The Best Way to Spend 12 Euro in Siena. Wait, no, 5. The Best Way to Spend 5 Euro in Siena.
Today was dedicated to biking the Tuscan countryside around Siena. We rented bikes from a nice little shop near the Porta Camollia, helmets included (don't worry, mother). This is hands down one of my new favorite things to do in Europe. I did the same five years ago with two friends in Siena, rented a bike in Bavaria two years ago and biked to the Neuschwanstein castle (from Fussen... so, not very far), and twisted the arms of my travel companions during our summer planning to bike around Siena again (okay, there was in fact no arm twisting involved. I said the words "adventurous" and "athletic" before I even said "biking" and they were sold.).
We set off from our beautiful B&B (which had amazing breakfast, btw!) just outside the Porta Camollia and rented bikes from just inside the gate just before 10am. We grabbed some snacks as we biked out of town and before you can say "cinghiale," we were off like a herd of turtles. We were energized from both sleeping a TON the previous night (since it was cool enough to be able to sleep through the night) and did some intense carbo loading of pasta and a Tuscan platter appetizer (a plate of delicious meats and cheeses... And liver. Yes, I ate liver) at my favorite restaurant, Spada Forte, in il Campo (this restaurant breaks my "don't eat within sight of a monument" rule, but it's damn good so it's worth the sacrilege). The very nice owner of the bike shop suggested some routes for us, but I quickly realized that we were just going to have to wing it when I did not see the name of the towns he recommended on the signs we passed. Eh, who needs plans in Italy, right? Or a map. So we had no map and no plan, which sounded absolutely perfect to me. We followed some signs for a castle, which turned out to be less than exciting, but still worth a look anyway. We biked semi-aimlessly for a while until we found a sign with "Monteriggioni" on it, the name of the town the bike shop owner had suggested and began heading in that direction. We quickly got distracted by another sign for a church and pedaled down a gravel-ish road with our flimsy road tires. I was careful to bike in wheel-worn tracts, but still slightly nervous about popping a tire. But no tires were popped during our journey. We are lunch at the church, I applied yet another layer of sunscreen over my SPF 100, and then we set off again.
Biking in Tuscany is pretty indescribable. Everywhere you look is a postcard image. And even though the VERY large hills are an incredible pain in the ass, flying down the other side of them is worth the effort (although, I will admit, we did walk our bikes up several of those massive f-ing hills).
When we were covered in sweat from head to toe and our butts hurt from our bikes seats we decided it was time to throw in the towel. We biked back up the hills (okay, walked some... a few... most) and enjoyed the morning view in reverse, stopping here and there to take pictures.
Just before 4 we decided to return our bikes to the nice shop owner, who had told us earlier in the day it would be 10 euro each to rent a bike, plus I thought I had remembered the helmets being an extra 2 euro, so it was a 12 euro adventure. When we went to pay, however, he only charged us 5 each since he said we only used the bikes a half day. When I asked about the helmets he said they were included in the price. Really?! 5 euros to have the much fun?! Only in Siena.
I told him I'd be back next year with another group, which he seemed delighted at. Let's hope Kristin and the posse are ready for a 5 euro adventure!
