Europe – Page 11 – Destination NOW

Orvieto- Day 1

I don’t know whether it was yesterday’s back to back yoga sessions or the glasses of red wine, maybe both, but all of the normal air travel irritants fazed me not one bit. I would just “breathe into it, take another sip” and contemplate how mellow I was feeling as I floated across the Atlantic Ocean. Maybe I’m finally getting the hang of this traveling thing.

It took us a while to reach our hotel today and a bit longer to get into our rooms. I was definitely “runnin’ on empty” by the time I collapsed onto my bed for a one hour nap.

My room is lovely, on the first floor, which, by the way, us Yankees would consider the 2nd floor. It’s in an old building with all of the conveniences: air conditioning, little refrigerator, or as I like to think of it “wine cooler”, a bidet, located within spitting distance of the cathedral (the hotel, not the bidet–although technically, i suppose it is both). Not that I would ever spit. But if I did, I could probably score a bull’s eye.

Okay. It is official. My connection with the Internet is a lot like my high school dating experiences–on, again, off again. So, I will quickly get some photos up before the Internet breaks up with me.

No, that was not the interior of the Duomo. You can’t take pictures inside. Well, you aren’t supposed to, but i noticed some tourists boldly ignoring the rules. Didn’t they see that fresco of Jesus passing judgement? Didn’t they see what happens to the rule breakers? I did. And let me tell you, I wasn’t taking any chances.

The second photo is actually the staircase in one of Orvieto’s little shops. If I had 120 euros that I didn’t know what do do with, I would definitely have bought one of their Miss Piggy tee shirts. I may return, just to take a photo of one of those suckers–they are quite unique! Something to anticipate in future posts.

I wandered around town by myself, then later with Sally, while we waited for our fellow companions to awaken and for the restaurants to start serving dinner. 7:30 is the earliest, and is an accommodation to those of us from across the pond. Italians dine later.

This is such a lovely little town, full of interesting alleys, with shops, restaurants, wine stores, museums. Sally and I ducked into a wine store and had our own private tasting. We determined that white was the way to go, after tasting three reds, en chose our favorite from among four whites. Time to weave our way back to join the others for a fantastic dinner and a good night’s sleep.

Tuscany by the Sea with VBT

Us “biker chicks” are off for another VBT adventure, this time in Italy. Yep, five of last year’s group will soon be mounting up. We’ll be minus Marilyn this time, which is a disappointment, because when she’s along, the fun quotient increases. I hope she’ll be keeping up with us electronically.

My least favorite part of traveling is the overnight plane ride. Although I’ve packed my “comfort” items: Noise cancelling headset, iPod, sleeping pill, I still don’t make a smooth transition across time zones.

My flight leaves at 5 PM today, arriving in Rome at 7 AM. Orvieto, the starting point for our trip is a 2 hour ride away. Fortunately, all I have to do is get my luggage, get through customs and find the VBT rep who will transport me to our hotel. That’s probably all I’ll be able to handle. Did I mention that I’m not good at crossing time zones?

We have a few days in Orvieto to get acclimated and see the sights before we climb on our bikes. We will be riding to places that I had never heard of before signing on for the trip, so click on the blue print for the Map of the Tuscany Bike Tour if you want to know where we’ll be going, because odds are I’ll have forgotten the names by the time we get home. So, don’t even bother asking. (I”m taking to you, Sue).

We will finish the VBT portion of our adventure on June 30th, and will then head north for two weeks in Lucca. I’ll be flying home on July 15th.

Why all of the details? Well, I just got off the phone with my mother who accused me of not telling her that I’m leaving today. Of course, I had told her multiple times, but her response was that she can’t keep track of my travels.

Additionally, I’ve learned to anticipate internet complications. On my last trip, I fell far behind in my blog, confusing friends and family who thought that because my blog was still out west,so was I. So. Onward and upward.

Venice

Karen, Diane, Victoria, Kathleen, Jim and I all opted for the additional two day post trip in Venice. What a perfect ending for a perfect trip!

Here are Beth and Victoria living large in the back of our water taxi, as we make our way to the Hotel Giorgione.

Meanwhile, I’m up front, keeping my eyes on the back of our driver, who seems to be making quite a few waves. He could teach the NYC cabbies a thing or two…

The Venetians sure know how to live. The traffic doesn’t stress THIS guy out! I will confess, though, I’m glad he wasn’t driving OUR taxi. Something about steering with his foot just didn’t feel reassuring.