Tuscany by Scooter in 2014 with Edelweiss, Couples Tour.

[beemerdons]

Pics are courtesy of Edelweiss Tour Guide Domenic Shiavo, his full ride report is at https://www.worldtourer.com/?p=26268

https://www.edelweissbike.com

Don and Donna with the Arno River behind them flowing through magnificent and gorgeous Firenze!

Brian and Melanie in the foreground with Mark and Linda behind them, in background across the Arno River is the Duomo and the Florence Cathedral

L to R: John, Sue and Heather.

L to R: Jeff, Dr. Rich and Pat

L to R: Isa and John.

Phillis, Jeff and Pat

Heather studying the Owners Manual of her Vespa Scooter.

 

[BigOgre]

Thanks for the pics Don.

An excellent read on the building of Santa Maria del Fiore. Amazing stuff.

 

[beemerdons]

Great stories! Enjoy riding along with you guys.
How many scooters in your group? I can imagine that would be difficult to manage in some of the higher traffic areas of Firenze. Do you typically do all day loops back to Firenze, or will you be traveling and staying in other towns?

13 scooters are in our group, Domenic Schiano our Edelweiss Tour Guide is in the Lead and I ride Sweep all day long; I'm very familiar with the higher traffic areas of Firenze. Our AZ Beemers Group has ridden together for many years and everyone is a highly experienced rider, there have been no problems at all and everyone is lane splitting/filtering like a Roman!

Every night is spent at the same Villa Gabriele D'Annunzio hotel in East Florence, going out each day on a large 8-9 hour loop: 1) San Gimignano. 2) Mugello. 3) Siena. 4) Arezzo. 5) Pitiana.

 

[beemerdons]

From AZ Beemer Member Brian Boles:

The rains did come today. This morning's ride south out of town was in light sprinkles to moderate rain. The roads weren't as curvy as yesterdays, so we backed the pace down a notch for the rain and proceeded. Our break stop was the same town as Monday, Greve in Chianti. Lunch and the main visit was Sienna, a large walled medieval city. Unforuntately, when we got to Sienna, the rain started to get heavy and it really limited how much we could see of the city.

Melanie and I ran out of time to see the Sienna cathedral inside, but I got some nice shots of the outside. The first 2 hours of the ride back was in fairly heavy rain, but the traction was good. We stopped for afternoon break in a town that is famous for its bicycle race: Gaiole in Chianti. After that the rain subsided and we returned to Firenze at rush hour. When we hit a major traffic jam it was time for everyone to scooter up and start lane splitting. We sliced traffic for about 3 miles and some of the folks who hadn't done it before were giggling with laughter as we arrived at the hotel.

 

[CopB8]

Sorry to hear about the rain but a rainy day in Tuscany is still better than a sunny day at work!

I can certainly see some of the advantages of returning to a base camp every day. No packing and unpacking, riding loaded down, etc. We went from hotel to hotel and enjoyed spending the nights in different towns but we paid the price in hassle and very limited attire.

One day I'm going to work out how to post pics. When I tried it after I got back it did something weird and cut off the top 25% and bottom 25% of the picture I linked to.

 

[teerex51]

The rains did come today.

Hey compadre, while I'm sorry to hear your scooter parade got rained on, you'll be pleased to know the Wx forecast has improved for the weekend. You'll get to see Venice in the sunshine.

See y'all on Saturday around the time you reach the hotel.

 

[beemerdons]

The rains did come today.

Hey compadre, while I'm sorry to hear your scooter parade got rained on, you'll be pleased to know the Wx forecast has improved for the weekend. You'll get to see Venice in the sunshine.

See y'all on Saturday around the time you reach the hotel.

Ciao Stef, we're really enjoying Tuscany! Donna and I do love Italy, as we ride around we see a Villa with a grape field and we say: "Let's buy that one and live here!" JSNS!

 

[beemerdons]

Thanks for the pics Don.
An excellent read on the building of Santa Maria del Fiore. Amazing stuff.

Thanks for this BigOgre, I worked construction my entire life and this structure took my breath away. Built with NO mechanical, hydraulic or electrical devices: AMAZING!

