Bicycling Chianti - Florence to Lucca

Part 4: Cycling Through History

After days absorbing the art and food of Rome and Florence it was time to join my usual biking pals for an organized bicycle tour through Chianti.

Our tour provider was Vermont Bike Tours (VBT). And, while I know there are other amazing bike tour companies out there, I can attest that VBT always furnishes skilled guides, high quality bikes, well curated hotels, great restaurants, and accurate wonderful turn-by-turn GPS routes. After 16 cycling tours with VBT all over planet earth, they have earned my confidence.

I just buy the land portion of the tours and book my own airfare. This allows me to tack on a week or two of independent travel on the front and/or back of each tour.

Our Chianti trip began with a shuttle to meet our guides. The guides for VBT are excellent and always make these complex tours flow seamlessly.

Our first stop was the village of Radda in Chianti. Here we began with a safety class, bike fitting, and a 15 mile warm-up ride to Castellina. The ride was followed by a welcome dinner in our hotel (Palazzo Leopoldo).

Radda in Chianti is one of the five hilltop villages in Chianti. Radda is tiny and offers some quaint shops (including a tiny, yet terrific, bike shop with lots jerseys).

In the morning we set out for 27 miles of cycling ride through some beautiful vineyards with a stop for a picnic lunch at the 11th century Castello di Meleto. At Castello di Meleto we spent time touring the castle and took a tour of their sustainable vineyards with their agricultural expert and organic bee keeper Gabriella. The stop gave us a perspective on the dynamic history of the region.

Vineyards at Castello di Meleto

The Castle is now a lovely bed and breakfast and boasts the only intact theater of its kind in the region.

Touring the Castello's Theater 

Learning About the Wars for Regional Dominance Between Siena and Florence

After returning to Radda it was time to enjoy my appointment in the hotel's spa and later some amazing pizza for dinner.

 Pizza Break (Radda in Chianti)

The next day was a transfer day. First we cycled through Castellina a town designed by Fillipo Bunelleschi (the genius who solved the design for the famous dome in Florence). He centered the roads into the middle of the village to protect its residents from attack.

The cycling took us through the fortified village of Monteriggioni with a stop in Lilliano.

A Rainy Day Pedaling Through Some Lovely Hilltowns

From here we shuttled to the walled city of Casale Marittimo (Where VBT photographed cyclists for the brochure). And here I found some pretty great gelato. I mean it is Italy......

Casale Marittimo

The final leg of our 24 miles of cycling was a zippy downhill run through vineyards to our next hotel located right on the Tyrrhenian Sea. 

Arriving at the Beach

The evening was capped by a stop at the home of a local architect "Chicca". Here, she orchestrated a very lovely (and tasty) hands-on cooking class. We learned some Tuscan recipes, shared some love with her big fluffy dogs, and thoroughly enjoyed the food we cooked in her kitchen.

 Chicca's Canine Welcome Committee

 

 Chiccca Teaching Some Tuscan Cooking Skills

 

Cheese and Honey Appetizers, Gnochi, and Dessert

 

The next day was spent riding in a lovely 27 mile ride along the elegant tree lined roads encircling many of the regions most premier vineyards.

 

Cycling Framed By Rows of Italian Cypress Trees 

 

Riding the Bolgherese Strada del Vino

 

At midday we stopped for a farm to table vegetarian lunch at the Fonte di Foiano olive mill. Our hosts explained the nuances of the olive oils produced in the region. A bottle of their award winning olive oil made its way into my suitcase for the journey home.

The next day was spent on a 42 mile ride through the ancient village of Suvereto. From there we cycled past coastal cypress lined roads, fields of artichoke and sunflowers, ending at the Hotel Caliderio. 

 

 Scenery Reminiscent of California's Monterey Coast 

 

The Caliderio hotel wraps itself around its specatcular 3000 Sq. meter Etruscan hot spring pool. Dinner was fish in Campaglia Marittima.

 

The next day was spent pedaling along Barrtti Bay with a stop at the ancient city of Populonia with its museum and watch tower. 

More Trees to Admire

Some Ceramics at Populonia

 

After returning to the hotel we swam, then all gathered to bid our guides farewell and have our final dinner. 

