We had no Happy Hour last night, but we did take a group photo. Here it is:
Front row: Julie Leever, Bob Peterson, Susan Smith, Peter Krichman, Kathy Patrick-Bass, Dave Smith, Tom Leever.
Second row: Bob Lynn, Ann Lynn, Carol Patnoe, Hal Bass, Ron Cohen, Bob Warfield, Margie Kirk, Sally McKinney.
Top row: Tim Presar, Harold Ashby, Ellen Cohen, Richard Pellerin, Carolyn Roth, Joe Galvagna, Judy Ashby, Richard Patnoe, Rod Harman, Bill Alkire, Don Martin.
We split up for dinner. We went to Restaurant Le 3 Piante with Don, Tom, Julie, Sally and Margie. When we got there we saw Harold, Judy, Carol, Richard, Joe, Bob and Bob. We sat on the terrace with a view of the valley below. The food was good, but not exceptional. I had pasta with shrimp in a lemon sauce. Ann had veal in a lemon sauce. We split grilled eggplant and zucchini. I ordered zabaglione for dessert. I expected a traditional one, but this one was frozen with chocolate sauce.
On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at the town’s main piazza to watch all of the students mingling. There was a small group waving a Che banner and chanting slogans. Someone said the students were communists from Belarus.
We got to bed before 10:00.
Today’s ride was the easiest of the tour. There was very little climbing and lots of downhills. The weather was warm again with a slight overcast. Our route led us to Gradara – a town that has a castle dating back to the 15th century. Many of us stopped there even though it was a climb to get up to the historic area and the castle. Ann was there when I arrived. She took the castle tour while I wandered around for a few minutes and then took off.
The final part of our route went directly to the sea. Our cue sheets told us to turn left when we got to Gabicce Mara and follow the water to the hotel. So I did. And I was glad I did. I followed bicycle paths, board walks and local roads riding past beachside hotels, shops, restaurants, fishing boats, pleasure boats, beaches and much more. I little like Southern California but with an Italian twist.
Here is a link to today's route.
I got to the hotel the same time as Ann. She checked us in while I took my bicycle apart and packed it. After showering, I hopped in the rental car and drove one of our tour mates back to Urbino to pick up his luggage which he forget to load into the van in the morning.
Back at the hotel, we all went to the cyclist’s lunch. Then Ann and I took a walk on the beach. Being a warm day, a lot of people were out sunning and wading in the surf. I discovered that the Italians must really like their pasta. There were no hard-bodies at all. Most of the beach-goers were older and over-weight. It was a bazaar sight.
We had a Happy hour tonight. We gave Tom and Julie a card that everyone signed. Julie gave Ann a nice scarf in appreciation for helping transport people when they couldn’t do part of the ride.
Dinner was the Hotel Sarti antipasti buffet. For the main meal, I had pasta with shrimp and rabbit while Ann had pasta with tomato sauce with bacon and monk fish. She had a chocolate and pear torte for dessert while I had marzipan cake. We also had lots of wine. We had a great conversation at our table with Harold and Judy Ashby, Carol and Richard Patnoe and Bob Peterson.
Back at our room, we heard a roar of motorcycles on the street outside of our room. We went out on our balcony and watch hundreds of motorcycles go by. We don’t know what the event was, but the certainly made an impression.
It’s now 9:45 and we are ready to go to bed. I know that I broke the daily blog pattern, but circumstances were different today.
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