On to Florence!

Well, at least on the way to Florence. After Pisa, I left on my bike to meet up with Greg in Monsummano, a small town with some cliffs and thermal baths (unfortunately inaccessible to us). Here I am leaving Pisa, all packed up.



The ride was good, about 50 km. I didn't have any bike trouble and only got lost a handful of times. I found that the best method was to just point in the direction I wanted to go and take the closest road. Otherwise, roads are very poorly marked. Italian drivers surprised me by being very courteous on the roads. They're very used to cyclists (although not like this one!), and give lots of room. It felt much safer than riding in the states. I arrived at the cliffs around sunset to see this rustico.



Greg arrived later that night and we got on to climbing the next day. I don't have many pictures of it because our hands were full, but it was a blast. A good introduction to some real rock climbing, certainly a level up from working in the gym. I still haven't figured out how to make vertical pictures appear that way, so here is Greg defying gravity as he puts his shoes on.



After 3 nights camping at Monsummano, we took off on our bikes for Florence, another 50 km or so. Aside from my chain snapping and a sign for 'Florence, 30km' and good 10km after exactly the same sign, the ride was quite good. We got into town and relaxed on the grass at the train station before setting out to find a hostel for the night. Our bikes snuggling:



This morning I'm using the hostel computer, so I feel a bit rushed. I'm glad I got the pictures up, but I don't have time to include much more than a summary of activities. If I find a more relaxed place to update, I'll try to include some of my thoughts and impressions of Italy! Now we're meeting up with another Spannocchia intern and will explore Florence for a couple days, then maybe head down to Siena, depending on the weather.

Ciao!