - definitely cool looking.
Day 10 - San Gimignano
Day 10 – San Gimignano: May 22, 2005
So, the next 3 days I have three ‘optional’ rides to take me to nearby areas. Siena, San Gimignano and Chianti. But I'm at the same hotel until heading back to Rome on Wednesday.
The most challenging of the three is the ride to San Gimignano, so like the true masochist that I am, I decide to tackle that one first. It’s only about 40 miles round trip, so not a long ride, but it’s almost all uphill to get there, then up and down all the way back.
I’m pretty good on the hills, mind you, but this was some pretty steep riding. I consider myself a relatively advanced rider. Not like someone who does this every weekend, but I’ve ridden 150 miles in a pop and up and down the Santa Monica mountains pretty regularly.
But this ride still kicked my ass a bit. Not as bad as I was expecting, but I think that’s because I was expecting it to be pretty rough. As it stands, it was nice and got some great views of San Gimignano along the way.
I’ve included a photo or two of SG here so you can see what it looks like, but the town is comprised of old buildings and 14 giant towers.
Based on what I’ve read, the town was once one giant ‘dick-swinging’ competition. All of the wealthy home owners were constantly building bigger and bigger towers to out-do their neighbor. At one point, about 800 years ago or so, there were 72 towers. Now there are only the 14 left.
Can you think of a more obviously phallic way to say “mine’s bigger than yours?”
But the end result is pretty cool looking, I gotta say.
(Quick aside: if you want to read any of the real historic information, I’m not the expert on telling the real story. I’m including links where relevant – check them out. The educational ones are mostly from Wikipedia.com – a great resource. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s basically a free online encyclopedia that allows people to contribute add’l information and comments online)
Couple other things about San Gimignano:
If any of you ladies ever want to visit the city, I suggest you do not have any liquids before you head up there.
The one public restroom in the place had the basin set in level with the ground. Meaning, there was no place to sit. At all. A woman would have to squat to do her business.
One person I walked by said that the city was ‘magical’ – and, in a British accent no less, so it really did seem like something out of Lord of the Rings. And, it truly was. From 10 feet and up, anyway. Below 10 feet, it was about as magical as Katella Avenue outside of Disneyland – one tourist stand after another.
Riding back to the hotel was a tough, great, beautiful ride. Very mountainous, hilly terrain and lots of green. Few houses along the way. It was a little like riding Mulholland Highway between Malibu and Oxnard – very peaceful except for the motorcycles zipping by every few minutes.
I’m getting exhausted at this point, so I take a break under a tree for a minute. The tree is filled with flowers – and a faint, buzzing noise. So, I’m thinking – either this tree is electrically powered or ‘oh, shit.’ Turns out it was ‘oh, shit’ – I looked up and pretty much every one of the hundreds of little flowers had its own little bee that was looking a little bit pissed at the invader below. So, I beat a hasty retreat and continued riding.
The bees here in Italy are generally pretty huge. As opposed to the little dime-sized bees in LA, these are all between a quarter and a 50-cent piece in size (quick random thought – why doesn’t the 50 cent piece have a name? Half dollar is not any better. Penny, nickel, dime, quarter, dollar – they all have names. But the 50 cent piece is stuck with nothing but a multiple of its unit of currency).
Anyway, these bees are fucking big. And when I’m sailing down the side of a mountain, some of them hit me. Now, just imagine a bee the size of a half dollar hitting you while you’re riding around 70 kmh (42 mph). Every time it happened, it felt like I was getting shot with a goddamn pellet gun in the chest. One hit me in the face and I thought it was going to leave a mark (fortunately I wasn’t going that fast at that point).
Could use a little Gatorade for the ride, but all the shops are closed as I ride through the little towns – it’s Sunday, so not much is going on in the smaller roadside towns. Too bad, because I could really use a pizza and a Coke.
Back at the hotel, I head out to the pool and relax after the ride. All of the European men at the pool are wearing banana hammocks. Another mental image I’d prefer to leave behind.
Not much else to talk about – read, ate at the hotel restaurant and went to sleep.
Random thoughts:
I have fewer random thoughts – perhaps my brain is going into total relaxation mode, so I’m not thinking as much as I normally do?
Banana hammocks – ewwwww…
I figure I’ve lost about 5 lbs. since I’ve been here. I’m burning an average of 1500 – 2000 calories extra each day from the riding, probably more when you add in all the walking. And I tend to eat less when I’m riding – not more, because during a ride I don’t like to fill up too much. The big breakfasts and dinners have only been enough to maintain my basic calorie needs. If it weren’t for gelato, I’d be wasting away. If I can lose a couple more pounds before I get home, I’ll be a happy camper.