 

[beemerdons]

Following right along. Sounds to be a great trip!


https://www.worldtourer.com/?p=26268 Follow along on Blog of Edelweiss Tour Guide Domenico Schiano, today's our last day of riding: Don't want it to end!

The Mugello Grand Prix Race Track: I broke Valentino Rossi's track time on my Aprilia Scarabeo 500, THAT'S ITALIAN! JSNS!

 

[beemerdons]

EAT - RIDE, EAT - RIDE, EAT - RIDE, EAT - RIDE, AND EAT - RIDE! Put the scooters away for the evening and then: DRINK, DRINK, DRINK AND DRINK!

L to R: Linda and Melanie eating Gelato, we NEVER stop eating Gelato!

Around every corner in Tuscany is a view that will just awe you big time, what a country! Ciao!

Papa Chuy Viejo and Miss Donna are riding SWEEP every day, Domenico Schiano waits for us at crossroads: I give the proceed signal wave, off we GO!

Always a mid morning Road Stop for Espresso and Biscotti, lunch at Noon, then a mid afternoon stop for Cappucino and Gelato! Live to Eat - Eat to Ride!

GUESS WHAT?? We are eating again! And Again, And Again; oh, And Again! jes' sayin' and nuff said, Prego!

Lots and lots of water is throughout Toscana, with our coming from the Sonoran Desert seeing all these lakes, streams and rivers is a real treat for us!

Stopping to put on our rain gear, luckily Wednesday was the only day of riding our scooters in the rain!

 

[teerex51]

Great pics Don, thanks for sharing.

Looks like your wild bunch is having a good time while stashing away the calories for the harsh Arizona winter...

 

[CopB8]

If anyone's interested I'll upload and add a link to the pictures from our Italy trip. They're currently on Google+ but that doesn't work well for me. When I try and post a picture with a link it only shoes a portion of the photo. I was just going to share the whole album but it would then be open to everyone in the world. What's the best cloud photo storage venue where I can share the photos to this group, perhaps with a password?

Thanks

 

[beemerdons]

Thirty year old red headed hottie Heather rides like a Speedball, those il Italianos can't catch her!

Dr. Rich from www.fjrforum.com rides like a god damn 300lb. smorgasbord and herring eating Dane!

Big John Smith:

The Scooter Crew at speed, kicking ass and taking names! JSNS, Ciao!

L to R: Sue - Mom and Heather - Daughter in Siena:

 

[beemerdons]

From AZ Beemers Member Brian Boles:

Some may be wondering what happened to yesterday's report. I'll get to that in a bit. So, Thursday morning dawned clearing and a bit cooler than rainy Wednedsay. Our destination Thursday is Arezzo.

As I said previously, the Vespa scooters are not comfortable 2-up. Our friends Mark and Linda had gotten a Honda 300 scooter. They weren't riding today, so YEA, Melanie and I got to use the Honda and it is an order of magnitude more comfortable than the Vespa's.

We left town towards the south east and rode over a short pass. But the wind at the pass was howling, the clouds had dropped and it was very cold. I had left my frogg toggs at the hotel and I really wished I had them. It warmed up a bit as we dropped down into a valley. The first stop was a lovely castle town called Poppi. Steep steep road going up and incredible view from the top. Cool old fort also. As we continued down the river valley, we came to Arezzo. It was supposed to be a good place for jewlery as it was a jewel manufacturing town in the midevil days. We went around the stores, but actually it was much more of an antique jewel place than modern. There were a lot of cool antiques, including some 1300AD door knockers that would look bichin on our house at a reasonable price. But at about 30 lbs each, it was too much to bring back in a suitcase. The resturant we had lunch at will really good and even had an old mama hand making pasta in front. I had carpachio (raw beef) and Melanie had Culeto Milenasa (thin pork slice deep fried with crispy french fries). Yummy.

On the way back, the route was a fun one running along the sides of the hills with beautiful forests and great curves. Our afternoon break stop was in a town Gaiole in Chianti that hosts a huge vintage bicycle race and the town had all sorts of bicycle shops.

