TERRALBA TUSCANY

November 2008 Participants: 4

Rowing level: any

Week itinerary may vary according to weather and local events

19th (Monday) - Arrival in time for lunch, the in the afternoon we head to the Lake where we see the facilities, and show Coach Enzo our base abilities on the erg and/or water. Just to get an idea of the flaws that need to be worked on and the movements of your bodies. Also we'll select the boats that you'll be using the next day and make every attempt to get them set up and rigged for you in order to get going the next morning without much delay. Dinner will be at the B&B… homemade vegetable soup with various cheeses to follow, accompanied by Morellino di Scansano wine.

20 th (Tuesday) - Lunch at the exquisite little place in Lucca that is able to recreate the most amazing old-world flavours. Poking around Lucca as we digest, we can stay together or each can explore the shopping, medieval towers, or wall-top bike route as they see fit.
21st (Wednesday) – Today after a hearty cold-weather lunch of spezzatino we’ll go visit a local frantoio where olives are pressed for oil. At this time of year they will be in full swing, with the olive-oil-scented air entering in your pores and lungs...,. Tasting of this year’s fresh oil is a must, on freshly toasted “pane toscano”. Afterwards we’ll visit Cantiere Salani, to see how rowing shells are made.

22nd (Thursday) – Rain predicted for today so off to the water earlier to catch the last bit of clear skies. After lunch the only fitting thing to do on a rainy November day is… hot springs! Off to Monsummano for a dip and a trip to the steamy natural grottoes, followed by amazing hot chocolate at Slitti’s.

23rd (Friday) - FIRENZE….. a row on the Arno at the 110-year-old club… a trip to the Uffizi museum and then lunch at the rowing club. Afterwards we wander around Florence at our leisure, meeting up at dusk at the Duomo.

24th (Saturday) - We'll visit the hugely-popular Intl. Truffle Festival here in San Miniato, sniffing tubers and trying various delicacies made with them... followed by dinner at the ex-seminary where the Trufflers Association makes wonderful communal dinners with the tubers they find.
25th (Sunday) - We'll have a nice last row and last look at the videotapes of our rowing... followed by something fun and then a dinner all together, with of course truffles and other local tidbits, with a bunch of Coach Enzo’s rowing friends. All together we’re 14 aroound the table, and yet we’re still not able to finish off the ribs!

26th (Monday) - Morning fog keeps us from rowing, so the Tower of Pisa seems the best thing to see this morning. A quick check of the tower’s webcam proves that the fog is only local, so we head west. A glorious sunny day makes the white Carrara marble seem whiter than ever. Back to the B&B it’s time to pack up and say good-bye to Enzo’s mom, our cook for this week.