We were on weather watch again today and could hear the rain on the skylight outside our room as we were waking up. The rain was not steady, though. The dark clouds provide the rain but there were often breaks in between providing dry spells. The weather forecasts did not look favourable, but our ride was another short one today and we were hopeful of a window of opportunity. We headed off to breakfast and our host, Pablo, provided us with a nice change from our usual offerings - scrambled eggs! They were delicious!
The weather seemed to be coming from the North so we looked toward the Apennines for the clouds to lift. At 11 o`clock we got a clearing sign, so we said good bye to our host and started off toward Gambassi Terme.
Casa di Pablo was a very relaxed, comfortable place to stay. Inside there is an eclectic mix of strange objects and art. The place has personality for sure!
Garmin Operator Dude error. There is a perfectly good street that we discovered would have taken us to the bottom of the staircase, but this is well marked as part of the Via Francigena and that is roughly the route we will be taking to Gambassi Terme today.
Kirsten KaarsooWe abandoned Via Francigena as it was definitely more for hikers than cyclists. We were directed to too many stairs or deeply rutted roads when there were much better cycling alternatives. Reply to this comment 11 months ago
Leaving San Miniato, the ride began with a series of sharp short hills until we rode a lengthy down hill - dropping over 300 metres to the Elsa river valley. At the halfway point, we travelled through the town of Castelfranco and we stopped in for a short visit.
This man approached Pat and spoke to her for ten minutes straight, all in Italian, explaining something important about the museum or the art. Pat smiled and nodded and the man continued on. He was a very sweet man - Pat thinks he was explaining that he was not very impressed with this modern art display and that if we could go into the museum right there we would be able to see real art! Unfortunately it is closed on Wednesdays so he thought we should return tomorrow.
I am going out on a limb here - but is this bird one that that neither Scott or Steve have photographed yet? Perhaps a male Mandarin duck? The picture is taken from a bridge above the Elsa river.
Scott AndersonYup, definitely a Mandarin duck, and a species I haven’t listed yet this year. Such a colorful bird, a member of the same family as wood ducks. They’re perching ducks, so being out on a limb is appropriate. Reply to this comment 11 months ago
Scott FenwickTo Steve Miller/GrampiesThe best part was that she / he did not move so there was no waiting involved to get the picture. I recognized she / he immediately as we have a celebrity duck like this in a local lake in Burnaby. Quite rare in both areas I suspect. Reply to this comment 11 months ago
Scott AndersonThat or a nutria. I’m not sure how you tell them apart, other than size (ambiguous here), and tail shape (not shown). Next time hold him up by the tail so we can get a better look. Reply to this comment 11 months ago
Scott FenwickTo Scott AndersonThis duck is quite famous in our home town. The below article is from 5 years ago but I think he is still being spotted there - along with the common wood ducks. Not really his natural habitat but seems to survive.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/mandarin-duck-burnaby-1.4890863 Reply to this comment 11 months ago
We arrived in Gambassi under cool cloudy skies but were very happy to have completed the ride in dry conditions. Gambassi is on a hilltop, like all the towns in Tuscany, so the streets are often tricky to find your way along. We really struggled finding our hotel today, partly due to a location error on Mapsme, but when we finally did, we wondered why it seemed so hard. Some towns just seem to go like that.
We are staying here and this is the wifi code. Easy to remember!
In the late afternoon the sun came out as forecasted and we went out to explore Gambassi and find a place for dinner. As it turned out, there were only two restaurants in Gambassi and we were told that the better of the two may be difficult to get into without reservations. Further, that Gambassi was very busy right now even though there did not appear to be a lot of tourists around.
There is a wonderful park in the heart of Gambassi that we enjoyed walking through.
The sun did come out in the late afternoon and the small town square lit up with the sun. There are only two bars in the square and this one was perfect for a late afternoon beverage. But it is still not t-shirt weather yet. The cat was very friendly, too!
Without a reservation the only seats available were at a high table with bar seats. We had a great view of the restaurant and had a wonderful time in the ¨peanut gallery¨