I don’t suggest anyone try to lose 5 lbs. in 10 days. Not typically the safest thing to do. I’m eating enough and taking vitamins to stay healthy – the weight loss is coming from burning lots of fat on 4-5 hour bike rides.
The waitress at dinner reminded me of Screech from ‘Saved by the Bell’
It's really fun trying to find links to include - who knew there was a restroomratings.com?
In addition to www.wikipedia.com, www.urbandictionary.com is good, too. It's a slang dictionary that you can contribute entries to.
The dumbass in the middle of the wedding party, eating their food
Where the wealthy chill out...
NOT the building where I'm staying. I'm in another building - still nice, but not quite so spacious.
The hotel grounds... swimmin' pools, movie stars...
San Gimignano in the distance - 'one ring to rule them all...' bump bum bah!!
"It isn't a matter of 'ow he grips it, it's a matter of weight ratios! A five ounce bird could not carry a one pound coconut. "
Me riding the funicolare in Certaldo Alto
I think this sign means that there's bong-smoking ahead.
The view from my hotel room in Vinci at 6am
Day 9 - Ride to Colle di Val D'Elsa
Day 9 – Ride to Colle di Val D’Elsa: May 21, 2005
Despite the loud ruffianeering that the soccer ruffians were doing last night, I woke up really early (around 6am). Got up and finished packing, but I didn’t have a lot to do since I was only in Vinci for one day.
At 7, I went down to see if breakfast was ready yet – since it’s been at varying times at varying hotels. Fortunately, it was ready to go even though I was the only one up. The private room was all set up again for the Empoli Soccer team (that’s who they were, there were pictures all over the room with their name & team members). I guess this was their official hotel for something or another. Maybe they come to Vinci for their season training camp or something?
The man running the breakfast area didn’t speak a word of English, so when I asked for coffee, he used his hands to say ‘small’ or ‘large?’ I figured he meant did I want a small Italian café (espresso) or the larger American café (regular coffee)? So, I said ‘grande.’ Whoops.
Welcome to the language barrier – the quick and easy way to screw up what you want. Thanks for playing our game!! Instead of the American coffee, I got a large espresso. As in, a full coffee cup of espresso. Yuck. I’m not a big coffee fan in the first place. I drink it, but only with lots of sugar, milk and/or chocolate (as in Café Mocha or Mocha Frappucinos). So, drinking a large cup of espresso was like drinking dirt. I could barely stomach it, but I managed.
I ought to be awake until around 2 am. Tuesday.
Got on the road by 8am. This is when I usually like to ride. I get out early and into the world before most people are even out of bed. It was really beautiful – some incredible views. Unfortunately, the early morning haze made photo taking tough for the first couple hours of the ride.
So, for those of you looking for beautiful panoramic shots of the Tuscan countryside, you’re shit out of luck. Sorry.
I’ve noticed that I’ve gotten much better at converting kilometers to miles while I’m riding. Just helps me to gauge how far things are and how fast I’m riding, so I convert the numbers in my head throughout the ride.
Discovered a much easier way to convert kilometers to miles along the way. Not sure why this was such a revelation to me, since I’m supposedly pretty good with numbers. But at first, I kept multiplying the kilometers by 0.6 and tried to keep the decimal point moving in my head as I multiplied. Made it a bit complicated to do.
Then I realized, “Hey. What if I don’t move the decimal point until AFTER I do the multiplication?” Duh. How the hell did it take me so long to figure out THAT one.
Turns out that 28 times .6 is pretty tough to calculate in your head (.6 x 8 = 4.8, plus .6 x 20 = 12.0, aka 16.8) . But 28 times 6 = 168, then move the decimal point? Piece of cake. I feel like a total dumbshit for not realizing that one earlier.
Rode for a while and got to Certaldo Alto – stopped there and took the funicolare up to the top of the hill, where there were some fantastic views and I could see San Gimignano in the distance. I’ll get there later on this week on one of my day rides, but basically the place looks like something out of a Dungeons & Dragons game or Lord of the Rings or something.
Took my time getting to the hotel, since I figured there was no way that my luggage was going to be there yet.
The rest of the ride was really uneventful. I could go on and on about the scenery and wax poetic about it, but I’m not the type to wax poetic about anything. I grew up in the middle of Wisconsin, I’ve seen endless fields before. Even though these were a little more interesting because there were actual hills and the land was filled with olives and grapes, it was still just endless fields.
