The 39th historical re-enactment of the race of the Red Arrow where 375 cars in various categories follow the 1000 Miglia 2021 route from Brescia to Roma and back. Stage 1 Brescia to Vireggio, Stage 2 Vireggio to Roma Stage 3 Roma to Bologna and Stage 4 Bologna to Brescia. It is the biggest classic car rally in the world and apparently the entrance fee is approx. £50k! We went to Radda, a small town the rally passes through, to watch the event.
We wondered the small historical town and then had lunch at a restaurant which was on the corner of where the cars we diverted to the stage area in the centre of Radda. We arrived a little early as the first of the cars, the Ferrari’s, didn’t appear until half 2. Unfortunately, we had to leave after the Ferrari’s had passed through as we had a vet appointment as Alfie got a grass seed in his ear. I must say the vets here are so much cheaper than in the UK! Alfie now has ear drops and is all ok.
The Franciscan Convent of the Osservanza, located in Radicondoli originally built in 1494 today houses a renowned music school. To demonstrate their talents, they are participants in Radicondoli Festival with individual events scheduled from mid-July to mid-August. The festival is a long and prestigious tradition, which enjoys an international resonance. It was born in 1986 and is one of the most traditional cultural events in Tuscany of prose, music, projections, dance and theatre. It has always intertwined the threads of the cultured and popular theater and transformed the entire territory of the Municipality into a large stage.
We are going to be attending many of the events which are held in Radicondli and the surrounding villages.
The other night we attended the Belforti Chamber Music Festival, consisting of two Quartetto Orchestras, Europia and Enigma each playing two Violino, one Viola and one Violoncello. Held along the central Strada encased by traditional historic building and a church tower, we sat patiently on dramatic red chairs with the orchestra nestled in the middle of the eager audience, waiting for the music to begin. The swallows swooped as the sunset; silence descended as the orchestra stuck their first note. As the music transitioned seamlessly between crescendos and decrescendos, you could not help but get caught up in the moment; such a surreal emotional event as I sat in wonderment with the talented children.
This time it was a mountain bike ride. 18 miles with 50% going up hill!! Blimey it was hard. Ok you could argue ‘what about the downhill’ but believe me this was not pleasant as it was on gravel, stoney roads and I was slipping and sliding down most of it. Taking my past into account (having accidents and breaking limbs) this was nerve raking and in a word frightening. However, I conquered and triumphed and got back in one piece, exhausted but jubilant. I love Strava so below is my route and statistics.
No energy to cook and out we go the Radicondoli, with the dogs in tow and to a restaurant called Agriteca. We often sit in the Piazza on one of their tables drinking Aperol Spritz, a traditional Italian drink made with Aperol mixed with Prosecco and soda water. To eat, I had Gnocchi with wild meat sausage and Graham had Tagliatelle with homemade basil Pesto, the most wonderful food, drinks and company.
It is worth me mentioning Graham, being a much better cyclist than I am, is doing some independent rides. In other words, not being held back by a girl! A typical ride he is doing is 28 miles, 2600 ft of elevation in just over 2 hrs, burning 1300 calories. I hate to gloat, well I love it actually, Graham has just received a Local Legend Strava Award for the most segment effort in the last 90 days for the Montecastelli hill.
Our next planned road bike ride is to village called Chiusdino, an out and back ride, of 26 miles in total. Elevation gain will be 2800 ft …. what the !!!! Well good luck to me for this ride.
What a ride I powered through and was so determined to climb and descend well and being big headed I did well. I even obtained a Strava legend award for the Vittorio Emanuele li climb (1.64km 107m evaluation) – check me out 🙂
When riding you need to be focused and have no negative thoughts. Be determined and committed and you will get through the session. Concentrate on your breathing, it is the most important element of your ability. On difficult sections I count to 10 and concentrate on my style from the ankle to the hip making sure I have the full cycle revolution equally on both legs.
