Umbria…Todi

Dear friends,

I fully intended to update this blog each day while on the Bike Rider trip in Umbria, but technology got the better of me.  On our first day of riding my Blackberry made a suicidal leap out of my bike bag and expired.  In addition, each hotel offered a new wireless challenge.  Today access is only available in the bathroom of my hotel.  If you followed my Sicilian trip last May you may remember that Catherine and I faced a similar problem in Catania. The only thing to do is laugh.

en route to Todi

Day 1–Todi

You never know what will happen when 17 people come together for a week of biking, cooking and eating.  It might be a fun, easy-going group, up for anything.  Or not.   But I’m not worried.  Everyone introduced him or herself in Rialto at least once and I traveled with our guides, Dawn and Vernon,  a year and a half ago in Sicily.  It’s going to be a great trip. I am a little concerned about the weather.  Dawn and Vernon assure me all will be fine, even if it does rain.  Nothing fazes them. They’re veterans.

Dawn, Jody and Vernon

Susan, Kathy and I arrive ahead of schedule at the train station in Perugia. How novel!    Being late is my perpetual failing, but I want to be on hand to greet the riders with Vernon and Dawn.  We sip coffee at the tiny bar that straddles the street and the train station.  Train fuel, cigarette smoke, the clanking and tooting of train arrivals, the old Italian man behind the counter in his uniform blue jacket handling money and barking orders to his wife—all of it gives me a Proustian jolt back to my Eurail days.  Grubby students burdened with enormous backpacks call out to me.  I could join them in a heartbeat and hop a train to anywhere.  Instead I finish my coffee, allow my daydreams to fade and set off in search of the Bike Riders.

BA, Colleen, Susan, Kathy and Jackie

We all find each other, the vans are packed, and we head for the hotel, Relais Todini, which sits on a hill about 8 kilometers outside of Todi.

Fog

We take in the spectacular view of Todi, muted by a light fog, as we gather around the pool.  Lunch is a typical Umbrian antipasti: Umbrian prosciutto, capocollo and salami; bruschette topped with liver pate, mushrooms and tomatoes; pecorino cheeses with honey; salads of fennel, tomatoes and greens;  and finally a bowl with flavorful peaches and “stupid grapes.”

Our first typical Umbrian antipasti

Stupid grapes

After chatting with everyone, I know that with Dawn and Vernon as our guides and the fabulous food, wine and countryside Umbria offered, it’s going to be a fabulous trip.

At a short orientation meeting Dawn and Vernon talk us through the next week of our lives.  Rain, if it happens, will be brief.  Remember to tuck your shoelaces into your shoes.  Gorp will be plentiful.  We then jump on our bikes for an introductory ride and head to Todi.

Orientation with Dawn and Vernon

As we race down the long steep cypress lined road from the hotel, I can’t help but hoot and holler.  How lucky we are.

A street in Todi… a typical Umbrian view

Something to see

Something to hear

Something to taste

Bike Rider days are scheduled with such interesting tours and tastes, that I never want to skip out and write it all down.

When not biking, we eat and drink.  Endlessly.  Yet something magical happens in Italy.  Sleep erases each day’s indulgences.  We waken each morning without noticeable damage to head or stomach.  However, I AM taken aback by how tight my jeans are around my thighs.  Dawn assures me it’s just the amazing muscle development I am experiencing.

En route with Kathy