The views early on filled me with a sense of wonder and beauty and awe. At this point, being this up close and intimate with them for 4 days, I was like – Yawn. Bring on the mountains!! Or dancing girls! Or a drunk German guy in lederhosen at the side of the road. Anything to break it up a bit.
Finally started to pass through some tiny little towns that looked like they were built about 150 years ago – not quite the ancient villages I had seen before. More along the lines of Midwest suburbs, but not as boring.
Then, I passed through some little blips on the map. Literally, towns that were 6 businesses and a few homes. Then, as I got closer to my hotel, I passed through a town that was nothing but a handful of old brick buildings and a donkey. The donkey kept starting at me – I asked him “What are you looking at jackass?” and then laughed my ass off. I’m a little punchy at this point.
Finally, I have to turn off the main road. And when I say main road, I mean it was paved and it was wide enough for a Yugo. And the next road I’m going down is dirt. At this point, it’s 5 miles since I’ve seen anything resembling a town. So, I’m thinking – “What godforsaken out-in-the-middle-of-nowhere little bed and breakfast have they booked me in?” I am going to have absolutely nothing to do at this place and I’m stuck here for 4 days without a town nearby.
Quick aside: the last 4 days of the cycling portion of the trip are all at the same hotel – I have day rides to Siena, San Gimignano and Chianti, then on the last day I depart.
And I go further down the dirt road. And further. Oh look, there’s a house – I bet that’s it. Nope. Further.
And finally, I arrived.
Holy shit.
The place is palatial. Seriously. I guess because it’s in the middle of nowhere, it’s inexpensive enough to be within the budget of the tour company. But this is a place that movies can be filmed at – when the tired old jewel thief retires to a life of luxury, it’s here.
I’m NOT exaggerating. Just the opposite. I don’t think I can do it justice. Nor can my pictures.
As expected, my luggage hasn’t arrived, but that’s JUST fine with me. I put on my mp3 player and go nap out by the pool. Oh yes, there’s a pool. And a courtyard. And tennis courts. And little private villas on the grounds (where the truly WEALTHY are staying).
My room is a loft – complete with kitchen on the lower floor, some chairs – then on the second floor, there’s a bed and another chair with a little reading light next to it. Beautiful and some if it looks like it’s from the original building god knows how many hundreds of years ago.
And best of all – they have a satellite dish and WIRELESS internet access!!! Funny thing is, it was just installed yesterday. They must have known I was coming. It’s 20 Euros for 10 hours of access, but over the course of 4 days – totally worth it. I’ll have a lot of downtime after my rides. So I can hop online and catch up with stuff. Like this.
I mentioned that I’m not into fine food and spas and things like that. But THIS I could get used to. A pool, sunshine, music, computer and a good book. I’m set.
The irony is that this is the first place I’ve been where the cell phone service hasn’t been exceptional. So no phone calls from here, it seems.
There was a wedding party setting up out by the pool. Then, the wedding guests started to arrive.
Want an example why so many people think American tourists are rude and obnoxious? There’s an American guy, complete with baseball cap. He wanders into the private area where the wedding party is starting to get going. Sits down at a table, starts reading a paper and eating the hors d’ouevres from the wedding cocktail reception.
Totally oblivious to the fact that a) the area is roped off; b) everyone is dressed up and c) you don’t know the people in the GIANT PICTURE OF THE WEDDING COUPLE IN FRONT OF THE FOOD!!! Finally, his son (complete with Virginia Tech t-shirt and cap) walks up to him and points it out to him.
Had a really fancy dinner at the hotel restaurant – thi s place does high class dinners and catering. The appetizer buffet was half a mile long and cost 15 Euros – this is before you even get to the meal. Had spaghetti bianco something something. Essentially spaghetti in a red sauce with small tomatoes and shrimp. It was pretty good.
Then, ordered the bass with a lot of other stuff in Italian that I can’t remember. The bass came out – sure enough, there’s the head. Still on it. I’m all for indulging in other cultures, but it’s like I always say. “DON’T LEAVE THE HEAD ON MY FUCKING FOOD!” Seriously. I always say that. It’s just nasty. I ate the food and I think it was tasty, but the taste of my own disgust kinda of made it hard to tell.
In order to tolerate eating the fish, I peeled off the fish skin and covered up his face with it, like the hangman covering up the head of the accused in the gallows.
After dinner, did some moonlight internet surfing and went back to try to sleep. The wedding party finished dinner and then the dancing and music were going on until around 1am, so I didn’t sleep well until they were done.