Thought I would share some photos of Casole D’Elsa. Love this place, it is slightly larger than Radicondoli, but not by much and seems to be our go to place for local meat. Our latest outing to this idyllic village was to pick-up some meat and local vegetables in preparation for home cooking. We can’t be going out every evening!!
Casole D’Elsa is so lovely we just had to have a beer and taste the wonderful food while we were visiting. I had a wild guinea fowl pasta dish and Graham had Carbonara with truffle cooked the traditional Italian way. So gorgeous …..
We are staying on a beautiful olive grove, vineyard and orchard. Marco and Emanuela were so kind to say we could wonder into the orchard and help ourselves to some cherries. I just didn’t know where to start, an abundance of trees and branches with clusters of ripe, shiny, plump, bright red glowing cherries just ready for my taking. After mastering the art of gathering, with the stalks still attached, I had a bowl full and returned to our traditionally Italian farmhouse to wash, eat and store in the fridge the ample remaining.
Now for some downtime as it says in my title ‘it is life not a holiday’.
Yes, we still have to do the washing and cleaning!! However what else do I do in my downtime?
Well, there is always the Italian to learn, I am using a mixture of Rosetta Stone, Duolingo and coffee break Italian. You could ask, how is it going, and I could answer honestly …. not that well! It is harder than I thought however living in Italy in a small commune does help and we are trying to speak to the locals as much as we can and kindly asking them not to reply in English! Nothing happens overnight so I will continue to dedicate the time to improving.
I have a passion for drawing. Mainly, charcoal and what I call my scribble drawings. I may try some landscape drawing however it is not really my thing! Below are some examples of my art.
I really want to get into photography as prior to starting my adventure we purchased a Nikon D7500. I am experimenting and just learning how to edit photos using LightRoom and Photoshop. I have also recorded some videos of our journey and will edit these into a YouTube video and link to my blog later.
I love to write, and the blog has enabled me to capture our adventure and all the emotion and thoughts behind it. The main purpose is for us, so we have a record of what we have done and where we have been. At least when I am old and insane, I can read about it if I can’t remember!!
I also love to exercise using Yoga, this is so good for the posture and inner core along with the mind and lung capacity. I would also love to meditate however I haven’t got the attention span for that, although isn’t that the point!
We have had some lovely Facetime sessions with our family. Scheduling some time individually to sit with a glass of wine or two whilst having a really good catchup and gossip. With each session the time has just ran away with us and it was just fantastic to see them all again and to spend some precious time together.
We need to move onto friends now, so watch out we will be calling you all to see your faces shortly 🙂
One evening the owners of the property we are renting (called La Fonte) popped round for a lovely evening. Bringing with them a basket of homemade bread, La Fonte Olive oil, freshly picked cherries and La Fonte red wine. It was a pleasure to eat their produce and to have their wonderful company. Graham did well with his Italian, but it was a good job Marco and Emanuela can speak English!
We have also met a mix of traditional locals and different nationalities of couples who have made Radicondoli their homes/holiday getaways.
Siena is only 40 minutes away from us, therefore visiting this wonderful medieval city could not be easier. Just outside the city are parking areas specifically for campervans and only a 20 minute walk into the city. We headed for the fan shaped central square, Piazza del Campo with the cities 17 historic contrade (districts) extending outwards from the piazza.
We enjoyed walking the narrow passageways perusing the interesting array of little traditional shops, historical architecture and purchasing wine and chocolates. We then sat in the piazza people watching, drinking beer and cocktails. We wondered how life in Siena had changed since Covid, were the Italians happy to be able to walk the streets and congregate in the Piazza enjoying their city without the abundance of tourist? They certainly seemed cheerful as they chatted away, greeted and hugged their fellow citizens and friends, a vibrant atmosphere of joyfulness.
After another stroll around the streets, we chose another restaurant on the peripheral of the Piazza and had a wonderful meal of pasta, traditional Italian style. We will definitely visit Siena again.
