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From there we continued on the small roads to arrive at Camping Siena. This is across the valley and with a view of the walled old city of Siena. We drove into town towards the stadium where we were told there was good parking. There is a 100 meter long stretch of road that is moto only parking and with easy access to the old city. Here there are narrow cobbled streets and a maze of roads to get to the centre where you will find the Duomo or Cathedral. Near by is the Piazza del Campo. This is a huge sunken plaza outside the city hall. They have held horse races around the plaza here several times a year for centuries.
“Siena, a city in Italy’s central Tuscany, is distinguished by its medieval brick buildings. The fan-shaped Piazza del Campo is dominated by the Palazzo Pubblico, the Gothic town hall, and Torre del Mangia, a slender 14th-century tower with sweeping views from its distinctive white crown. From this square at the center of town extend the city’s 17 historic contrade (wards)”. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7017/...8836012a_b.jpgPisa & Siena-6 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7017/...869b70be_b.jpgPisa & Siena-7 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7079/...c1cb86ea_b.jpgPisa & Siena-8 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7724/...3189db9a_b.jpgPisa & Siena-9 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7771/...dc7966d8_b.jpgPisa & Siena-10 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
From Siena we had a short drive east to meet our friend Roberto in Monte san Savino. He rode out from his village near by to meet us and direct us back to his place where he hosting us for the weekend.
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7740/...1f308955_b.jpgScreen Shot 2016-05-10 at 21.45.57 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We had met him and another Italian rider Matteo at a gas station in El Calafate Argentina in 2014. He was driving a bike with BC plates since he lives in Victoria with his family, but spends the summer in his hometown in Italy. Roberto has been around the world on his KTM including the Americas, Africa, and across Eurasia. He just got a new Africa twin. They have an AWESOME YOUTUBE CHANNEL https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7074/...f23b3da9_b.jpgRoberto https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7633/...0f95cf53_b.jpgRoberto |
He spend two days touring us around the small twisty roads of Tuscany. We set out into Tuscan wine country under sunny skies, but rain is forecast for 4 pm!
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7407/...9e4b748a43.jpgScreen Shot 2016-05-10 at 21.58.43 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7509/...bea26431_b.jpgFILE1661 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7719/...c20fb9eb_b.jpgFILE1689 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
The guys decide to go off off road, but with street tires and ditch crossings and mud they turned back. Good thing, because the “ closed road” they were trying to go down was maybe 200 meters and met the main again!
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7594/...de520578_b.jpgFILE1819 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr There were lots of stops for coffee and snacks at small out of the way spots. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7153/...60f2f514_b.jpgFILE1973 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7050/...0e90f60a_b.jpgRoberto by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7160/...19c23d7a_b.jpgRoberto by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7726/...09be0968_b.jpgRoberto by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7680/...c42487ba_b.jpgRoberto Viby Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7238/...a85272e3_b.jpgRoberto by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We were glad to meet up with Sergio, Mary, Sara, and Mario who were so excited about our trip.
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7051/...153f8546_b.jpgRoberto by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7518/...deb1b9c9_b.jpgRoberto by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr The guys decide to go thru the construction zone. To give Roberto credit he did ask this guy who said we could get thru….ahh not. We managed to make it home on Saturday 10 minutes before the torrential rain started, but 20 min after it did on Sunday! https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7707/...a783e8e0_b.jpgFILE1962 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7694/...81d47d99_b.jpgFILE1964 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7576/...1d146518_b.jpgFILE1969 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We have booked ferry tickets to Bastia,Corsica from Livorno, Italy. We chose this crossing since it is only 4 1/2 hours and leaves and arrives in the day time. The more southern crossing to Sardinia is an overnight ferry with the need for an expensive stateroom. The ferry is also a lot cheaper on Tuesday and so we have a day to ride in Tuscany instead of riding directly the 185 km to the ferry we did 346 km, which took 8 hours.
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7493/...c7d7efa0b0.jpgcorsica_ferries_map by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7781/...655ea626_z.jpgScreen Shot 2016-05-10 at 22.00.19 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
First we backtracked a bit from Roberto’s over some of the roads we had been on just so we could get south. We traveled on the tiny roads south to Bagni san Filipo and then over the mountains to Pitigliano.
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7789/...27b3d7db_b.jpgFILE2017 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7101/...f0c5f6fe_b.jpg https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7255/...1bc50f39_b.jpgRoberto Villa-17 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7566/...10d92fd6_b.jpgFILE2026 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7230/...54b6e3d0_b.jpgRoberto Villa-19 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7769/...248f3d0e_b.jpgFILE2028 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7213/...fd2ec052_b.jpgFILE2029 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Pitigliano is perched on the shear cliff side. They have dug caves into the walls and there are shops and businesses inside them.