The next morning we shuttled to Lucca for a walking tour. I then went on to spend an evening on my own in Verona. Verona is lovely and boasts its own coliseum. This coliseum, despite being older than the Coliseum in Rome, is still in use. It was a perfect way to end my tour. 

 

Verona!

 

Up next, my series will chronicle my fall 2024 return to cycle in Greece.

 

Roadboy's Travels © 2025

Roadboy Returns to Florence

Part 3: Low Key Florence

 

Florence

The very word "Florence" brings knowing smiles and genuine affection to anyone who has ever visited this remarkable city.

The Arno at Twilight

(Taken from the Ponte Vechio)

It resides on most travelers "must see" list when making the "Grand Tour" of Europe and is particularly beloved by generations of American architecture students who frequently spend a semester studying in Florence or Rome. 

And with Michelangelo's David, the myriad of masterworks to be found in the Uffizi and Bargello, representing every major player during the Renaissance, Florence is a mecca for art lovers. 

The Uffizi Gallery

Of course what visitors throng to see today is the historic, walkable, core of the city. Most spend two or three days immersed in Florence's culture, food, and extraordinary shopping before heading off somewhere else. 

 

The Pedestrian Ponte Vechio

So what historical forces resulted in the city they see today?

The historic core of Florence has its roots starting at the end of the 1200's when it was a center of wool production. However it was later, when Florence became Europe's most important global banking center, that a city full of art and architecture emerged. The main reason Florence dominance in banking was due to its coveted gold currency; the "Florin". The Florin became one of the Europe's most respected forms of international currency. 

And, at the very same time Florence was ascending in wealth, Italy was experiencing the transition from Gothic to Renaissance.

In Modern Florence Art is Everywhere 

From Sidewalks....

 

To Designer Drawer Knobs 

Ruling Florence during this period were ruthless and wealthy families that were willing to employ webs of violence and corruption to secure and then retain control. Yet, as they accumulated breathtaking wealth, they sought to buy prestige as well. This required becoming patrons to the finest artists and architects of their time. The most notable family were the Medici's. They were the Trumps of their day, craving and clawing all forms of raw power at any cost, except the Medici's had taste.

The Florence we see today is an assemblage of the magnificent remnants of their patronage. It is architecture, art, and edifice as a byproduct of terror and corruption beyond comprehension. 

But Florence was always under threat constantly battling rivals Siena, Pisa, and Lucca for regional superiority.

Later it was threatened by France, Spain, and (during WWII) eventually Hitler who took control of Florence and Tuscany.

So the glory of Florence and all of its artistic treasures have come at a price.  

 

A Low Key Visit

Like Rome I've had the good fortune to visit Florence on many previous visits. In those visits I have experienced its magnificent (and very crowded) Uffizi Gallery, Academia (the David), and Duomo. So this trip I picked two more intimate places to explore; the Basilica di Santa Croce and the intimate Bargello Gallery. We capped off the visit with a foodie tour. 

The Basilica di Santa Croce (Holy Cross) is mostly famous as the final resting place for many of Italy's most illustrious artists and scientists.

And, since I love cemeteries, It held a lot of interest by me so I decided to spend an afternoon there.

Santa Croce

The current church was begun in 1294. However, it took 148 years of construction before it was consecrated in 1442. And, since consecration, it has undergone numerous revisions to its sixteen chapels, added a bell tower in 1842. The neo-gothic marble facade seen today was created by architect Niccolò Mata between 1857-1863. Mata was Jewish and included a prominent Star or David in the composition. Mata is buried under the threshold to the church.

The church was heavily damaged by a major flood of the Arno river in 1966. Restoration work on the church took decades. But, during the restoration efforts, art masterworks that had been covered up over time was disclosed and added to the restoration efforts.

 

The High Water Mark from the 1966 Flood

Galileo has two tombs in the Basilica. Initially, his remains were relegated to lesser location. Later, however, they were was moved into the main church in a place of distinction.

Galileo's Original Memorial 

 

Michelangelo is also buried here, although that was not in keeping with his wishes. Other notables include Alberti and Ghiberti to Machiavelli.

 

Machiavelli

 

 

Michelangelo
 

The Bargello Museum

My next visit was the Bargello Museum. This museum is housed in the oldest public building in Florence dating back to 1255. Over its life theb building has served many pubic purposes but was converted in the 1500's into the "Bargello" the headquarters for the City police.

