Onward with travels in Italy after spending some time in Rome, and San Momme, Toscana. I ended up on another hill overlooking the vineyards in the infamous Chianti region in Tuscany. I had booked a room in a villa that is geared toward budget travels although once it used to be a place for wealthy tourist, mainly old New York bankers, this is according to the owner of the villa. He says he likes the younger travelers because he learns something new every day. The villa is absolutely a dream place with views that I could see old New York bankers would pay thousands for.. but I get to enjoy it at a budget rate. Yay me!
I got to drink the stolen grapes of Sangiovese where in another winery, a bottle cost about 150 Euro. The owner of the villa I stayed in had taken the seeds of the same grapes of that winery and now produces his own Sangiovese wine which only cost me 1.5 euro a glass, a great bargain for sure.
The villa is on the top of the hill overlooking the whole chianti region. I learned more about winemaking in a conversation with Guido in fifteen minutes than I did my entire life thus fur. His vineyard have been making wines since 1000 B.C. and they have the second license in all of Italy to produce the Sangiovese wine.
One of my goals for this trip was to bike through Toscana.. and on my 2nd day of my stay.. I got to do just that. I took an old rented bike from the villa and biked to a small town San Baronto where I got my daily cup of cappucino. I got two that day because I was doing a 20 km bike ride through Tuscany. I went down a windy hill where I got to fly through the region.. it was one of those life embracing moments that I will look back with such happiness. A group of bikers waved and yelled "Ciao" as I was pummeling through the landscape.
Then down to Lamporecchio and across to town of Vinci, home of Leonardo Da Vanci. This is where I became physically challenged to finish my bike ride. Not having ridden a bike in years (not counting the stationary bike I use back home for light workout) I could not have fathomed how difficult the way up would be. Professional cyclists use these roads to train daily.
They whizzed past me as I walked most of the way up with my bike. I stopped to watch their training. How sync they are with each other in a group and they could be quite rude at times. Only time in Italy I have encountered any rudeness from the people except for a woman on a train on my way to San Momme.
