Biking Along the Mediterranean Coast

Saturday, we went had a bike tour along the boardwalk. We went from town to town starting off in Cinquale, then biking to Forte dei Marmi, and ending up in a town with a lovely market. I can't remember the name of it. 70 of us were biking, so as you can imagine, we were a sight to see. We biked ten miles total! I got my workout for the day! Biking is very common on the Tuscan coast, and I’m guessing it’s very common in many parts of Italy as well. It’s so cute to see all the older ladies with baskets on the front and backs of their bikes while heading off to the local market. I haven’t bought anything in the markets yet. Most of the stuff I’ve seen so far in these markets is clothing, shoes, belts, purses, and jewelry. Although I love all of those things, none of them really scream “Italy” to me so I’m sure I could find these sorts of things in the U.S. However, their purses are leather and really nice as well as their scarves. Those are probably my favorite purchases I’ve seen so far, but I’m going to wait until I get to Florence to buy stuff. What I’m really hoping to find is a food market with various meats, cheese, vegetables, olive oil, breads, etc. That would be really nice, and I’m going to need it because I think I’ll be doing a lot of cooking at the apartment in Florence. I’ve loved the meals this week, but this sort of treatment isn’t going to last forever. Each night we have had different food for dinner. There are always bottles of water on the table, bread, olive oil, and Balsamic; however, the appetizers, main course, and desserts have varied. We’ve had everything from class pizzas to seafood/seaweed platters. The pasta is delicious as well. I’ve learned something about pasta in Italy: Much of the pasta is homemade, but even the pasta that is not, it still tastes delicious because they don’t cook it too long. Their pasta is still pretty firm whereas at home, I always cook my pasta till it’s very soft. Italians don’t like soft pasta. Also, most of the sauces seem more tomato or basil based. I’m not seeing the Alfredo that I love. I’ve learned that Alfredo isn’t an Italian word nor is it really a classic Italian sauce.  Tomorrow, a group of six of us has to do a 3-minute presentation on our six categories we’ve been focusing on this week: Food, Wine, Fashion/Style, Lifestyle, Architecture, and History. We’re thinking of incorporating some of Cosimo’s quotes into our presentation since we feel that we’ve learned most about these topics from him.