Aventura Toscana: Ride to Poggibonsi

September 29 had the group leaving Elba for Poggibonsi, a well placed medium sized town in the middle of many incredible sites.

It started by having all of us gather at the ferry terminal in Portoferraio.  We boarded and began the 160 kilometer ride to Poggibonsi.

Gathered to ride onto the ferry.  That is Al in red.

He was our fearless leader and organizer.

A view of Portoferraio from the ferry before setting sail.

The harbor at Portoferraio

On this leg, Sarah and I rode with Ken and Walt, leaving the big group to ride together. Ken had the route programmed into his GPS and we headed out from the ferry terminal in Piombino.  From there the ride was pretty, but mostly flat until we could see a small town on the side of a hill ahead of us.  It was Massa Marittima, a beautiful old town.

The town on the hill was Massa Marittima

We parked the scooters and walked into the town, where we found a Vespa Club displaying their scooters in front of the Parriocchia della Cattedrale de S. Carbone, a church that dominated the town square.  We hung around the scooters until the owners arrived, then we had a pleasant, international meeting of Vespa owners.

                                                      Scooters in front of the church

Two of the Italian club members, Marseglia Rossella Paolo and Simone Borghini have become friends on Facebook, so I can keep track of their riding, which is extensive.

Marseglia Rossella Paolo

Simone Borghini, a photographer with a camera mount on his shoe.

We had coffee in a restaurant on the square, then spent an hour seeing the small town.

Ken pointed us into the hills after that, looking for a rural restaurant for lunch.  He would look down every cross street until we came to a large stone building with several cars parked out front.  No signage, but he knew that this was the place.

The nondescript exterior, hiding a wonderful dining experience.

 We went inside to find a small dining room with a fixed menu and ordered everything they had,  This included plates of antipasti, pasta, salad, french fries and dessert.  The highlight was the meat platter with beef steaks, sausage and pork ribs piled onto the plate.  That, plus every table had a huge bottle of white wine in the middle.  When that was depleted, another came out of the back.  It was maybe the most memorable lunch I can ever remember.

Walt digging into the antipasti plate

Walt and Sarah looking pleased with the fine food.

The incomparable meat plate.

Fulfilled, we headed towards Poggibonsi. stopping a couple of times to enjoy the views.

Along the way.

Sarah and I always rode third of the three scooters.

That is Walt on the red one.

Almost into Poggibonsi.  The light through the trees was pretty.

Once in town, we settled into the hotel, then went for dinner in the old part of town with Ken and Vicki.