Random thoughts:
The main house of the hotel is where the ‘cheap rooms’ are. Ironic because this is where the rich family probably lived 200 years ago. The former ‘servant quarters’ out on the grounds have been converted into the private villas where the rich people are staying.
The last couple hotels I’ve been to have had ‘radiator’ towel racks. You can heat up your towels before you get out of the shower. LOVE that.
Not sure where I’m going to eat the next couple days. I don’t really want to eat at the fancy hotel restaurant 4 nights in a row, but I’m not sure what my options are – the nearest town is miles and miles away. I don’t want to order beef and get the cow’s browneye included with the ‘rump roast’
DaVinci's attempt at underwater breathing apparatus - I think I saw someone wear this to a Hollywood club one night.
Passed right under the banner from the Giro d'Italia - along the same course they rode a few days ago.
Leonardo Da Vinci's birth home, or so they think...
The way I just came from - all uphill
Day 8 - To Vinci
Day 8 – Montecatini Terme to Vinci – 5/20/05
Should be a shorter entry today. Not much of significance going on and Vinci is a quiet little town. Although it is kind of cool typing this stuff out on my laptop in front of the Leonardo DaVinci museum and square where he grew up. I think he would’ve been a computer geek if they’d been around back then.
Evidently today’s cycling route took me right through the same roads ridden by the riders in the Giro d’Italia only a few days ago. Giro ‘wannabees’ were riding past me all day long, but more on that later.
When I got started, I was really thankful that I took yesterday off from riding, since it gave my clothes and equipment a lot of time to fully dry out. The cycling clothes dry quickly, but some of the other stuff (panniers, etc) were drenched and took some time.
One side effect of the rain was that my gloves were too tight to wear.
First rule of cycling gloves: “If it doesn’t fit, you must omit.” Or maybe “If it doesn’t fit, it’s a tourniquet.”
Today is a lot of climbing mountains during the course of the ride. Some incredible views. Unfortunately, not much in the way of decent pictures. I left really early so there was still a lot of haze covering the area. Even though the views look fantastic, they come out really washed out on camera.
The climbing is tough in areas, but fortunately I’m pretty used to riding through the mountains back home. I accidentally bought the ‘frizzante’ water instead of regular water, so it should make for some interesting burps along the ride.
As I mentioned, there were dozens and dozens of cyclists on the route today. Not touring cyclists like myself, but racing fans who wanted to ride part of the route for themselves. It’s cool to think that a lot of cycling’s greatest racers were on these same roads only a few days ago.
Lance Armstrong has said that he wants to train for the Giro d’Italia once he retires from the Tour de France after this year.
You’re probably not aware of this, but cycling has its own little caste system. There are essentially three groups – racing, touring and mountain biking. The racers are what were all over the road today – best metaphor I can come up with is that they were the ‘jocks’ in high school, the touring cyclists are the ‘good, reliable students’ who you were probably friends with and the mountain bikers are the ones who were behind the building smoking weed.
Most of the racers are cocky and obnoxious – racing by without even saying ‘buongiorno’ – you’re just in their way. But some are cool.
Got to admit that it really pisses me off when an old guy on a racing bike passes me by on a hill.
Fine. I’m loaded with 30 lbs. of gear. I’m taking my time to see the scenery. And I’m not in the best shape of my life. I accept all of that. It still pisses me off to get passed by an old guy.
Took some of the ‘alternate’ hard loops along the way to Vinci – partly because Vinci’s not a long ways away, partly to make up for not riding yesterday. It was a good, hard ride. Went up 1000 feet over the mountains into a valley, rode through the valley for a bit, then went back up and over the mountains again. Tough ride. Some of the grade was 15%, which is pretty steep when you have to ride it for a while.
One of the ‘add-ons’ routes today took me up to the birth house of Leonardo DaVinci. Or, as the guide book says the house where he was ‘traditionally considered to have been born.’ Hmmm… smacks of tourist-appeasing bullshit, doesn’t it? Yessir, the movie ‘Psycho’ really DID film there at the Psycho house on the Universal backlot – uh huh.
But the DaVinci house did date back to the 1300s, so that was cool.
A group of schoolkids was taking a tour there – some of them were bored so they started asking me where I was from and what my name was. Even the teacher got into the act – she was amazed that I was riding my bike through Italy.
I saw the same group of kids about 3 hours later at the DaVinci museum in town, after I had checked into the hotel and showered. They didn’t recognize me when I was all cleaned up. The museum was interesting, but again just filled with replicas of things DaVinci had designed.
