UCI World Championships - The races

This fall, the UCI World Championship cycling races were held in Yorkshire. We don't follow cycling at all, but since everything was on our doorstep we thought we would watch some of it.

Having such a huge event in town did have its drawbacks.

Many of our town's roads were closed on and off throughout the entire week (!) of races. We were lucky to be able to walk to and from school each day, but some parents kept their kids home because it was inconvenient or impossible to get there at times. Had we been told earlier that this was an option, I would have happily booked an off peak holiday for the family. Since we were around, though, we decided to try to make the best of it.

We saw cycling all around town...

Walking home from school

Races also went right past the house, which made for easy watching.

Pointing at a helicopter

Naturally the UK weather made for difficult riding conditions some days. I saw a few compilations online of cyclists wiping out in puddles.

But the fans were out, rain or shine.

It was cool to experience (once) but I would definitely book a vacation if it came to the area again. I did like the opportunity to practice more with the good camera, and am pleased with some of the photos I took. I think mainly I was just glad when it was over.

Girls Weekend - Italy - Day 4

On our last day in Italy, we had just enough time to pop into Florence for lunch before we had to make the drive back to Pisa to the airport.

Last views from the hotel window

This salad was delicious

I think the drive took about 2 hours.

The flight home was uneventful, and I was ready to get home and see my family again. I feel so lucky to have had such an unforgettable and amazing trip with friends. And Matt did so well holding down the fort and doing school runs while I was away. I even came home to a tidy living room, which was a lovely surprise!

Girls Weekend - Italy - Day 3

We woke up semi-early on this day for a Tuscan road trip. We went to Castello di Volpaia winery, in a charming hillside village. We had scheduled a tasting and tour, and our guide, Paolo, led us around the picturesque area. He also told us a little bit about the process of making wine and olive oil.

Pictures from the drive

This is the winery

This machine separates the skins from the grapes

Olive oil press

How beautiful is this place?

After the tour, Paolo led us to the tasting room. There were wines from many years past, and a table set up in the middle for the tasting. Besides the wine, we were also able to taste the olive oil, which was delicious.

The Chianti Classico Riserva 2015 was named the #3 wine of 2018 by Wine Spectator, and it was a very nice wine. I bought a bottle of the regular chianti as well as a dessert wine and olive oil to take home, and then we had a light lunch in the village.

After we ate, we made our way back to Florence. We took a different route this time, and stumbled upon the Piazzale Michaelangelo, which had wonderful views of the city as well as a bronze replica of the David.

We lingered, taking photos and perusing the souvenir stands, until we were ready to go back to the hotel.

We ordered drinks back at the resort, and decided to have a quiet night in.

We had a poolside dinner along with more wine (when in Italy...), and made our way to bed to rest before heading home the following day.

A selfie with the waiter/bartender