Pisa... well somehow the tower looks bigger on pizzeria placemats.

Upon arriving in Pisa after a fairly miserable 55 mile ride, I think it's fair to say that I was a bit underwhelmed. The town itself only consists of The Field of Miracles as they call it and a bunch of touristy stuff surronding it. There is a big airport there, and a large enough train station, but it's not too much to jump up and down about. There were far to many tourists taking the obligatory "hold up the tower" picture, so I snapped a couple of shots, talked to some Canadian cyclists for a few minutes and then I got out of there. I mean, it's cool I guess. The tower really does lean quite a lot. Obviously that's the attraction. It's quite remarkable when you think about it that it's still standing. If it were in America, they would have knocked it down a long time ago, and they certainly wouldn't let people go up it in. Yeah, because one day out of nowhere, it's just gonna fall over. I'm convinced that a) either Italy doesn't have as many sue happy lawyers, or b) suing someone for something stupid like "I tripped over the uneven stairs" or "I didn't realized that coffee would be hot" is not allowed here. If you trip over an uneven stair in Italy, tough shit, they're everywhere and chances are people have been tripping over that same step for thousands of years.

Anyway, I digress as usual. The ride to Pisa was so much less than remarkable, it was actually remarkable. It was only slightly interesting for two reasons. It's good to see that a country that is so beautiful in so many ways has some pretty ugly parts too. And although it seems like everyone is living in gloriously preserved antiquity, there are just as many people living out in the burbs (well, not the perfect lawn and vinyl siding type burbs of America) going about life not picking olives or grapes. The other interesting thing is that I would never think to ride roads like I did today if I were in the States. I'd mostly likely be dead. While I planned my route diligently to avoid the bigger state roads, these pancake flat provincial roads were busy at times, went through many little towns (not the quaint, picturesque Tuscan ruins type either) and lacked any form of scenery until I got within 20km of Pisa (and even that was minimal). Yet, I saw more cyclists on these roads than I have out in the incredible hills of Chianti. I guess when you want to do a flat ride, you can't expect much. But again, the drivers, even 18-wheelers were courteous, never so much as a thought of honking besides the friendly warning, no one attempted to run me over and I was given the respect I deserve as a user of the road, not treated as a second class citizen like at home. While I wouldn't say I was overjoyed with the traffic, it's just part of the ride sometimes. Another observation: people know how to drive in traffic circles here. I mean, they better. There are tons of them. And they all have the same predictable traffic flow... yeah, I'm talking to you Flemington. ("Here's an idea: let's make every circle different, let's completely change the traffic patter of a circle that has been a particular way for years, then we'll see how many times a day people can smash their giant SUVs into each other!")
While I wasn't keen on climbing anything today, and thus avoided some monster climbs that looked scenically appealing, the ride was still tough in it's own way. 50 miles of boring flat roads means no coasting to descend, no getting out of the saddle to climb, and a headwind to top it off. But finally I got there.
Fast forward, I got myself on the train back to Firenze and went right from the station out to the race course to catch the last bit of the U23 men's race. I managed to get a spot within the last 500m and saw them come by for the last two laps. I ran into an Aussie couple that I met in the confusion of registration at the Gran Fondo last weekend and we got to talking for quite a while. Super nice people! I then made my way over to the Napoletano pastry stand and got the last Sfogliatelle. By then, it was getting on dusk and I figured I best be getting back to my apartment.

I decided since I have a fridge full of food (I may have gotten a little carried away at the Mercato) that I should eat a home tonight. Plus all these pastries and pizza had me craving the big bag of pomodorini and arugala that was calling to be made into salad. My go-to meal here, since I don't have a pot big enough for pasta and I don't have an oven, it to make salad and bruschetta. Tonight, in an effort to clear out the fridge since I'll sadly be leaving this amazing city on Monday morning, I decided to go all in and add the remaining mozzarella di bufala to the bruschetta. Wonderful idea! The other great thing is that I bought a fairly good size bottle of olive oil and I can't let any of it go to waste. And, not having a toaster, the best way to toast bread? To "fry" it in olive oil.
Well, enough with the trivial details of my day. Who honestly cares? Besides that, I went for a pre-dinner stroll, basically for two reasons. This city is beautiful at night. And the people watching is good too. Also, I am trying to break in these new Italian leather shoes. It takes quite a bit of walking, albeit in small doses, to break them in. I walked all the way down to Ponte Vecchio, which as would be expected on a Friday night, was packed. Along the way, I found more great bicycle-themed decorations in stores that I thought I'd share. I also found two more vintage shops (Samara!!) and a men's shop that usually gets hidden behind the madness of the San Lorenzo Market, which, aside from having some amazing suits, also had a button-up high-neck cardigan which I've been looking for. I have to make time to get back there before I leave this city.

Walking the course through the city center at night is very peaceful.

The Ferragamo bike is more easily seen at night. It's not chromed out, it's actually gold plated. Even better. Ferragamo clothes are amazing. Their men's section basically sells everything in black and black. That's my kind of store. Perhaps one day I can wear Ferragamo, I just have to get out of the music business and make some money.

I don't recall which designer this was at but they had his and hers bikes dressed up. They looked a lot more impressive in person.

Bike themed decor varied greatly from shop to shop.

I think Louis Vitton missed the part of bike polo where it's not played by distinguished British Monarchs, rather it's played by bearded, smelly hipsters in cut-off jean shorts in cities like...oh... Philthadelphia. Nice try guys.

A for effort...sort of.

So, that's it. Tomorrow is the Elite Women's Road Race, which I'm really excited about. I think the Americans have a good shot with either Eve Stevens or Mara Abbott. Marianne Vos (Dutch) is probably unbeatable, but you never know. That's all for now. Buonanotte!