We decided to ride directly out of Rome instead of taking a train further out into the country. Not sure it was the best decision. Riding out of a major city can be stressful and hectic, and that is exactly what it was. In all honesty, we probably overromaticized and underestimated those first couple of days, which weren’t the beautiful rolling hills we expected but the typical industrial and suburban areas that you would expect outside of a big city. And it was our first taste of the tough hills to come, so we had some harsh realizations those first couple of days about how this “ride to florence” was going to go. Despite praising the non-planning aspect of our travel in the previous post, sometimes not doing enough research can result in some unpleasant surprises.
That being said (because honesty is good), there were several bright spots those first couple of days. The first being our time spent at the Bracciano castle and our first night camping at Lake Bracciano. It is a large and gorgeous castle overlooking a large and gorgeous lake. We found a really cool craft beer place right in the shadow of the castle and enjoyed checkin out the neat town. Definitely what you would think of as the quintessential Italian castle and old town. We biked a little further around the lake to the campsite later that evening and spent some time hanging out at the campsite’s beach looking at the eerily lit castle on a hill underneath the full moon. Definitely made the tough ride worth it.
The next day, another bright spot (hint: not the ride) was ending up in this random town called Civita Castellana with virtually no tourists and a little food festival going on. We had some amazing food truck paninis and picked up some local spicy goods. We have been eating amazing food, but sometimes we crave that extra kick that seems to be missing in the European countries we’ve visited.
Then, we had a choice to make. We knew that at this pace, because of the intense hills, we wouldn’t make it to Florence in time. We didn’t want to miss Tuscany so we decided to take a train ahead to Cortona and wind our way to Florence from there. This turned out to be the best decision because if we thought the few hills out of Rome were tough, it was nothing compared to Tuscany. We had heard it was difficult, but because we had just biked over huge MOUNTAINS we thought we were golden. But instead we were humbled. The relentlessness of the climbs, which were not rewarded with the long coastal downhills but depressingly short ones, was a shock. But…. the views. They make it worth every drop of sweat.
Tuscany is incredibly picturesque, just like you imagine and in fact better. Everywhere you look there are green and golden hills dotted with beautiful trees, homes, and farms. And in between are these magical-looking hilltop towns with medieval stone castles, walls, and churches. It’s almost unbelievable. Fortunately for our cardiovascular health but unfortunately for our legs, we were dead set on visiting several of these hill top towns. The climbs were brutal for sure, but the reward is what every traveler to Italy wants. Strolling peacefully along the stone streets of these ancient towns, drinking wine, eating delicious pizza and pasta, checking out the views of the countryside, people watching (Italian people-watching is amazing), and just enjoying life.
Cortona, Pienza, Siena, Chianti, then finally Florence. The moments in those places, and in between them, were just a constant stream of YES. One night we camped at a farm with a nice restaurant, and splurged on our one full Italian 5 course meal. It was the best meal we have had in Europe by far. Another time, Laura was so enchanted by Siena that she started imagining living there forever. Yet another major moment was gliding serenely into Florence after a sweet gently-sloping 10k downhill. Biking the Italian countryside was the most awesome way we could have seen this place. Nine straight days of cycling (including the two days after Rome). And we are so grateful for such a badass yet graceful experience.
That being said… we decided to ditch the bikes in Florence. More on that next.
