The Adventure Begins

It’s always hard to leave Florence, but this time I know we are heading off for adventures in biking, so it makes it a bit easier.

As VBT people start stacking up in the hotel lobby we get our first chance to meet up with others on the trip. It’s awkward at first, but you know you will be spending a lot of time with some of these people over the next week. You just don’t know which ones yet.

Several of us had something in common – lost luggage. This helps us bond as a group.

After a quick bus trip to the Agrihotel, we get a chance to finally do a little bike riding, a short loop around the countryside. It's beautiful, and nowhere near as hilly as most of Tuscany.

It’s pretty clear who the real bikers are by their clothes, although most seem pretty relaxed about it. Afterward, some of us want to go further, but Adam is set on running. What can I say? Running is his life. I ride alongside him while others head off to the beach.

After dinner at the hotel we settle in for a night of talking, which is broken up by some truly startling, inappropriate personal revelations from one of our guides. I figure this is either a cultural lapse in the social graces, or else a wily ploy to bring the group together. It works. In fact, it’s all we can talk about for an hour afterwards. And into the next day. If he did this on purpose, he must be the greatest guide ever.