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 The
Moto Guzzi, Milano, and Mandelo del Lario
September
17: Milan
Guzzi enthusiast Marcello
Molteni, my liason with the Moto Guzzi factory, met
me at the airport and took me to pick
up the Moto
Guzzi California EV at the dealership
in Carate Brianza run by former Guzzi racer Bruno
Scola.
October
15: Guzziland,
Mandello del Lario: A factory visit, lunch with Alis Agostini
of the Mandello dealership.
October
14: A wild ride with Marcello around Lake Como on an unseasonably
summery autumn day.
 Damanhur
The Federation of Damanhur is an intentional community in the hills
of the Piedmonte region of Italy, within view of Aosta, famous for
its skiing. Damanhur is famous for its underground temple, at first
dug by hand in secret, but then, when they were busted by a former
member, saved by the Italian arts community when they said that Damanhur
was full of modern day Michaelangelos. Art, spirit, community...it's
a grand experiment, and I must say that I was enlightened!
Tuscany
 September
22: Tuscany with the Wild Writing Women
My writer's group published a book this
year: Wild Writing Women: Stories of World Travel. We're
celebrating by taking a week in Tuscany together. It'll be
the first time all twelve of us have been in the same place
at the same time. I've set up a site called Tantalizing
Tuscany for reporting on our activities there.
 September
22 & 23: Arrival in Tuscany, the Villa & Firenzola
It's raining in Tuscany, but we made
a journey to the biggest town in the area... all closed up
for Sunday. Didn't stop us from eating well though!
September
24: Florence
An afternoon in Florence, the duomo, Michaelangelo,
coffee, the open market, food, coffee, Michaelangelo, street urchins,
scarves, food.
 September
25: Siena
A beautiful city but a bit of a tourist amusement
park, beauty but no soul, good sandwiches, an incredible duomo (cathedral)
and lots and lots of people in T-shirts and baseball caps.
September
29: The Villa, Lucca, and Leaving
An afternoon in Florence, the duomo, Michaelangelo,
coffee, the open market, food, coffee, Michaelangelo, street urchins,
scarves,
food.
Sardenia
September
30: Olbia
I got off the ferry in Olbia at 10:30
and rode in the dark to the first open campground I saw.
The world was wet when
I woke, and I followed behind the storm all day through the most beautiful
motorcycling country I have ever seen. After the Emerald Coast came
a surprise, ancient "Noragic" sites that date
thousands of years BC.
October
1: Emerald Coast
The Emerald Coast, the Coral Coast,
the mountains of white rock that bite into the sky
and the Nuragic ruins.
A ride through the North West of the country, villages, beach, ancient
ruins...
 Sicily
Oct 6 Piazza Armerina
Mosiacs found in an ancient hunting lodge. Women in the Olympics,
and B.C. bikinis!
Paestum
 October
9: A visit to Magna Graecia (Paestum)
October
10: A tour of the Baroness' Water
Buffalo Farm.
October
11: Umbrian hills and St. Francis's
town of Assisi.
 The
East Coast
October
12: Ravenna, city of mosaics, and
Parma, city of ham.
October
13: Where love begins with a "V".
Shakespeare's Verona.
THANK
YOU!
- Sheldon
Aubut of the North American Russian Motorcycle Association,
(NARMA) -- with a branch devoted to Moto Guzzi who got it
all started by putting me in touch with Guzzi enthusiast
Marcello Moltini and Moto Guzzi Dealer Alis Agostini.
- Marcello
Molteni, thank you for being my liason with the official Moto Guzzi dealership
and factory in Mandello
del Lario and for helping me with the details of
arrival and transport.
- Alis Agostini of the Agostini Moto Guzzi Dealership
(who has a long family history
with Moto Guzzi) for your liason with the factory and
her encouragement of motorcycling and women in motorcycling.
- Stefania Galli of the Moto Guzzi factory for
the loan of the beautiful Moto
Guzzi California EV for my trip through Italy.
- Motocicliste Online,
an Italian women's motorcycling Webzine, who are translating
dispatches into Italian on their site.
- Sony Electronics for
the loan of a super-light, high-performance Sony VAIO notebook
computer.
- Frank
Wedge, founder and manager of the Moto
Guzzi National Owners Club (MGNOC) and writer/editor
of their newsletter.
- All those on my links page who are writing and
riding and inspiring more and more of us to let loose of
convention and make our dreams reality.
- My
family and to Michael
Gosney for their love and support, and the Wild Writing Women, for being
true friends as well as colleagues whose lives and work
are admirable and inspirational.
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