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Dear Folks,
 Hope you all enjoyed pleasant and safe holidays. We weathered the snow in Colorado this winter with the whole family home from Boulder, Colorado (Maria Elena) and from Italy (Monica is now living there). You may recall that last winter we were in South America pedaling across Patagonia at this time. Not so this winter (but we're dreaming about it).
Our recipe this month helps prolong fall into winter with a wonderful French recipe for pear clafouti, a custard-like pear pie with an Oregon connection. This recipe and the photo of these beautiful pears reminds me of what a great experience European food markets are. Here in Fort Collins we enjoy visiting Whole Foods Market in mid-winter to see the bounty of fresh produce available to us. It is almost as good as visiting the markets in Italy or Provence in the South of France.
We have a bunch of new tours for next summer that you should take a look at. Paola and I will personally lead three of these, including the Giro d'Italia in Italy's Dolomites and Cycling through History on the Trail of Joseph and Elizabeth Pennell. We've offered a short version of the Pennell trip from Florence to Assisi (7 days) for those of you who don't have time to do the entire trip from Florence to Rome (11 days).
Rick will also be on the Giro d'Italia in Emilia-Romagna trip May 19 - 24. This trip is a based in Faenza, just a few kilometers from our headquarters on the farm. We'll have dinner at the farm one evening and see three stages of the Giro. It is going to be a lot of fun so do join us (note that the Giro in the Dolomites will also be great if you enjoy mountain riding; in fact, why not do both? We'll give you a 20% discount on the second tour if you do these together). The way these tours are configured we can do a private tour for you with just 5-8 people. So give us a call if you want to bring a group of family or friends.
If the May Dolomite trip following the Giro doesn't fit you schedule but you'd like to pedal the Dolomites anyway, our July trip is a more relaxed version of the May trip. Take your time and enjoy pedaling the most spectacular mountain range in Europe.
Our Bike, Walk, and Cruise the Greek Islands has space left in May so as you endure the cold winter think about the azure blue of the Aegean Sea and give us a call. I guarantee there is no better way to experience the Greek Islands than on this trip. Or Corsica? France is France, but Corsica is the best of 16th century Italy and France together. You'll have a hard time imagining what it's like to bicycle Corsica until you do it!
Of course, if I had time I'd go on all of these tours. Did I mention how fascinating our Romania tour is? Transylvania is worth a trip now, before it changes too much.
Another new tour that you won't want to miss this year - and I'm positive you've not done this one yet as nobody offers it - is a new ExpeditionPlus! Cycling the Danube from Germany's Black Forest, a full 2900 kilometers (that would be 1802 miles!), to the Black Sea over 33 days. We will split this tour in two for you if you want to do just the first fifteen days from the Black Forest to Budapest, Hungary, or you can do the last two and a half weeks from Budapest to the Black Sea.
Thanks for reading this far!
Sincerely,
--Rick and Paola
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