On Day 4 we had to trade a couple people in the rental car due to a topple over on the driveway Tues, but Wed was Stacey's debut back after getting stitches! This was the longest group scooter day. First stop was at a family owned cheese farm in Rotella. We got to meet the cows and watch some workers make cheese. And yes we got to taste some incredible cheese too! Yum!
After a mid-morning cheese snack, we rode over to Ascoli to explore the town and make room for the delicious lunch later at Taverna di Cecco (yuuuum truffle pasta!).
Upon stuffing ourselves, we rode back to the villa. Dinner that night was a caprese salad and mortadella. Tonight's entertainment was watching Somm, which was really awesome because Stacey works in the wine industry and had lots of insight for us!
Day 5 (Thurs) started out with a run through Ripa with Kara. It has been quite a few months since I've run, so it was a difficult first run back in a hill town. We ran through some Roman ruins and along Ripa for some views and then back to the villa. 
The group suited up and then drove to Offida for lunch and a wine tasting at Ciù Ciù (pronounced like choo-choo). Each course was paired with a different wine. Let's talk about the lasagna. Oh my. It was like a baklava lasagna. Instead of 3-4 thick pasta layers, there were a billion super thin phyllo dough like ones. More than made up for my meh one in Venice.
After lunch we toured the town, ate some gelato, and met some ladies that still practice the lacework art called il merletto al tombolo which is weaved on a pillow.
The rest of the afternoon the group chilled by the pool and we had an epic bocche tournament that took up the whole villa grounds, including the pool. I managed to toss the little ball in a clump of bushes that took us forever to find. Dinner was delicious seafood risotto prepared by the same fantastic cooks that made the to-die-for carbonara on Sunday!
Day 6 (Fri) was a free day. The rest of the group chilled at the villa and visited Ripa. We learned the other weeks, many people went back down to the beach. S and I decided to go on a long adventure to Sirolo to see the cliffs.
Somewhere along the road a bee stung me in the forearm as we rode towards Sirolo. It really hurt. I've now been stung by a bee on three continents.
It took about 2.75 hrs going the back roads through some hill towns to get there. I made a happy mistake while navigating us there. I accidentally said turn here, which was about 50m too early, but that way we had an incredible first view from a ridge line of the cliffs rather than skirting along the valley on a highway.
We finally arrived in Sirolo and took some photos of the view, then settled on a lunch spot. S had a plan up his sleeve. I thought we were going to head back through more hill towns on our way home before we all met up at 6p for a wine tasting.
Nope! We had to race back to Ripa for a 3:30p massage at Colle del Giglio Farm Resort. We ended up on the toll road (A14) camped behind an 18 wheeler for over 40km. I called it the autobahn. I just about panicked when we entered the toll booth to pull a ticket, but there was nowhere to go but enter the toll!!!! In my sweaty little hand, I death-gripped the toll ticket and 20€ note. The other hand held the phone for navigation where I counted down the kilometers until our exit.
I prayed the entire time and Jesus was right there with us. We made it to our exit then zipped the rest of the way to our appointment to make it right on time. Bob later told me, "I don't think scooters are allowed on that road." Well, we lived to tell the tale. Thank you S for being an amazing driver.
After the wine tasting, we headed over to Bob & Gina's for a pizza party and karaoke. They have the most amazing house + grape vines on their property!! It is the best spot to soak in a sunset.
We made our own pizza in their brick oven. We also experienced one of the most amazing sunsets in my life. Food + Friends + Sunsets = the spice of life
The night came to a close as we sang karaoke. Yes, I even got up to sing (with others) which is a huge step for me. Around midnight or so we migrated back to the villa where I did one last load of laundry and packed.
Around sunrise I awoke with a startle and realized, we had laundry on the porch drying that I had not packed!! So I hopped out of bed to grab the clothes and then realized the sunrise was gorgeous! So I snapped a few pics and went back to sleep.
Day 7 (Sat) was so sad because we had to leave our new friends and Italy, but we weren't going home just yet!
After saying goodbye to everyone, Nate drove Steve/Randi/us down to Grottammare to catch our 9:35am bus to Rome. NOTE: Check the times when you are booking things in Europe. Remember, they usually use a 24 hour clock..... I originally booked us for a 2:45am departure..... Thankfully caught that mistake before we left for the trip.
Sadly it was not the greatest bus experience, but it was the fastest way to Rome. It was slow at first due to traffic and hot (no A/C). Going across Italy was gorgeous with all the mountains.
We arrived about 3.5-4 hrs later at the bus station in Rome and had to say goodbye to our new friends - glad they are moving to San Antonio! We caught a ride to the Google office, but couldn't get in because it was a Sunday. So instead we headed over to the Pantheon to people watch for several hours before we had to catch a flight. We ate/hung out at the same restaurant we did back in 2012. I also popped in the Pantheon for some pics just because I wanted to see this incredible building again.
Finally it was time to catch a ride to the airport so we could continue the trip to Kraków.
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