Unfortunately the weather turned a little bit last night so we didn’t in fact get into what was the most inviting looking pool I think I have ever seen. Instead we elected to continue with our mission to sample as much of the local Chianti (it was good) as we can and the local food. 

The meal really was very lovely and there was lots of it which is exactly what we needed after another hard day. It was  clearly all a bit too much for Marc though....

Beyond the food the two personal highlights of the evening for me were firstly when the young waitress came to the table to open our 2nd (possible 3rd?) bottle of wine and struggled with it FOREVER, puffing and panting and pulling and twisting for such an embarrassingly long time, so much so that we all just got a massive fit of the giggles, as did she I hasten to add.

The second highlight was when Dan decided now might be a good time to check his flight details home and work out what time he would land in Birmingham. The look of disbelief and horror on his face when he repeatedly pressed refresh but the screen kept coming up telling him that his flight from Rome will land at London Stansted at 1545 is just a picture..oh dear, that has not gone well! (Do I sound really mean spirited.....you had to be there perhaps, it really was very funny)

We are woken this morning at around 530 by a loan cuckoo with a death wish....I now completely understand why you hear them so rarely in the UK now....they have all been strangled by their sleep deprived victims!

Our campsite is high up in the Tuscan hills in the small town of Casciano and when we are finally up and about we take the obligatory selfie of us in our Winston’s Wish shirts and a snap of the low mist and the hills....the photo does not do it justice, it’s magical (the hills I mean)….

For the first hour or so of our ride today the scenery is absent because we have now dropped down into the mist...

By around 1030 the sun burns through though and the beautiful scenery continues. We are surrounded by hilltop houses and villages and cypress lined roads. This is a special, special part of our adventure, it is just so beautiful. 

The early also morning reveals thousands upon thousands of wispy white spider webs at the side of the road which are really quite eerie. We also find what must surely be Maximus house from Gladiator....

The terrain is still pretty challenging, particularly given how far we have already come, and as we slowly grind our way up into Acquapendente (which feels like it is on top of Everest but is in fact a relatively paltry 1400 feet up) we decide that our broken bodies need a rest and some food….

We crest a final rise and can see our destination for the day for the first time, Lake Bolsena....

The drop down is a welcome relief and we are greeted by a parade of classic cars heading in the opposite direction…..

The camp site seems v posh, and in fact the showers get a 9.5 on the Hastieometer which is really high praise indeed.

As we sit by the lakeside writing up the blog and waiting for the restaurant to open we reflect on how much we have achieved and how much it has hurt! 

It is not quite over yet but this really has been such a massive, amazing adventure....it’s so hard to conceive that we are actually going to do it! Tomorrow we will cycle the final 70 (ish) miles to the outskirts of North West Rome, camp for the very last time (omg I can’t tell you how amazing that sounds….honestly I am welling up at the thought of a bed!) and then on Monday 27 May we will finally cross the finish line….three men and a tent will have cycled from London all the way to Rome…..totally unbelievable!