Monday, June 25, 2007

Lost In Oliveto

A shorter ride today, and I think everyone is secretly glad, especially after our adventures the night before.

Adam and I get separated when I stop to help someone and then get a flat myself. When I arrive at the Olive Oil farm, he is nowhere to be seen. Several people saw him along the way, but most everyone has arrived and still no Adam. I'm entering panic parent mode when he finally comes tooling up the road. Apparently, one wrong turn was enough to send him up an entirely different hill. It added a bunch of miles, all uphill, and he is very sweaty when he makes it, but he found his way and didn’t freak out, so I'm thankful.

We then learn more than I’ve ever wanted to know about olive oil. By the end I may be one of the few people in the world who can taste the difference between pitted and de-pitted oil.

And Chris, as you can see, makes a new friend.

On the way home it is shopping time, and most everyone crowds into a small bike shop in town. I have to think the guides did well, because most people bought something. Adam buys socks. Nick and Pam buy pink jerseys. Bessie buys what can only be described as a superhero suit. I buy beer in the bar down the street.

That night we are on our own for dinner, and a late reservation gives us time to sit on the fabulous terrace upstairs with the Osters and Malos and watch the sun slowly dip beneath the waves. Then, at a nearby pizzeria, Adam tries to break international nutrition records for eating, using the pizza AND pasta method. It’s a great time shared with people who were strangers a few days ago, but are now friends.

And as a reward, we get to hear Chris tell the story of the legendary evil carnivorous man-eating frozen iguana.

No one's sleeping tonight.

No comments: