Hang'n out with Monks

Pienza to CasaBianca, Italy


What an amazing day of cycling. Definately the hardest day of climbing for me.... I should always say "for me" because there are some "jack rabbits" on this trip the just climb anything in the big gear like they're on old 49 decending down to the confluence. The "goal" was about 70k for the day with what was probably 3000+ foot of climb... I'm guessing on the climbing but I swear I can't be far off....

We chose to the do the long loop because it was not as steep... again didn't matter to me... they're all steep. We made our way around the country side ending with (yes, another) climb to a beautiful Abby: Abby di Monte Oliveto Magglore. It was home to Saint Bennidict. Unbelievably breath taking ... and .. huge. It was like a traditional catholic church on steroids. This abby was home to monks and I believe the monks still reside there.

Our girls put out an awesome lunch at the front gates. We had ton's of traditional Italian food complete with wine and deserts. It's amazing how they can put up and tear down in what seems a matter of minutes ... The presentation was that of a small cafe with the tastes of your favorite restaurant.
After the great meal, the thought of climbing anymore hills for a few us would have ruined the rest of the day. We told ourselves ... "we're on vacation" and decided to take the van to the next hotel.

Pulling into the Borgo CasaBianc hotel was well worth the efforts we all put out during the days ride. Our "hotel" was a 100's village that had been restored to it's historic glory. HUGE rooms... actually multiple rooms per villa! www.casabianca.it After checking in and cleaning up we sat in the courtyard drinking morrities and bellinis.

We all got a bit dressed up for the evening because of a special meal as well as an evening of wine tasting with a simole' ( I know I butchered that! ) It was hillarious listening to this very serious Italian man trying to convince our table that we could actually taste and smell the different ingredients in each of the wine. So we played along and had a great time. In this region they have these huge white cows. Their meet is the "kobe" of the area. They will only serve it rare... the chef will NOT cook it any other way... period. So we tried it... When it came out, I TRULY THOUGHT LORI WAS GOING TO FAINT. When I say "rare", I mean uncooked. I think the outside was covered in seasoning just to look like it may have made it to the grill. If it actually got on the grill, it couldn't have been more than a minute... I'm not kidding! Anyway, Jeff and I ate most of it and it was not bad but I'm sure would have been better cooked! Lori somehow held it all together and survived dinner with I think 2 bites...

Night ended as we all went to our rooms with full stomachs and sore legs...