BOLTON CLARION TOUR OF TUSCANY

Thanks to the post-brexit re-introduction of roaming charges and a degree of Yorkshire frugality, navigation relied on the Dutch Fietspads.  All we had to do was find a fietspad, or cycle path, and follow the numbers. It is a fantastic system that the kids enjoyed following and could do so easily.

The bike paths were fantastic, navigating a family into a fairly large town felt safe and easy.  We crossed the Schelde Estuary on the ‘fiets ferry’, a lovely half hour cool down. Then we picked up the coastal path towards Belgium.  The only disagreement being where to stop for a swim and a cool down.

After 20k or so we turned inland to find a play park made of World War 2 bunkers, left as a permanent scar on the area but these were in a forest, with a cafe. The kids enjoyed the shade and the chance to let off steam. We enjoyed the cafe and a cold drink.

JUNE 2022 – MIKE SINGLETON

Boarding The Ferry

We then followed the numbers back to the ferry and a fruitless search for a cold drink in a cafe. Our eventual stop wasn’t a windmill powered micro-brewery or a cafe selling nice cakes but turned into a sausage roll and a bottle of pop from the Jumbo supermarket, on theme at least.

The return to the chalet had begun to drag on the kids so a last bottle of pop was found, turning the day into ‘two coke Tuesday’.  The kids were delighted.  They rode just shy of 50k with a total ascent nearing erm…well they were super chuffed.  As was I, as club runs go this one was pretty special. For 8 years old Seth and 10 year old Orla it was lekker, or lovely in Dutch.

It was almost 3 years since the planning of our tour of Tuscany (plus Umbria and Emilia-Romagna) commenced when, 7 of us, finally set-off for central Italy on June 14th, 2022; the original booking was made for 2020 then re-booked for 2021, with both needing to be cancelled as a result of the Covid outbreak. >>