LIT complete

 I finished my Leader-In-Training trip yesterday.  It was an awesome week; I got to watch two really efficient and experienced leaders do their thing, and got to spend time learning from the fantastic van support driver (another leader in a different role this week).  Each of them was very patient with me, and shared useful tips without me even asking.  I am really lucky to have had such a great first week out.

The first night staying in our hotels I received a knock on my door about 8:45 PM.  I answered and the porter (facchino) and a housekeeper were standing there.  The man asked if they could enter to prepare the room for the evening.  I had no clue what was going on, so I hesitantly let them in.  It turns out that in fine European hotels it is custom to receive "turn-down service" in which the corner of your blanket is folded back.  This hotel also set out slippers for me, put cookies and the following day's forecast on the blanket, and set everything up for me to take a bath.  A girl could get used to this...

Too good not to take a selfie

 The second day we had a picnic lunch in front of an abbey in the heart of the Chianti region.  We set up the picnic while the guests took a tour, then voila!  The food was ready when their tour ended.

The goats kept us company while we worked.  Just KIDding

Lynn's gorgeous (and delicious) picnic

Later that evening the van support driver and I set up our own leftovers picnic in the hotel room.  Then we watched American Reunion (American Pie's most recent sequel) for free on the hotel's TV.  Fresh strawberries and a lot of laughs; not too shabby.

I got the chance to ride the long option with the guests one day.  After conquering hill after hill (and me learning some important features to Backroads directions...) our group of four who chose to do the entire ride arrived at the hotel.  We were at 98 kilometers, and one physically-amazing 60 year-old mother was adamant about completely her first metric century ride (100 km).  We rallied and rode back out the long cypress-lined driveway and onto the road, until we broke 100.  It was neat to be part of her celebration, and it was also my first official metric century.  We had conquered over 7,000 feet of elevation gain while we were at it, so I was whooped.  I recovered quickly after a nap, and to be honest the only part of my body that was uncomfortably sore was my crotch.  OUTCH!

The cypress-lined finish line

View along our bike ride

The wisteria is growing all over the place here.  It smells so good!

Coffee break at Bagno Vignoni thermal baths.

My On-Your-Own dinner at a local pizza place.  I had eaten pizza the previous two nights and was actually looking for anything BUT another pizzeria, but alas, tis what I found.  This one was sausage and chicory (kinda like bok choy?).  Not the best pizza I had this week.

 At the last castle we sleep in, there is an extensive spa available to guests.  On the final day of the trip, after guests got on their shuttle back to Florence, we leaders tried it out.  Research is very important, mind you.  It actually was very helpful that we did, because there is a popular spa feature called an emotional shower which I previously had NO idea what it entailed, so if guests asked I would've sounded like an idiot or described some sort of liquid therapy session.  It turned out to be a sequence of timed showers running down a hallway like a car wash, each a different scent, temperature, light color and pressure of spray.  I didn't feel very emotional when I walked out, but I sure smelled good!

Molly celebrating our spa time

Thermal pools on the castle's terrace.  Absurd