Building my confidence up is key to increasing my ability and to reaching the cycling level I want to achieve. Since my ski accident, I am fully aware of my fragility which has dramatically affected my confidence. Being overzealous and the desire to take risks was the cause of my past misfortunes. However, a lack of confidence works against me as tension and nerves kick in making me vulnerable to mistakes. I am competitive therefore I need to overcome my hesitancy and my new desire to self-protect, this is a delicate balance which I will be working on for the next few months.
My second cycle to Casole d’Elsa was a much better ride. Increasing my confidence on the downhills, relaxing into corners and controlling my speed whilst releasing the tension. My uphill climbs were good with equal pressure through the cycle motion from both legs and pure determination to get to the top as efficiently as possible.
It is worth me mentioning what training I did prior to coming to Tuscany. I used an App called Zwift with an indoor trainer and mainly concentrated on interval training. This helped build my stamina and power. After my accident it was important I focused on the leg I broke and that both legs worked equally during the cycle motion. I trained by doing specific exercised on this leg by making it the dominant one and ensuring I had full cycle revolution.
Alongside the indoor cycling I did Hiit using an App call Fiit also using resistance bands and dumbbells and yoga using an App call Down Dog. Whilst doing these exercises I ensured I had equal weight distribution across both legs concentrating on my posture and inner core.
I will create a new page on my Leg rehab journey as I found little information to assist me at the time and physio advise was very lacking especially during Covid. It may help someone else ……
Our first venture out on the road bikes was to pop to the butchers! This was into Casole d’Elsa, 23 miles with an overall climb of 2300 ft over the rolling Tuscan hills. An adventure as I hadn’t been out on my road bike, on the actual roads, for about 2 years, only doing indoor Zwift interval training. A start and many more rides to come.
Wonderful evenings food at La Pergola Di Radicondoli, traditional wood-fired pizza with fresh and local ingredients. We sat on the terrace with fabulous views across the Tuscan hill with the sun setting in vibrant colours. A couple of bottles of red wine and an exquisite pizza later ………
There are a number of Strade Bianche meaning white roads in Tuscany and refers to a network of unpaved back roads that run among the vineyards, olive groves and Tuscan countryside enabling you to take walks and bike rides while enjoying the panoramic views all around and the sound of nature. These are marked by the CAI (Club Alpino Italiano), however, be aware they are not always up to date and a lot are overgrown to the point of not being able to continue your walk along. We have had to turn back a number of times or question which way to go! The strade bianche used to be regarded as an inconvenient relic from the past and many have been sealed.
My first mountain bike ride in Italy was up to our village to purchase a couple of bottles of wine. In all seriousness it was through the national forest to Belforte another historic village. It is 12 miles from Radicondoli and a really beautiful ride we saw a couple of deer on the way, we stopped for a beer and a pizza then embarked on the ride back.
OK…. I have cheated a little and purchased a Swytch which is an electronic system that can assist with more difficult terrain. Yes, you can use it all the time however don’t expect the battery to last also it is not designed for this. On the whole I do not use the assistance however I cycle with my partner who use to ride professionally and has double the leg power than I do. Hence it is useful to switch over to power assistance for those long steep hills and rough terrain inclines to assist and keep up with my partner.
We headed for Courmeyour which is literally the other side of the tunnel and then onto a beautiful surreal campsite nested in the Alp mountains at a leisure area called Val de Veny. The most peaceful and picturesque place we could ever ask for. All pitched up for 3 days of rest and to enjoy the mountains.
Rest of our stay in Val de Veny (Graham Venn just loves this place – I wonder why?)
We hiked up Monte Blanc, as you can imagine it was up mountain from the start, covering 6.73 miles and ending up by the river and then back to Val de Veny. Oh, forgot to mention a beer and a pizza helped us on our way.
Our final day was spent covering steeper terrain trekking to Lac du Miage. This was an overall 10.3 miles with an elevation of 1923ft burning 2500 calories totalling 3 hrs of hiking. A rugged mountainous hike following a torrent river, weird to be in shorts and t-shirts with snow all around. The dogs loved rolling in the snow and chasing snowballs. The views were amazing.
