HAPPY MOTHERS DAY: Share Your Travel Experiences with Your Kids!

Any mother will tell you the most important thing in her life is her children. Inherent in each “La Mamma” is the drive to mold her kids into upstanding adults. Ever since they were born I have loved sharing travel experiences to shape the minds, heart and spirit of my three children (Lorenzo, Valentina and Luca), aged 11, 9 and 5. Sharing my travel/cycling passion with my children is one of the highlights of our family life. It is enormously satisfying to watch my children experience travel at their own speed and with their own wonderfully playful eyes.

Traveling with children is one of the best ways to offer them unique and fun learning experiences. Seeking out unusual locations offers them an education that can’t be taught in a classroom or the “typical” family vacations. Forget Disney World, Venice offers a Disney-like fantasy experience combined with thousands of years of culture, history and a stimulating modern culture focused on art and a passion for living. Walking through the zigzagging Venetian streets is the world's best maze, eating in the piazza is like a huge dinner party, taking the vaporetti or water taxis on the Grand Canal is better than any “ride”, visiting the Murano fishing villages is a “very cool” step back in time.” This blend of play and learning is what connects us with our children. When traveling, playful opportunities abound and because I love to play, I easily connect with my children wherever we go.

Seeing the world through the eyes of a child conjures memories of a much simpler time when we were young and experiencing things for the first time. Kids at this age respond to the simplest pleasures and remind us to slow down, play in a fountain, try on a mask or chase a pigeon through a piazza. Kids always love walking through villages, taking in the pulse of life and following their serendipitous natures.”

For those reluctant to take their kids on a vacation for fear small kids will be too challenging, Consider this, kids, while amazingly fulfilling, can present challenges wherever they are, so why not take them on a trip where we parents can have a uplifting travel experience. At home, kid are in their comfort zone and can be more difficult. When traveling, it is more likely that kids will let their guard down and follow your lead. I am usually more at peace on outings or traveling with my kids than when I stay at home where I battle the ‘Mommy, I am bored’ syndrome. When I am on a bike trip alone without my kids I find that I am always wanting to share my experience with them. Our lives are simpler when we travel. There is less stuff in our travel life, no multi tasking, constantly taking care of practicalities or rushing to get places. We are focused on each other and more in the flow of life. The spontaneity, serendipity of it all brings us closer. We see each other at our best.

Allowing your children to have experiences they would not otherwise have at home will create memories to last a lifetime for all. We loved jumping off our boat into the gorgeous blue waters of Sardinia, getting soaked in Roman fountains or playing tag in The Boboli Gardens. Some of our memorable travel experiences include bouldering (hiking rocks) along the Sardinian coastline, spinning downhill 10 miles to the sea in Greece and hiking through the Dolomites. It’s a collective memory I know we will treasure for a very long time.

When planning vacations, I start off with some initial research to list things to see and do. Upon arriving in a certain locations, she’ll make adjustments depending on each day. Guidebooks and web sites like the Family Travel Forum with kid-friendly ideas are instrumental in helping find all the kid-friendly eateries and activities. I will always mix up the highly cultural experiences with fun ones. A trip to Rome will include some classics, but lots of gelato breaks and hanging out in piazzas,” says Lauren. Anything that includes swimming, the beach or open playing (like rambling fields, etc) is a hit for us. When picking sites, we usually avoid very crowded places (like the Vatican museum) for they are guaranteed stress producers. I always choose a more low key ‘attraction’ where we can have a more authentic, human experience over the more touristy ones.” As the kids get older, allow them to have some input into the vacation plans. You never know what they are going to come up with. In the near future, This year we hope to expand our travels beyond Italy to Ireland, Paris and Norway. The world is our oyster!

Ciclismo Classico Annual Guide Meeting

What is it like spending four days talking, learning, eating and cycling
with 28 Ciclismo Classico guides?

How about inspiring, crazy, engaging, fun, interesting, warm and intense? Each year I spend several days in Tuscany with our guide team, bonding, learning and sharing new ideas as well as best guide practices. Oh yes there are always fun and games like when Paolo Taberetti (we call each other cugini since he is from Fano, the town that my grandfather was born) and Simone Scalas showed me how to play the Italian "Morra" ( a hand game, involves strategy, tactics and energy brought to Italy in the 16th century from Turkey).

Outside of my own crazy family, there is no group of people I feel more akin with and amazingly proud of than this wonderful group of super talented, affectionate and passionate Ciclismo guides.

