vincykel

Gott med skottår, nu får man en dag till att njuta av! Jag såg att kära LHC åkte ner på kvalplats igår kväll efter förlusten mot Djurgården, så nu är det bara att ta nästa match och göra ett mål mer än motståndarna...

The weather forecast are talking about 71-72 degrees coming days around Florence, the spring comes early this year or? It became a perfect afternoon for a 50-mile bikeride in the southwestern region of the province of Florence, http://connect.garmin.com/activity/153843305, lovely!

Il Sindaco Renzo ha proposto la Piazza Signoria pavimentata tutto on terracotta, che cosa ne pensi? Io penso sarà bellissima! Crea una bella impressione a tutta visitatori. E se lui paga ancora meglio...

Ciao,
Leif

Can't deny it's great to have sun in my face even today in Florence. It's made for a bike ride indeed! I'm afraid it will be a lot of digging into the wine world today, looking for some good Italian wines to send to Sweden.

Även denna dag visar sin bästa sida i Florens. Fiorentina sänker biljettpriserna för sina två kommande mycket viktiga hemmamatcher för att undivka nerflyttningsrisk, så nu ska det väl bli fullsatt kan man väl tänka! Det blir väl till att ställa sig på balkongen och lyssna om man inte kommer in...

Anche oggi si sta bene a Firenze! Un giretto con la bici ci vuole, e un paio di degustazione e ricercazione di vini buoni anche. Manca solo un mese per la fiera VinItaly!

Leif

The most wonderful sunny morning so far in Florence! During the hiking tour guide course today we learned all about marketing, all the fancy buzz words about marketing, in a nice mix of Italian and English.

Jag tror vi kan se den mest soliga underbara morgon så här långt i Florens. Träffade också mina kära kurskamrater på vandringsguide-kursen, alltid lika roligt gäng! Idag så gick vi igenom allt om marknadsföring av dina tjänster som vandringsguide. Inte helt nytt kanske, men också tankvärda ting inför framtiden.

Che bella giornata oggi a Firenze! Nel corso di Guida Turistica Ambientale con APAB abbiamo fatto un bel intro nel area del marketing per una guida turistica al pubblico.

Leif

This Sunday I rode with my bike team (ASD Veloclub Florence By Bike) on the first Raduno for the season. we started on the western outskirts of Florence (San Quirico) and headed down in to Chianti, almost to Greve, before we climbed over from Via Chiantigiana to Via Cassia and headed up north again, through San Casciano and back in time for the pasta-party at the place of San Quirico. A nice 50 mile ride with about 3000 feet of elevation to climb, not to forget the entertaining downhills.

Idag var det dags för första motionsloppet för säsongen här i trakterna runt Florens. Det blev en dryga sju mil ner bland de vackra kullarna i Chianti, där vi nästan kunde se vinrankorna och olivträden skaka vinterrusket av sig och börja spira i det fina vårvädret. Naturligtvis så blev det ett traditionsenligt pasta-party med Chianti-vin efteråt. Italienerana vet hur man organiserar motionstävlingar på cykel! Motionsloppen arrangeras av privata cykelklubbar eller motionsföreningar tillsammans med den rikstäckande idrottsorganisationen UISP (Unione Italiana Sport Per tutti).

Un bel giro oggi con la squadra, davero! Un Raduno ben organizzato di San Quirico. Nostro squadra è arrivato come quinto squadra oggi, e abbiamo portato a casa un piccola "coppetta" oggi!

Leif

We had a marvellous walk up to hills north of Florence today, we walked by the Villa di Maiano and their old stone caves, further up to the Monte Ceceri and took a lunch brake at the Piazza di Leonardo da Vinci, with a fantastic view down to Florence. We excercised with with ropes to do some knots and securing for difficult passages in the mountains. After our "tea-time" we headed down past by the Castle Vincigliata and back to the Villa of Maiano. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/152502103

Vi hade en mycket trevlig vandring upp bland kullarna norr om Florens, vi såg de gamla stenbrotten utanför Villa di Maiano och vidare upp mot Monte Ceceri. Beundrade utsikten och övade med våra rep för att säkra svåra passager uppe bland bergen. På vägen ner så passerade vi det anrika slottet Vincigliata, där en svensk adelskvinna har varit på besök.

Oggi abbiamo fatto una bella camminata da Villa di Maiano passando le cave verso la cima di Monte Ceceri, e poi più avanti verso il Castello di Vincigliata, per finire di nuovo sotto Villa di Maiano.



Leif

Cykelfrämjandets tidning Cykling kommer att ha ett stort cykelsemester-nr som kommer ut i mars. Enligt rykten så kommer undertecknad att vara med, som den cyklande vinguiden i Toskana...

Today is sunshine all over the place in Florence, and they have promised about 20 degrees (70 Fahrenheit). I think I will runaway with my bike for a while.

Che bella giornata oggi, pomeriggio scappo con al bici se non qualche degustazione del vino viene incanto a me :-) Oggi è il primo giorno di Anteprima di Brunello a Montalcino, che non è male come bevanda. La fiera si chiama Benvenuto di Brunello.