 

In 1865 it was converted into Italy' first National Museum. The Bargello Museum showcases weapons, paintings. and an exceptional collection of Florentine Renaissance sculpture. 

 

The museum reserves entry times and offers limited hours. But once you enter you encounter intimate gallery spaces all arrayed around a central courtyard. 

 

I found lots to appreciate. However the two mockup panels in the 1401 competition for the second door to the Duomo Baptistry really stood out. One panel was by Brunelleschi (who engineered the dome to the Duomo) and the other was created by Ghiberti (a master goldsmith). 

 

Many scholars identify this competition as the inauguration of the Rennaisance.   

Although judges declared the two panels both a winner in a tie, Brunelleschi could not accept that he "tied" with anyone and withdrew from the competition. 

 

Ghiberti then claimed it was always a win for him. The artists ego is second only to maybe a politicians ego?

 

 Ghiberti's Ultimate Winning Submission

 

 

Brunelleschi's Submission

 

The other Bargello masterworks that caught my eye were Rennaisance bronze sculptures by Donatello (David), the  and the exquisitely graceful Mercury by  

 

David 

(Donatello 1440) 

 

Donatello's David 1440 was commissioned by Cosimo (the Elder) Medici and stood in the Palazzo Medici until they were banished in 1494. It is famous for its blurring of religious iconography and ancient mythologicalogy (With Mercury's winged hat) by portraying the young shepherd as an adolescent boy. His nudity was said to "allude to the humility and courage to defeat arrogance and brute force".

Mercury

(Giambologna approx. 1580)

Although there was so much to appreciate the simple Fisher Boy sculpture in the courtyard was of interest. It was created much later than the other works in the Bargello. The young boy studies his catch. It sort of reminded me of Charles Ray's Boy with Frog presented at the 2009 Venice Biennale. Gemito made two casts for exhibition in Paris in 1878.

Fisher Boy

(Vincenzo Gemito 1876)

 

Our last evening in Florence was spent enjoying a "foodie" tour. There were stops for pasta's, at wine windows, a Tuscan steak, and finally a visit to one of Flroence's amazing gelato stands.

Luscious Tuscan Steaks

 

 A Wine Window

 

 

A Late Night Gelato Stop

After Florence I joined my cycling buddies for 6-days of bicycling through Chianti ending in Lucca and Verona.

Next up posts from my fall return to Greece and after that Roadboy's 2025 January visit to Africa.

 

Roadboy's Travels © 2025

Roadboy Returns to Rome

Post 2: The Vatican Museum, The Sistine Chapel, St. Peters and a Gelato Tartufo

                                                              The Vatican at Night

 

I've never encountered a visitor to Rome that didn't fall madly in love with it.

 

Maybe it is the impossibly romantic imagery of Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck riding that Vespa in Roman Holiday.

Perhaps it is realizing that Rome is a city of full of contrasts. Although 4.3 million residents call it home, it also plays host to 35 million annual visitors. 

 

Rome is an epicenter of western history full of majestic architecture and much of planet earth's most sublime art. And the lucky visitors that visit Rome will experience trendsetting design, enjoy wonderful food, and be surrounded by beautiful people that are impeccably dressed. 

 

A Favorite

Linguini Con Vongole
 

Roman dinners, prepared in very casual restaurants, seem to consistently deliver simple, yet wonderful, food.    

 

The Eternal City is a hard working modern city that happens to rest upon layers of ancient history. 

Arriving

Rome is very accessible. Tourists arriving into FCO by air find many transfer options into the heart of the city that include: rail, bus, rental car, and taxi. Personally, I'd never rent a car in Rome (see accompanying photo). For this trip I climbed aboard the Leonardo Express and enjoyed its direct express rail service to Rome's Termini station.

 

 Driving (and Parking) in Rome - Not for Wimps

There was a time when Termini was downright raunchy, but on this trip it was clean, efficient and offered direct connections to my AirBNB via Rome's petite, but efficient, subway system. 

 

And, once you arrive in Italy, traveling throughout the rest of the country is a joy using its truly wonderful intercity high speed train network. Italian trains offer a relaxing center-to-center alternative to hectic commuter flights. Sadly, Americans have so far have missed the boat on developing a coordinated high speed inner city rail network. Instead we bought miles of concrete ans asphalt, endless traffic jams and road rage. Here in Arizona many motorcyclists (and even some bicyclists) flagrantly travel with handguns holstered on their hips. Sidearms and gated communities; sure signs of a society in distress.