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7643/...c1a3a8c5_b.jpgRoberto Villa-22 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7765/...462ab4cc_b.jpgFILE2048 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7630/...78a34649_b.jpgFILE2074 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7667/...1aa4b92a_b.jpgFILE2084 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7067/...6f132a0b_b.jpgRoberto Villa-23 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
From here we continued west to Termes di Saturnia, but did not visit as the smell of the sulphur from the road was enough for us. We did have to stop at an ATM to get cash since the unattended gas pumps sometimes will not take a chip card.
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7007/...f3ff3760_b.jpgFILE2095 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7463/...a01d21e5_b.jpgFILE2122 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Then we went north again to visit the Abbey at San Galgano. “The Abbey of Saint Galgano was a Cistercian Monastery found in the valley of the river Merse between the towns of Chiusdino and Monticiano, in Tuscany. Presently, the roofless walls of the Gothic style 13th-century Abbey church still stand. Nearby are the chapel or Eremo or Rotonda di Montesiepi (1185), the tomb of Saint Galgano and the purported site of his death in 1181, the sword said to have been planted in the ground by Galgano and a chapel with frescoes by Ambrogio Lorenzetti.” https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7326/...1962cb19_b.jpgRoberto Villa-25 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7158/...bfdf59fd_b.jpgRoberto Villa-26 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7146/...a68ba72b_b.jpgRoberto Villa-24 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Now it was 530 and we had a 2 1/2 hour drive to Livorno. We were a bit frustrated as we had searched for a hotel and found only a very sketch one and finally found a Mc Donalds in Cecina , but their wifi was not working. We had had enough by just after 7 and found a hotel on the side of the road, with a nice view of the nuclear power plant! No really. Our hotel did have wifi briefly, but currently the internet is “off”. Frustrating when you are trying to get some work done.
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7208/...2e05ccd6_b.jpgFILE2124 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7169/...80117b25_b.jpgFILE2150 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr So we are just 35 km from the port and we managed to find some small roads to get us there. We got gas and food for a picnic on the ferry. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7404/...2a20518b_z.jpgScreen Shot 2016-05-10 at 21.54.55 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7021/...3b6b7f5c_b.jpgFILE2180 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7080/...b97e7a44_b.jpgFILE2186 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We were told to follow the signs on the very circuitous route thru town to the port, but arrived in plenty of time. The boat was loaded by 1 for the 2 pm departure. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7514/...e2bff62ac7.jpgScreen Shot 2016-05-10 at 22.00.39 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7569/...876d392f_b.jpgFILE2212 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7581/...9f7c1087_b.jpgFILE2215 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7061/...5fac73ef_b.jpgFILE2240 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7759/...2d2ffcbf_b.jpgCorsica-4 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7240/...1fcc596c_b.jpgCorsica-5 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
They were very organized with the loading and the staff and signage on the car decks. They were quick to set up all the bikes and each spot was already laid out with tie downs. Dan had to duck so as not to hit his head on the upper deck.
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7754/...64f85805_b.jpgFILE2251 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7551/...b4d1dc75_b.jpgFILE2255 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7726/...bc1f9a93_b.jpgFILE2261 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7139/...9ab11710_b.jpgFILE2270 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7057/...0e0ff68f_b.jpgCorsica by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We got up on deck and scored some comfy deck chairs to work on our tans.
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7052/...fdc621c0_b.jpgCorsica-2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7580/...9e1313d8_b.jpgCorsica-6 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr It was a very calm sunny crossing, but arriving in Corsica it was totally fogged in. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7792/...ef21803c_b.jpgCorsica-7 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flick |
We disembarked at 715 and so our plan to ride a bit was kiboshed by the time and the weather. We had a 23 km ride from the port of Bastia to the seaside town of Saint Florent, but this was over a high pass and took 45 minutes.
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7206/...9373d935_b.jpgFILE2298 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7151/...ddb56f91_b.jpgFILE2305 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7650/...7f9d6142_b.jpg The fog hampered visibility to the point I could not even see Daniel in front of me and this was over steep hairpin switchbacks. It was extremely windy as well making for a stressful half hour. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7779/...de4b1c4d_b.jpgFILE2332 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7567/...defe2bc9_b.jpgFILE2343 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr On the other side of the pass the weather was still very windy, but much better. Arriving at the hotel we found a dozen other bike already parked there. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7285/...aaf17c3d_b.jpgFILE2347 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7393/...48e8b05f_b.jpgFILE2355 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We did a small tour of the sea side and had cheese and crackers for dinner since we could not stomach another bad and expensive tourist meal in the local restaurants. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7028/...d1f70189_b.jpgCorsica-3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
The forecast was for rainy weather, but it was downgraded to occasional thunder showers in spots, but we got up to a cloudy but dry day. Step one was to head back over the pass(still foggy but better) to Bastia since we wanted to ride around the Cap Corsica (the northern peninsula), but counter clock-wise so as to be on the sea side lane while riding.
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7547/...10c1bacb_z.jpgScreen Shot 2016-05-11 at 22.11.38 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7526/...53383d94_b.jpgScreen Shot 2016-05-11 at 22.12.23 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Everyone all set to go in different directions. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7314/...9e6cca19_b.jpgCorsica-8 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
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