Alison and Alison and the art of re-tyrement

Cycling adventures in retirement

Castellina in Chianti to Florence

Distance 27.6 miles

Ascent 1477 feet

Descent 3000 feet

We had planned an easy day.

Enjoying breakfast in Villa Cristina when the sirens sounded and the electricity cut out. Nothing to do with us or the heating element. Fortunately we had just been given our coffee. Other guests were not so lucky.
As we thought we had an easy day we returned to the town in daylight to have a wander around.
Last night we did our bit for international trade and relations.
This morning we visited the Church of Santissimo in Salvatore in Castellina in Chianti. A beautifully simple chapel.
We considered taking up the sport of parcors. But instead we realised that we are instrumental in reinventing a L’Eroica style vintage cycling with fully loaded bikes touring bikes. No electric bikes, no supported luggage transfer and definitely no Lycra. Today we saw our first young follower who waved enthusiastically at us. A seminal moment.
Supposed to be an easy day but there was still a lot of pushing. Excellent exercise.
We have made it to Florence. The sky is grey but we are thrilled.
Santa Maria Novella. Closed of course.

Alison is celebrating with a Duolingo lesson on pop culture. She will soon be an expert on KPop. Excitingly she is moving onto a new topic tomorrow – asking for directions. That definitely has potential.

Good night.

alisonmiddleditch

2 responses to “Castellina in Chianti to Florence”

  1. chrisincarshalton avatar
    chrisincarshalton

    Well done you guysSheila is so sorry that Santa Maria Novella was closed (although the little Venice one wasn’t! )Carry

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  2. malcolmchoat8206f59a7e avatar
    malcolmchoat8206f59a7e

    All this unexpected climbing you’re doing, after setting out on an easy day, is your group of travel guides playing games with you or are you falling through the cracks and holes in your once trusty paper map? Perhaps time to invest in a new one, make sure it shows a lot more than the motorways.

    By the look of things tomorrow you’ll be playing the tourists again. Florence is certainly one of the highlights on your route and tomorrow’s weather forecast looks as is it’s made for popping into churches, museums, shops, cafe’s etc., rather than pedalling in the rain.

    Whatever you get up to, we look forward to reading all about it.

    Love & best wishes,

    Malcolm & Evelyn

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