The constant Tuscan gardener

Found a farm to work on for a couple of weeks. It is called Ebbio, a meditation and yoga retreat with vineyards, olive groves and surrounded by forests. The farmhouse here was built in the 1200's. I am the gardener here. I also feed the donkeys, horses, ponies, chooks, dogs and cats. Spend a lot of time watering the garden, as it never rains. The meals are strictly vegetarian and taste amazing. My host Nirdosh is a very good cook. I live in a caravan that overlooks the vineyards and olive trees. The farm is located on an ancient volcano site, so everywhere I look I see mountains of trees. Heaps of rocks here too, the soil is dry and red and you wonder how anything can grow. My local village is a 5 minute drive away called Monteriggioni. The village is within the walls of an ancient castle. Siena is about 10kms away, I hope to visit it very soon, once I get a break from raking up leaves.

Florence, Split, Korcula, Chianti

Florence brought me welcome rest and some time to keep in the shade of it's many beautiful buildings. I stayed 3 nights in a small room before catching a train to Ancona, on the east coast of Italy. I was on my way to Croatia. Stayed in Ancona for 1 night in a room overlooking the train station and caught the ferry across to Split the following morning. 9 hours later I was in Croatia trying to find a bed in one of it's busiest cities in summer, Split. Aussies galore in Split, I was wondering if it may have been Europe's answer to Bali. Even saw a bloke wearing an Essendon football jumper. Hmmm. Finally found a campsite outside of Split at 11pm with fellow cyclist Ebru from Turkey. Caught a 3 hour ferry the next day to the island Korcula, where I had 5 wonderful days with great friends Chris, Jo, Sam and Nadia. It was hot so spent most of the time in the cool water near our apartment, a short walk from the village. The time in Korcula flew past and I found myself back on the ferry to Ancona and then back on the train to Florence, where I had left my bike.

Jumped on the bike and headed into the hills of Tuscany from Florence in 35 degree heat at 2pm. Not the smartest move, as I found myself very exhausted riding around the hills trying to find a place to sleep at 7pm. Found a room eventually and then camped the following 2 nights in Chianti country. Rode onto Radda in Chianti where I stayed 2 more nights, in the heart of Tuscany and the best wine growing region in the country, probably. Chianti Classico flowed and I slept well. The riding through Tuscany was very difficult. The hills were relentless and always seemed to be going up, not down. The views were magnificent though, lots of olive trees, vineyards, forests. I needed to find work on a farm though, this heat was not good for cycling. Still barely seen a drop of rain in Italy or France all summer.

Cinque Terra, Pisa, Florence

I'll be honest, I have jumped back onto the train again. Those hills in the Ligurian Coast were seriously beginning to hurt, so I caught a train with my bike from Monterosso to La Spezia and then rode to Florence via Pisa. The body feels good after some rest in the Cinque Terra, the bike's gear issues have been rectified and it is travelling nice and smoothly. Not many hills from La Spezia to Florence which was a pleasant change. Some kind of heat wave going on over here, although I finally saw some rain today in Florence (for about 5 minutes and then the sun came out again). I will stay here in Florence for the next 3 days and have a look around.