Italy 2012 Week 2

The second week in Italy, we met up with friends from our neighborhood and did a bike tour through other parts of the Tuscany and Umbria region. I wasn't sure how much I was going to be able to ride being 7 1/2 months pregnant, but I ended up surprising myself and rode a total of about 70 miles in five days. My longest day on the bike was 31 miles and ended at the Arno River! I really felt good the entire trip and felt very blessed. We rode mainly on small country roads with little traffic. We stayed in a few larger towns like Arezzo and Cortona, but mostly spent our time along the rolling hills and fields of Tuscany, all beautiful and picturesque.

Day 1 at the agricultural farm/hotel where we stayed for two nights, country living at its best

The pool was breathtakingly beautiful and so refreshing after the heat and sweat of the day

Stopping for lunch in another small town, this was my 23 mile day

Another small town stop for food and water, GuanPaulo (GP), is in the photo with us, he was the guide who drove the van and took very good care of me and everyone else, he was really like the Mother Hen of the group

Out in the countryside looking out over olive groves and castles in the background

This was at the end of my 31 mile day, Cristiano is holding up the "W"s for because he called me WonderWoman...Italians aren't comfortable with pregnant women on bicycles

The Arno River and Bridge in the background is said to be the same background you see in the Mona Lisa painting, this was the reward at the end of my 31 miles.

We passed by fields and fields of these ball of hall or rolbolitas

In Arezzo, we got to see the locals practice their jousting for their upcoming Medieval Festival

This photo was taken as Brian and some from the group climbed up to one of the hill towns on the optional loop. Brian was so good to stay with me, but I know he really enjoyed his time, usually after lunch, when I'd ride in the van.

This was my 5 mile day. I got my photo with the infamous rolbolita, and enjoyed air conditioning and Italian lessons in the van with GP. The weather was unusually hot, 100 degrees most days with 80 to 90 percent humidity.

After a long day of riding, we found ourselves in the beautiful hill town of Cortona.

This was our last day on the bikes, a 23-mile day for me.

We rode past our first blooming fields of sunflowers on Day 5. The Italian government pays farmers to plant sunflowers for the main purpose of tourism. Due to a cool Spring, most of the sunflowers hadn't bloomed yet.

These were our guides from left to right: GP, Cristiano, Massimo...they were so fun and took really good care of us!

The Van, need I say more.