Italy – touring Tuscany on a Vespa scooter

I’ve always been a bigger motorcycle kind of  guy, favoring large bikes for my rides in the US and elsewhere. But I have to admit, there is some fun to be had riding a little Vespa scooter through the winding roads of Tuscany.

This is one of those touristy excursions one can book while visiting Florence, and it offers a nice change of pace from the must-see sights of the museums and other historic sites.

We took one day for a Vespa motorbike tour outside of Florence. The ride was packaged with a wine tasting party at a local winery. Zipping around Tuscany proved quite enjoyable, relaxing, and fun.  First we were transported by van about an hour outside of Florence, to an area near San Gimignano in the heart of Chianti country. The tour group included 11 or 12 people from various countries, mostly America and Canada. (We ran in to two different couples from Toronto who were on their honeymoons this trip.) After getting helmeted up and a few minutes test-driving the Vespa scooters on a gravel parking lot, we headed out to explore the countryside.

The vias we rode were all one lane country roads that wound through wine country and its beautiful rolling hills. The scooters reminded me of an old mini-bike we had when I was a kid – no gears, just twist the throttle to go, then squeeze the hand brake to help you slow down. Because of my experience riding motorcycles, they gave me a scooter with a larger engine – 125 cc – like a small dirt bike in the US, but quite sufficient for the task at hand.

The midpoint in our ride, and our stopping off point for a break and shopping, was the small town of San Gimignano, home to the winner of the world’s best gelato contest two years running. After a walking tour, some gelato and a bit of shopping, we mounted up again and rode to the winery, where we tasted 10 wines, some 30-year-old balsamic vinaigrette dressing, and some fresh lasagna.

The host for our wine tasting was the nephew or grandson of the winery owner and he was quite the entertainer – lots of jokes, funny facial expressions, flirting with the women – and selling wine. And he sold a lot of wine. Our group all arrived via bus/van from Florence, so they had no qualms about sharing lots of wine with us, a fact that no doubt led to increased sales at the conclusion of the wine tasting event. I don’t recall much of the drive back to Florence later that afternoon. I seem to have slept through it.

http://www.viator.com/tours/Florence/Full-day-Vespa-Tour-with-lunch-in-the-Chianti-Region/d519-5919P37

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