Fun afternoon climb.

I had a super fun day.  Emily was up early, and went to the questura to see if she could finish her filing for extending her permesso di soggiorno for 2 years.  I had done mine on Monday, but she had some trepidation, as the person a week plus ago had told her we needed a certificato de residenza, which would have required a whole new process of paperwork.  They did not say anything to me, and I believe it is totally on a whim according to the person you speak with.  No mention at my piece on Monday, and Emily's went totally smooth this morning.  After this, we both babysat Vittorio for a few hours, which involved walking to the Boboli, a huge park / gardens from the Medici era, and exploring and having a blast.  He is a lot of fun these days.  When Kate finished her committment, we met for lunch and had some great pizza at the outdoor seating in Piazza Santa Spirito.  Really fun morning.

We returned home, and I suited up for a ride.  I had been pretty happy with my time yesterday, and decided to climb again today.  There is a pretty direct climb of around 2750 vertical right from the apartment, which I had not done since last fall, and I decided this would be the ride for today.  I rode up Via Bolognese to Pratolino, then turned off to climb toward Bivigliano.  I turned off before the Bivigliano connection, and continued the climb up to Montescenario.  It is really beautiful up there, and it is at the absolute top of this mountain right outside of Florence.  Wonderful views and very nice today, a perfectly clear day.

I descended back through Bivigliano, then over to L'Olmo, then down on Via Faentina through Caldine to Firenze.  a very nice short ride with lots of climbing.  My legs were a little wooden upon my return.  Summary is:  23.5 miles in 1:54 rolling time for an average speed of 12.4 with 2750 vertical feet of climbing at a perfect average temperature of 73.  Ciao.

Montescenario - I wanted a climb and I got it. by ridingwithcosimo at Garmin Connect - Details

These flowers just cried out for a picture on the climb, just after the

 turn off at Pratolino.

The hills were so green on the climb to Montescenario, che bella!

The view to the north from Montescenario.

A view to the East from the sanctuario at Montescenario.