Watching TdF in Italy

[laughlaugh18]

Got back from my Italy trip a couple of days ago and finally got a chance to log in here to see what's been happening on TE in my absence. Wow, there were alot of messages in 3 weeks!

Re the "it's hot" threads: if you all think you're hot here, try the same temps (hovering around 100) and humidity without our nice, strong American air conditioning! It's miserable, and it doesn't cool off at night. Yuck. Every day we discussed which order to layer on the sunscreen, mosquito repellent and anti-itch spray (since the mosquitos seemed to ignore said repellent). Still, it was Florence, and I was with my whole family, and we had some great adventures in our air conditioned car, and there was lots of gelato . . .

Plus, we spent a couple of lovely days in Rome, where our hotel had air-conditioning and cable tv. The TdF is shown from start to finish every afternoon! What a different experience watching the Tour de France in real time, instead of at 6:00am here on the West Coast! Okay, the commentary was in Italian (until I discovered Eurosport - duh), but I spent a lovely afternoon sitting in a cool room watching the race:



Then, one day I was up at Piazzale Michelangelo, which overlooks Florence, and saw this guy (I thought of you all when I took this picture):



So, cycling was never far from my mind, and I'm looking forward to getting back on my bike - after I've gotten my fill of all the nice local air conditioning!!

Cathy

[Geonz]

Ooh la la!!!

I'll send some cool vibes your way...

[mimitabby]

i am glad you had fun in Italy. We love to take photos of all the bikes we see there when we go. (My husband won some prizes for his Italian bike fotos.)

I have never wanted to go there in the summertime. Now you all know why.

The weather here in Seattle is lovely tonight and it was perfect for a little bike ride.

[laughlaugh18]

mimi- I knew italy in summer was gonna be bad - don't even get me started on the wall-to-wall tourists! But, this was for my dad's 85th birthday (July 6th), plus it was the only time of year my teenage niece and my professor brother could go. So, I may complain, but it really was a special trip.

There's a surprisingly cool breeze in the Valley this evening; thanks for sending it down here, Geonz