Bob and Ann in Italy 2011

It was still very cool but sunny when I got up this morning in my comfortable agriturismo room. I dressed, packed my bags, put my bags in the designated grassy area for later pickup and rode my bicycle to breakfast at Villa Cristina. I was the last one there. For the first time in several days, I was hungry. I ate a good meal which included an egg for protein.

At 7:30 we were off. I was riding with Kathy and Hal Bass, Matt Wathen, and Dave and Eric Hansen. I wore my GPC jacket while Matt had on the full kit. We represented Berkeley well. I was glad that I had on my jacket because the initial descents were cold.

Matt and I got slightly ahead of our group on the way into Greve. We cruised through it slowly looking for the bicycle shop that Tom and Julie Leever mentioned because of its selection of Italian jerseys. We didn’t find it. The one that we found was closed on Sunday. So we continued on, arriving at Hotel Silla in Florence at 10:20. Of course our rooms were not ready that early, so we spent our time chatting with the other riders as they arrived.

Julie arrived with the van shortly so we could get our luggage. As we did, some of the rooms opened up. By the time I showered I was ready for lunch. I ate at Osteria Antica Mescita San Niccolo and had bocconcini di pollo al limone . It was good but it was way too much to eat.

Quattro Leoni in Florence - Jim Beattie, Jennefer Hocking, Matt Wathen, Ruth Maule and Darrell Athay

The terrace at the hotel was a good place to sit this afternoon. This was our social scene where most of the group wandered through and chatted. Dave opened a couple bottles of wine that he bought in Castellini and Julie supplied leftover wine from our Happy Hours. I led a group of 16 to Trattoria Quattro Leoni (4 Lions) for dinner. We sat at three separate tables. Six of us ate outside. I had prosciutto and melon followed by baccalà alla fiorentina. We stopped for gelato before returning to the hotel.

Here is today's ride.