Some of his designs were incredibly prescient. I still find it amazing that he designed an early bicycle that never got used. According to the text, the drawings of the bicycle weren’t uncovered until the 1900s – he designed it long before it became a reality. He drew ‘walking pontoons,’ tanks, rapid fire cannons, and underwater breathing apparatus. He drew all kinds of that stuff, but I don’t think much of it was every made. I picked up a book to read more about him.
Wandered through the town for a bit – not much to speak of. There are two main streets that run parallel, but combine into one at each end of town (like an Egyptian ‘eye’ shape). Then in town, there were 5 streets perpendicular to those two as you went through town. That was it. All there was to it.
Definitely no internet access today. Hopefully there will be some in Colle di Val D’Elsa or Monteriggioni. Otherwise, it’ll be several days before I get online to post. I’m guessing Siena will have some places, but that’s not until Sunday or Monday.
When I got to the hotel, it was lunchtime (aka 12 – 4), so the housekeeper was manning the front desk. THAT was interesting to try to work through. Not sure why the Italians take such long lunches – going home for a ‘nooner’ becomes a wild afternoon of passion, I guess.
Dinner was in a restaurant adjacent to the hotel – it was very good, but there was a group of soccer ruffians who were eating in an adjoining room. They were loud and they were partying hard. It was cool, though, because it gave me a chance to use the word ‘ruffians.’
Food was good – had basic penne pasta and tomatos for start, then had a grilled filet. Very American meal, I know, but I needed the protein to re-build the leg muscles.
There was a young French woman sitting alone at a table in the restaurant. I almost said hi and spoke to her, since I speak French well enough. NO ONE in this place spoke English, so at least it would be some conversation. I didn’t end up talking to her, though. But I figured out that I can say “You’re cute” in 6 languages.
Tried to go to sleep early, but the soccer ruffians (from a nearby town) were also staying in the hotel. They were loud as Hell, but fortunately, it seems they had a ‘lights out’ curfew at 10:30 so I was able to get to sleep.
Random thoughts:
A lot of cyclists often say that the reward for a long climb uphill is being able to go downhill afterward. A lot of cyclists are full of shit. Let’s see – an hour of painful struggle up a mountain, then I get 5 minutes going downhill – oh yeah, sign me up for that.
I appreciate the views of going up into the mountains, but fuck that ‘reward’ shit of going downhill.
Saw a Maserati roar past me on one of the mountain roads. It was black with a white stripe – young guy and woman in the passenger seat, with the top down (on the car, not the WOMAN).
I’m not much of a car person – but that thing fucking ruled.
This is what page 47 of the Rambaldi manuscript would have looked like if Michael J. Fox had starred as Sydney (only Alias fans will get this one)
Interlude - Italian Life Cycle
Interlude: Day 7
Had enough random thoughts already, so I wanted to separate this into a different entry. It’s amazing how much stupid shit my brain comes up with when I’m walking around or riding my bike. Makes me wonder how much stuff I’d collect up if I kept notes on ALL of my bike rides?
There are three stages of aging for Italian women and Italian men, from what I’ve seen.
Three Stages of Italian Women
Stage One: Young & Hot; Style: Low-rise jeans, multi-colored hair, tight top, clunky shoes and gigantic sunglasses that cover most of the face.
Stage Two: Middle aged, look kind of like Sophia Loren, but usually with skin dried out as though she’d been stuck under a tanning bed for 11 or 12 days; Style: Light colored skirt below the knee, black or other dark colored sweater with some rhinestone patterns, high heels and horn-rimmed glasses (varying shapes).
Stage Three: Mother Teresa Look-alike Competitors; Style: Shawls, head scarves, flat shoes, scowl
Three Stages of Italian Men
Stage One: Young Turks; Style: Tight jeans, tighter shirts (usually some incongruous mixture of colors, sometimes plain black)
Stage Two: Slick, aging businessman; Style: Suit with bright color shirt & no tie, shirt usually open to mid-chest – picture George Clooney in Ocean’s Twelve.
Stage Three: Crotchety old man (NOT kindly old Gepetto): Style: Height is about 9 inches shorter than Stage Two, suit from 1974 with tie, usually wearing some kind of hat similar to the ones worn by Bing Crosby on his Christmas specials, scowl
Funny pic of the day: This is what happens when you let the Google translator translate your menu into English. I'm pretty sure Penne all'arrabbiata doesn't actually mean that you're ordering "Pens to the Angry One"
Evidently "Girls No Likes Grammar"
The hills I just rode up. Olive trees and grape vines everywhere. Everything's washed out because it was overcast.
This Pope statue was in front of someone's house. I sense the accusatory finger pointing at me and shouting "Unclean!! Unclean!!!"