Leif

After several wine-tastings at the fair Chianti Classico Collection I needed to go out on my bike, and took a nice 60 k ride on the flats to Montelupo Fiorentino, with a "wall of winds" on the way back to Florence.

Såg på Chianti Classico-mässan här i Florens att Munskänkarna gav Chianti och Chianti Classico-organisationen utmärkelsen som årets vin-region, och det kan man ju bara bocka och buga för, det kändes fint. Själv är man inne på åttonde året nu, och stortrivs. Äter gott, dricker gott, och har den vackra naturen med det behagliga klimatet alldeles inpå knuten.

Vino, bici e una serata pieno di studi per diventare Guida Turistica Ambientale, sono belle stanco!

Leif

Plenty of wines to taste in Montepulciano today, I managed around 30, then it was time to go home...

Det var dags för årets förhandsprovning av Vino Nobile i Montepulciano idag, så jag orkade med ett 30-tal innan smaklökarna gav upp.

Un grande Anteprima per il Vino Nobile a Montepulciano oggi, che meraviglia! Una trentina di vini ho riuscito di fare prima di tornare a casa! http://www.consorziovinonobile.it/News/ITA/169/Anteprima-Vino-Nobile-181920-Febbraio-2012

Leif

Denna kväll så gick vi igenom det toskanska regelverket för vad en vandringsguide får göra och inte göra, skyldigheter och rättigheter, ansvar o d. Tänk er 20 italienare i ett rum som får ett antal lagparagrafer att reflektera över, diskutera och raljera över. Det tog flera timmar...

E Milan ha vinto contro Arsenal nel Champions league, forza Milan e Ibra!

For our bike teams race (raduno) we will organize the 2 June we have now secured the arrival spot on Campo di Marte, close to the same spot as the finish line for the road cycling World Championship here in Florence in 2013 (maybe a reason to come and visit us?). We will have two different courses for our Raduno, one 80 k and one 100 k.

Leif

Brrrrr in Florence......

Men det blev ändå en liten cykeltur bortåt Signa och en värmande vandring upp mot Villa Maiano:
Och en värmande grappa efter dagens middag, det behövdes!

For those people who likes chocolate you should been at the Piazza Santa Croce in Florence today, there it was held a big "smoky" festival with all kind of chocolates, boiling or more "firm" ones... http://www.fieradelcioccolato.it/photo-gallery.html, but you still have your chance, it continues until the 19th.

Leif

Finally, some heat and sunlight, let's ride down in Chianti! It became about 65 k and some good sun-tan, lovely! http://connect.garmin.com/activity/148335772, together with zio Moreno and our visitor from Adelaide Australia, Carmen.





I tre "muschettieri"      zio1 e zio2

Jag försöker hitta lite speciella lådbox-viner till Sverige, där låd-viner är väldigt populärt. Nuförtiden så går det att hitta åtskilliga goda producenter av box-viner, men det tog sin tid innan italienarna började ta upp den här vanan att vin går att ha plastpåse med pappkartong runtom. Inte lika elegant kanske, men praktiskt!

Leif

Brrr, cold winds from the hills today, but Fiorentina succeded to win against Udinese in soccer, 3-2. As always I could hear the Fiorentina-fans singing from the stadium, louder than usual today, probably to keep themselves warm in this Scandinavian-inspired weather we have here these days.

After yesterdays wonderful hike with snowshoes I took an easy day today, and just went for a long walk downtown and some shopping, properly dressed with all winter gear I had!

Tried a new Sangiovese Superiore from Emilia Romagna today, which I really can recommend, you can soon read about on Vinoch.se

I guess some people in the States are getting ready for the Superbowl now? Who will win between New England Patriots and New York Giants? I think the Patriots.

Leif

Snow-shoe hiking!

This day me and some friends on the tour guide hiking-course hiked up on the slopes around Falterona, from Castagno d'Andrea up to Borbotto, trying out some exciting snow-shoes. We walked around 11 k with 600 m of altitude "climbing", under constant snow-falling, which made the landscape looking like a winters fairy tale. A link with all my GPS-data you can find here. I have downloaded a map with the plotted out route we hiked:



It was to much snow to make it all the way up to mountain top of Falterona (1600 m above sea level), but we made it all the way to Borbotta, where the river Borbotto starts. With all the snow which was fallin we wouldn't have seen so far from Falterona, so we saved that to a sunny clear day instead. Falterona is a magic place, with the beginning of river Arno, some old Etrushian settlements, and views which on a clear day takes far out on the meditaranean sea, with islands like Elba, Corsica and Sardinia in sight.

Pictures of the magic landscape and some of my fellow hiking classmates:


Photos by Alessio

To walk with these snow-shoes you to walk a little bit differently, like wearing diapers like a 1-year old... but they helped when we walked through 40-50 cm of snow. I wouldn't probably have thought of even try to walk without snowshoes in conditions like this. Whe it was really steep on the way down the snow-shoes functioned almost as mini-ski's, sliding down like a new-born skier almost.

The author in question:

Photo: Samuele

Ciao,
Leif