Chiusi - Montepulciano

We have photos, so many photos. We promise to upload them as soon as someone unlocks their wireless connection... maybe Friday in Siena?

So, the riding. We got to Chiusi and it was something like 31 degrees C (which is about 354 farenheit, in Nisa calculations)and, well, we hadn't a clue how to get out of town. Problem with Google Maps is that it likes to name all the streets. Problem with Italy is that it doesn't. Anyway, some mediocre Italian later we had witnessed a man make a 'bumpy bumpy' gesture with his hand and look at us like we were bonkers, and we were on our way to Sarteano. Sorry, on our way UP.

It's hilly round these parts. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Day One was only 20 miles, as we didn't actually start riding til four in the afternoon, but we climbed 3230 ft just.like.that.

You come to resent the downhills round here, too. They're too twisty-curvy to be all-out fun fests, and all you can think about on the way down is the fact that all the towns here are up, up, up. We both considered telling Tuscany that we'd be happier with simpler flats, but decided not to. Watching each other suffer is one of the joys of marriage, right?

Oh, and it's beautiful. Bright scarlet poppies everywhere, green and yellow fields, those crazy Tuscan trees... and the farmhouses! It feels so cliched to say it, but we probably wouldn't object to retiring here.