It was great. I got to join Sophia's family for a reunion abroad. The combined extended family made up 42 people. We rented 4 farm houses on a converted 15/16th century abbey in the Tuscan country side.
http://www.abbaziadispineto.com/
It's difficult to put into words all the fun that was had.
We flew out of SF, through Frankfurt landing in Florence. We spent a night there before heading down to the abbey on Saturday June 23rd (yes I spent my birthday in Italy).
Saturday morning we (Sophia and myself) picked a KTM 640 Adventure from a company called Stradanova. They where a cool group of people real enthusiats, but a little less than organized. It's good to see that motorcycle people are the same all around the world!
Once at the abbey the week was mostly spent doing very little. A day trip here and there, lots of cooking, but mostly lounging.
Everyday there was at least a little riding. Some days the riding was more. The roads on the abbey property are all dirt, and there where some really fun and challening "tracks" as well. Around the abbey is the heart of Tuscany, specifically a national preserve called The Val d'Orcia http://www.nautilus-mp.com/tuscany/presentazione/valdorcia/indexing.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Val_d'Orcia
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1026
It made for some of the most breathtaking motorcycling ever. I spent a lot of time twisting my way through this amazing landscape. Some days I would go for a ride in the morning, then come back to the abbey, pick up a passenger, like Sophia's brother Steven, or sister Eva and head right back out. Many of the roads I explored where groomed dirt roads that would past ancient farm houses.
Amazing stuff.
It was a great trip, and I had a lot of fun being there. I honestly wasn't ready to come home.
1 comment:
Yeah, it was a great trip. Glad I got to see it firsthand. Thanks again!
Nik
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