Biking Day – It’s Now or Never

The following morning I was really, really hoping for good weather because I was planning on catching an early afternoon train back to Florence, so if I was going to get a chance to bike the ramparts, it was now or never.

When I came out of the hostel, there was a slight rain already, so I resolved to make a pit-stop at my neighborhood café and then catch the bus to the train station. But as I sat enjoying my crème-burdened brioche, it stopped raining! I’m a gambler by nature, so I decided to risk the weather and try to get my bike ride in after all.

Sure enough, I was able to find a bike shop, rent a little touring bike (Miami-vacation peeps: it was exactly like the bikes we used to tour Alligator Alley), and pedal my way around the city walls. It was so fun! It’s not quite an aerial view (the towers were certainly better for that) but more like a…circumferal view. It was cool to be able to scoot around and see both the perimeter of the city as well as what lay just beyond the walls.

After one lap around, I thought, “Why not see it from the other direction? Perhaps the view is slightly different and I’ll notice something I didn’t see the first time!” Normally this would’ve been a fantastic idea, however in this scenario I was simply pressing my luck. About 10 minutes into my second lap it began to rain in earnest. I took cover under a tree for a while, but as you can imagine, there were gaps in the coverage and eventually I figured, “I’m getting wet anyway, I might as well just hurry up and get back.” This proved to be a good idea, as I moved out from under a rain cloud and it cleared up a bit further on…until right before I reached the end of my loop. Right then it started to POUR. I had no cover as well as no choice but to brave it (my time was almost up). I walked into the bike shop a wet, sopping mess. But at least I got to bike!!

By the time I got back to the hostel to collect my bags, the rain had abated. My spirits were so high from my (mostly) successful bike ride, that I decided to skip the bus and walk through town to the train station (sometimes my logic is based on emotion, instead of rationality…yeah.) As I’m sure you can guess, it wasn’t done raining and my decision to skip the bus wasn’t really a good one. So what should have been about a 20-minute walk took me probably closer to 40 minutes as I played duck and cover all the way to the station. At two different points it was raining so hard that the streets had at least an inch of standing water and so many fat drops were continuing to fall, that the entire street looked like it was moving and alive. It was incredible. People everywhere were huddled under eves and in the foyers of buildings, waiting for a break in the weather. Then it would either let up significantly or stop and everyone would dart back into the street and try to make it to their destination (or a new spot in which to take cover).

I kept feeling like I should really be grumpy about this crap weather I’m having, but I just thought it was funny. I mean, there was nothing I could do about it and it certainly was a sight to see. I mean, I think I tend to be a pretty laid back person in general, but this trip has only served to increase that tendency. Rain? Ruin my day? Nahhh - it couldn't possibly!