Onward travel to Lago di Garda
We aimed for a campsite that was supposed to be dog friendly and sounded great. However, the pitches were tightly packed in, the dog beach was the smallest area I have ever seen and there were no walks along the lake side. No surprise we moved on. One thing this did teach us was to park outside and do a walk round before booking in.
We headed off looking for signs to campsites. As we wanted a quiet site, we looked for signs showing the basics services only (no swimming pools) we then came across a very quiet site on the shore of Lake Garda, pitches were spacious and had clean facilities. We booked in and setup our little camping environment. I must say the dogs are just so good and do not wonder off, so we did let them off the leads and they stayed by the van at all times.
That night we had a leisurely walk by the lake and a meal out with a bottle or two of wine.
From the campsite we were able to wonder onto a lovely promenade that led to a small marina. The dogs so enjoyed swimming in the lake and Graham joined them, I took photos and watch their exploits.
Moving onto the Mediterranean Sea
We headed for just inside of Tuscany to a coastal area within Liguria, in the northwest of Italy and stayed by Sestri Lavante. The campsite we stayed at was set into the hill side and had a lovely view across the coastline and was 1km from a train station.
Setting off the next morning we took the train to Cinque Terre (meaning 5 lands). It lies in the west of La Spezia Province and comprise of 5 villages: Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore. You have a choice of paths, trains and boats that connect the villages.
We walked the coastal path between Monterosso and Vernazza, it was rugged and steep, climbing up the cliffs that overlook the Ligurian Sea.
Monterosso was a little disappointing however Vernazza came into its own and definitely worth the visit and the hike. We wondered around the village and then sat at a lovely restaurant on the coastline drinking beer, wine and eating. The afternoon relax was idyllic and the hours seamlessly passed us by. Questa e vita non vacanza ….
Arriving in Radicondli
Now for our 3 months stay in Tuscany, east of the province of Siena in a historic commune called Radicondoli.
The village of Radicondoli is situated in a beautiful position on the top of a hill looking towards a valley about 40km east from Siena in an area known for its metalliferous hills.
Unpack time, get the bikes out and absorb the Tuscan Italian lifestyle, language and culture.
What can I say, it is stunning here. Which ever direction you look in it is rolling beautiful Tuscan hills.
The farmhouse we are staying in is very tradition Italian style, comfortable and spacious with perfect views from the two terrace areas. Marco and Manuela are perfect hosts and have made us extremely welcome.
Dogs have settled into their surroundings and are loving the hikes we have started to do around our area.
We planned to leave the UK on the 31st May however Covid ruled again. The Indian variant of the virus (now known as Delta) caused concern in Europe and subsequently the French border was due to close for non-essential travel as of the 31st May. We rebooked our Eurotunnel for the 29th May and made for the French border. PCR result rules changed to France 36 hrs validity and Italy 48hr validity making our journey time critical. PCR tests were done on the 28th May and were supposed to be same day results however changed a few days prior to our test to 24 hrs return of results.
We arrived at the Eurotunnel and sat patiently for our results! Missing the 10:20 train, we caught the 11:20 and arrived safety in France.
We could not fault the Eurotunnel. Excellent service throughout our journey. The Pets check-in and exercise area was everything you could ask for. The check-in was smooth and efficient, and the exercise area had agility equipment and was immaculate. We purchased flexi tickets, allowing for our schedule slippage due to the delay in receiving our results and provided facilities including complimentary food and drink.
We drove 430 miles and used a French Aires in the Cote D’Or region, South of Dijon in a small rural village called Heuilley Sur Saone, next to the canal and the river Saone very quiet beautiful location. A tranquil walk along the canal edge and then cooked a lovely meal with the view of the boats and water.
Day 2
We needed to be across the Italian border by 1 o’clock due to the validity of our PCR covid test. Heading to the Monte Blanc tunnel, 210 miles, we arrived at the border by 12:00. We had pre-submitted our ‘Reporting an entry into Italy’ forms which are needed primarily for Covid. Entry through the Monte Blanc tunnel was seamless with no border security check.
Travel adventures 