My first trip as Leader

Beautiful view from my bedroom in our final castle (Castello di Velona)

I finished leading my first trip; I'm a real girl, as Pinocchio would say (if he were a girl).  On the whole, guests were good, my coleaders were great and no problems.  I'm not the best leader I can be yet, but duh, right?  I will get better with delivering route raps about where we will be riding each day, fun anecdotes and specific directions.  I need to share more with guests.  I'm a person who doesn't always feel like talking, but that's a luxury I can't allow myself as a guide.  I can also start predicting and preparing for things so guests never have to wait for us (ex: the guests are coming back from lunch so let's get water bottles and travel bags out for those who are going to ride, get the van ready to shuttle others, etc.)  But in the end, I think the trip went very well.  My age actually worked on my side; in training they warn that being young can make building credibility challenging, but I'm an old soul.  Most of the guests were at the age where they saw me as one of their children, and most of them made a comparison of maturity in my favor.  They also gave me all sorts of ideas and advice about what I can do in life: concussion therapy, health and wellness director with a company, etc.  We had some great chats.

Getting ready.  (This is actually in Puglia, we've gotten SO much rain in Tuscany that I would not be out in shorts and T-shirt)

Spot where I stopped to mark a turn for guests on our first ride.  Not bad

A lovely couple celebrating their 10th anniversary.  Hopefully they bring their kids on a BR trip!

Badia a Passignano.  We have a wine-paired meal here.  WOW!  

The wine cellar at Passignano

Best chicken I've had in Tuscany (also, maybe the first).  Badia a Passignano

Castello di Velona.  It feels like Christmas every time we come to stay here.

There's a theme I've picked up on recently of putting pictures of the owner's children on restaurant menus.  There's a place in the leader-house town all the Backroads people have dubbed "Dirty-G's" because the owner, Giovanni, has racy (borderline pornographic) pictures of his adult daughter (and the restaurant's only server) all over the restaurant.  Here's another pizza menu I found that's a bit more innocent:

Waiting for guests.  Let's beat the rain!

Castello di Velona

Castello di Velona

This is not a sign of having experienced riders...