Once you reach the heart of Rome there is the full gamut of visitor accommodations from luxe hotels to cheerful hostels. My never-to-be-forgotten Roman hotel memory was a week spent at Rome's Cavalieri Hilton (now Waldorf Astoria) from the day after Christmas to NewYear's day.

 

Our spectacular room came with views of the Vatican Observatory, the hotel's lush grounds by day, and the illuminated dome of St. Peters by night.

 

The Exquisite Cavalieri

(website photo)

Fast forward to this trip. Knowing a major goal this visit involved a return to the Vatican Museums, I booked Vincenza's VRBO near the Cipro Metro station. Here spacious apartment was also an easy walk to grocery stores and the Vatican. Even nicer was the fact that it was in a neighborhood didn't feel touristy.

 

Sights to See

I know my posts are out of sequence but for those that read Post #1 you may have noticed that after many previous visits to Rome this trip purposely skipped Rome's typical "must see" sights. 

 

So if you will be visiting the Eternal City for the first time, check off all the boxes; go visit the Coliseum, the Pantheon, the Borghese Gardens, the Vatican, the Roman Forum, the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain, and even maybe venture out onto the Via Appia or to some outlying sights like Hadrian's Villa. 

 

Unless you have no heartbeat everywhere you choose to explore will be amazing.

 

For me this visit was surgical. Get in, intensively hit two to three specific stops, then move on to Florence to start a bike trip. So this post (much like my last focusing on the Villa Borghese), has a limited focus: the Vatican Museums / Sistine Chapel with a few odds and ends tossed in.

 

The Refreshed Sistine Chapel

A major priority this trip was a return to the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel. My last visit was in 1974. And, at that time, Michelangelo's magnificent art was coated with more than 500 years of accumulated candle wax and grime. The chapel was dark and the art felt eerie. It only hinted at its original glory.

 

Fast forward to 1984 when the Vatican commenced a controversial restoration of the Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel's frescoes. After seeing some photos of the refreshed chapel I promised myself to return and see the chapel again minus all that grime. 

 

Before and After 1984 Restoration
 

The Brilliant Colors of Michelangelo's Refreshed Last Judgement

(This is a photo from a descriptive panel outside the chapel - alas photography is prohibited in the Chapel)
 

The meticulous restoration took a decade. So on this trip (already three decades after the completion of the restoration) I viewed fresco's that, once again, hint of their original magnificence.

 

Buy Tickets in Advance

The other big change 50 years later is finding out how mobbed the Vatican Museums are now. Unless you want to spend 6 hours (or more) waiting in an endless line to buy a same day ticket, I strongly advise buying a "skip the line" (scheduled) entrance ticket well in advance. 

90 days before my trip, I checked the official Vatican website and saw it offered lots of skip-the-line so I figured I'd buy them closer to my travel dates. But, when I returned about a month before my arrival all the direct purchase tickets were gone. 

I was now compelled to reserve a guided tour at about three times the price.

However, when walking past the Museum a couple of days before our scheduled tour we were approached by a tour guide who still had some same-day tours left. Knowing he'd eat any unsold tickets, he offered a great tour at about half the price of the online Viator tour I'd booked. 

I cancelled Viator and pocketed about 184 euros in the process. Our replacement skip-the-line small group tour had a marvelous guide and efficiently presented the museum with a final stop in the Sistine Chapel.

The Vatican and it's Museum

First off a little background on the Vatican itself. It is more than the physical seat of the modern Catholic Church, and typically referred to as a "City", it is a tiny sovereign nation surrounded by the City of Rome. It has its own police services, banking systems, and governance.

 

The Vatican City

(The Vatican Museums are Shaded on the Map) 

 

Model of the Vatican From Bernini's Colonnade

 

If examined from Google Earth you will view apartments, office structures, the museum, and St. Peters Basilica all set in a highly secured walled oasis of manicured gardens few tourists will ever experience.

