Vespa Tour – Tuscany

Friday 25^th April 2014

We had been looking forward to this day ever since we booked our trip as it was included in our airfare package. Having to be in Florence to meet at 9.15 in the morning,  it was up early to get ready have breakfast and catch the bus into town. The streets were very quiet and we found out later that it was because of a public holiday. Arriving in the main square the Koala made an appearance in front of the statue of David, not the real Davis but a copy.  Read more of the Koala here.

Our group met, all 15 of us and we hopped in a small bus and headed out of town to a Villa where our scooters awaited us. We had a short briefing, selected our helmets and then on to the scooters for training. After the tour guides were happy that all in the group could handle the scooters we headed of on to the roads to our first stop which was a view of the Tuscan countryside.

After many selfies and photos were made [our group did consist of some 20 something year old Americans] we headed off to the Ruffino Winery to be educated about wine making and to try their wines and olive oil. What a great combination alcohol and driving machines that most people had no experience with on narrow windy roads. Our tour guide was very informative, friendly and made the trip an enjoyable one. From there we proceeded on to our lunch stop after about 45 minutes on the road. The weather was kind to us and the views of the countryside as we road were typical Tuscan scenery with the pine trees, vineyards, olive groves and villa’s.

We were treated to a typical Tuscan lunch with antipasto, bread soup and fusillo primavera [a pasta dish]. Accompanied with red wine, bread and olive oil. It was all very relaxed in a great atmosphere with ample conversation before we saddled up to head back to the villa. All the riders returned safely back to base even though one girl managed to drop her scooter three times on the ground in the course of the day. Then it was back to Florence stopping at the lookout overseeing the city, then through the peak hour traffic to the centre of town. Tired and weary we made our way back to the bus stop and to our park for the night.