So, like I said, the jewelry shopping in Arezzo was dissapointing. We had seen some very cool stuff at the Ponte del Vecchio bridge near downtown Firenze. Melanie fell in love with a interesting scarf style necklace. So, I decided that Santa would come early and Melanie and I went downtown to buy jewelry instead of having dinner with the group. I understand that there were other dinner defectors as some folks are a bit full of pasta already.

 

[beemerdons]

Photos are Courtesy of Edelweiss Bike Travel Tour Guide Domenico Schiano, a fantastic Gentleman and an outstanding Photographer! https://www.worldtourer.com/?p=26268

If any location on Earth is described as Heaven it has to be Tuscany, every time you round a corner in this region the view is phenomenal!

 

[beemerdons]

From AZ Beemers Member Brian Boles:

Today is our last riding day.

We rode southeast and eventually came to a huge former villa which is now a hotel. This is where our cooking class would be. Most of the group elected to do the cooking class, including Mel and I. Melanie is already an excellent cook and I'm a experienced sous-chef.

We prepared
Caprese salad - Tomatos and buffalo mozzerella sliced with basil and drizzled at the end with olive oil and balsamic vinegar
Panzenatta - a bread salad. You start with old stale bread, soak it in water until it just gets moist, then squeeze out the water and hand grind the bread up. That is topped with tomatoes, cucumber, onion, basil. Before serving, olive oil drizzle on top and add some corn and garnish with shredded romaine lettuce.
Bruschetta - sliced bread with tomatos and basil, olive oil

We made 4 pizzas. The dough balls were already prepared, so we rolled them out and covered with a simple tomato sauce, oregano and olive oil. The toppings were ham and olives, ham and capers, olives and capers and a margherita with tomato and basil.

The chef made a pesto pasta and we made a variation of tira misu with sugar/egg yolks beaten together, the egg whites whipped into a merange and sugar cookies soaked on coffee for the crust. The food was delicous and it was a lot of fun making it.

 

[beemerdons]

From AZ Beemers Member Brian Boles:

The ride back to town was again a small road off the beaten path that ran along the sides of the Tuscan hills. Lots of fun, but I hear that some of the folks in the pack had close calls with oncoming cars. I was behind one rider who came very face to face with a large truck in a corner. I noticed that riders pace slow down a bit (well for a little while). After gassing up the scooters to return them full as we do every night, we put our steeds away for the last time. Bummer.

Overall, we did have one rider have an unexpected encounter with the side of the road with some scuffs to the scooter but only damaged pride to the rider. Everyone else didn't have any problems. One rainy day isn't too much to complain about.

The scooters are definitely a more inclusive way to tour a country, the scooter helps you really get into the culture and the landscape. They perform exceptionally on the tight small roads we were using. I don't think the places we went to would be as much fun on a full size bike, so the scooter is a great chioce for this trip.

With the right scooters for the 2-up couples, this would be an almost perfect trip.

Tomorrow, its off of 2 wheels and on to many wheels for the train ride to Venice. CU in Venezia.

 

[CopB8]

So, like I said, the jewelry shopping in Arezzo was dissapointing. We had seen some very cool stuff at the Ponte del Vecchio bridge near downtown Firenze. Melanie fell in love with a interesting scarf style necklace. So, I decided that Santa would come early and Melanie and I went downtown to buy jewelry instead of having dinner with the group. I understand that there were other dinner defectors as some folks are a bit full of pasta already.

When I was planning my trip I had originally thought we'd visit Arezzo. Since we weren't too much into the jewelry thing, and it was quite a bit out of the way for that day, and I scrapped it. I always wondered if we really missed out on something. Reading your report let me know I'd made the right call.

Sad to hear it was your last day. Touring Tuscany on 2 wheels was BY FAR the highlight of our trip.

 

[beemerdons]

Wow. Loving the pics. Need to go to Tuscany some day.


More Photos from EBT Tour Guide Domenico Schiano:

 

[Jer]

Don I am really enjoying your pictures and narratives. Not quite the same as being there though. Glad you and Donna are having a great time.