The View from the Dome of St. Peters

(The quality of the photo is poor. It was captured in the evening about 20 years ago and lightened)

While the Vatican as a nation is tiny, the shear size of its Museum is incredible. Second only to The Louvre in Paris, this is the worlds most visited museum. It welcomes nearly 7,000,000 visitors a year and employs an army of staff to care for, and protect, its priceless collection. To put the size of the palace in perspective it offers eleven miles of gallery space. You are gonna get your steps in. 

 

A comprehensive visit here would take weeks (or a lifetime).

 

Our guide curated a tour of the "don't miss" spots saving me from wandering around being lost. It allowed for us to finish in the Sistine Chapel and now armed with an overview we could continue on in the museum to wander on our own.

 

All Gallery Surfaces are Embellished
 

Where to Look? 

The Artwork, the Floor, Wall or the Ceiling?

The Hall of Maps

 

The 395' long Hall of Maps is located on the west side of the Belvedere Courtyard. The Hall was commissioned by Pope Gregory XIII in 1580 and its walls contain 40 maps completed by Friar Ignazio Danti. The maps are said to be 80% accurate even by today's standards. Yet it was the Mannerist ceilings of the hall that left me speechless.

 

A sculpture that stopped me in my tracks was the Belvedere Torso. This fragment of a naked male torso dates back to the first century BC. Rediscovered in the 15th century it is one of the museums only original Greek sculptures. It's absolute anatomical perfection is said to have influenced Michelangelo and Raphael.  

The Belvedere Torso

 

The culmination of our tour was the Sistine Chapel. It is a sensory overload, but time for visitors is limited to just 20 minutes.

Even leaving the museum is an event. Visitors exit by descending a massive double helix set of bronze stairs cast in 1932. This is the staircase said to have inspired Frank Lloyd Wright's Guggenheim Museum.

 

This bronze and marble staircase is frequently and incorrectly referred to as the Bramante Staircase. It is actually not the Bramante staircase. Instead it is actually a modern interpretation of Bramante's 1505 staircase found in the Pio-Clementine Museum. The actual Bramante Staircase is typically not available for tourists to view. 

The Bronze "Bramante" Departure Stairs

The day of our tour coincided with a day St. Peters was closed so we deferred our visit to St. Peters for early the next morning before we were to board our train to Florence.  

 

Instead after the museum we strolled across the river and stopped for slices of street pizza near the beautifully illuminated Pantheon.

 

Twilight The Pantheon

 

We capped the evening with a sentimental visit to Tre Scalini in Piazza Navona for a Gelato Tartufo.

Gelato Tartufo

For those poor souls that have never experienced a Gelato Tartufo; it is a confection created in 1946. This little chocolate gelato flavor bomb is composed of 13 different Belgian and Swiss cocoas wrapped around a cherry at its heart. It comes covered in rich soft (whipped) cream and is topped with a crispy wafer. 

 

I added an espresso and a crock of more cream (so decadent!) to this mood swing on a plate. I am in good company in my adoration of this confection, Elizabeth Taylor was reportedly made special trips to Tre Scalini on her visits to Rome. 

 

As I had one of these on my student trip back in 1974 and every bite brought back memories.

 

Twilight in Piazza Navona

 

Alas the next morning was to be our last day in Rome and we still had not achieved a goal of revisiting St. Peters. So we got up very early to beat the lines at St. Peters and where there when it opened and walked right into the spectacular church minus the normal crowds.

Looking Up

 

Compared to my last visit I was very impressed how wonderful the church looked. Every surface sparkled. Regrettably, we were unable to view Bernini's spectacular baldachin as it was under wraps.  

Bernini's Baldachin is Under Wraps During Refurbishment

 

Although, our viewing of St. Peters had to be brief, we appreciated the dazzling array of incredible detailing found in this sacred space. An example was some amazing cast bronze doors. 

 

Bronze Martyrs on the Doors to St. Peters

 

Even at 6:30 am, the serious Swiss Guards ever resplendent in their magnificent uniforms were on duty providing Vatican security.

A Swiss Guard

 

Our tour complete we quickly returned to the apartment, collected our luggage, and caught an exprerss train to Florence. 

 

As we made our way to Termini I encountered this challenging bit of street art. 

Buy A New Soul

 

Perhaps besides all else, the enigmatic soul of Rome contributes to what truly makes it eternal. 

  

 

Roadboy's Travels © 2024