This year our meeting was based at beautiful La Fattoria degli Usignoli, one of most popular hotels panoramically perched in the hills near Regello in the Pratomagno. Not only are our guides talented but also they are super loyal to Ciclismo, many have been with us 8 years or more. Almost every region of Italy was represented at this guide reunion­­ Tuscany, Piedmont, Liguria, Lombardia, Abruzzo, Tuscany, Lombardia, Reggio Emiglia [Emilia Romagna], Sicilia, Sardegna and my family's origins: Le Marche. I love hearing their distinct regional accents
and the way they playfully make fun of each other. There were also four Americans, Irish and Spanish guide to round off our team.

In addition to learning and sharing, this gang is like a one big family who really knows how to have fun. They tease, hug, laugh, yell, and share pictures, stories, jokes and most of all they share a bottomless wild passion for what they do. On Saturday morning we all took a bike ride along the "mitico" Strada dei Setti Ponte to Castellfranco where we piled into a small café for a ritual and one of the many "Sosta di Café" (coffee break).

Running the show this year was European Manager, Davide Marchegiano, Italian base manager Suzie Regul and the one and only Paolo Nicolosi "della Sicilia" who with his affectionate commands of "CAFÉ" and "A TAVOLA", made sure that we got a steady stream of coffee and three delicious four course meals. No meeting has better food for sure! Andi Nufer, Suzie's right hand gal, was busy trying to take meeting notes while interpreting wild gesticulations, Italian sarcasm and linguistic regional nuances.

In addition to amazing native guides, what differentiates Ciclismo Classico from other operators is our dedication to making every guest a better cyclist. Quality coaching requires teaching from the best such as Super athlete and new papa' Marcello Bonino [Bonini] who gave an EXCELLENT cycling skills clinic session. Colorado native, Italian import and Campagnolo devotee, Franco Yantorno (one of the best mechanics on the planet) gave a four-hour session on how to fit and fix almost everything on a bicycle. My new general manager Stephen Lang and controller Scott Robertson were there to witness the passion play up close; they were amazed as I always am with this amazing group of talent.

Are you joining us on a tour in Italy and have some extra post tour travel time? Are you traveling on your own to Italy and wish to have a very unique experience? Would you like to really get up close and behind the scenes of the Italian culture? If so I highly recommend that you hire one of our SUPER knowledgeable guides for a very special and 1-2 day private walking or driving tour. Our guides are also full of unique ideas for private tours and are willing and ready to put together a one-of-a-kind custom tour for you and your friends. Feel free to contact me and I can help match you with one of our Ciclismo Classico guides

Mental Winter Wanderlust to La Bella Sardinia

Even though here in Lake Placid on winter break with my family, I am immersed in the world of snow sports (and winter Olympic history) a trip to Lake Placid's premier bicycle store, High Peaks Cyclery gets my imagination quickly spinning towards spring cycling and my plans to ride again this summer Sardinia with my family on our Mediteranean Multi Sport (join us!)

My guests and cycling friends inevitably always ask me what is my favorite place to ride and although I am reluctant to respond (as if I had to choose a favorite child), my answer is alway Sardinia. We currently have three Ciclismo Classico tours there ( Swept Away in Sardinian, Mediterranean Island Hopping and Mediterranean Multi Sport). We plan to expand our offerings and with the guidance of our Native Sardinian expert, Simone Scalas, who can also create a custom tour for you. Backpedaling for a moment, I love cycling almost anywhere as it pedaling outside always puts me in a better frame of mind no matter where I am. It's a fact that, for the record, I have never had a bad bike ride ANYWHERE!

Having made that grand proclamation, there are cycling destinations that simply make my heart, soul and body soar and our focus at Ciclismo Classico is to take you to the world's absolute BEST cycling destinations such as Italy, France, Ireland, Austria and Spain.

So why do I pick Sardinia as my ultimate favorite place in the world to pedal? It fulfills the following TOP TEN list on what makes a premier Ciclismo Classico cycling destination:

1. Smooth, untrafficked, varied network of roads with many terrain options
2. An abundance of gorgeous views and scenery
3. Abundant opportunities to connect with the local culture
4. A balance of pristine nature and indigenous culture, a high local respect for sustaining both
5. Friendly, welcoming locals who respect cyclists
6. Gastronomically delightful. Delicious fresh food, markets, local eateries, enolologically intriguing
7. Abundance of historic and cultural options
8. Adventure options in addition to cycling (swimming, hiking, kayaking, caving)
9. A nice variety but not overwhelming choices of accommodations
10. A tourist culture that is affordable, friendly, sustainable and professional

Sardinia passes every one of this TOP TEN list with flying colors. Here's how:

1. Silky Smooth Roads: Sardinia's tourism is mainly in August and on the Northern Coast which means on the rest of the island for the rest of the year, Sardinia's silky smooth roads are cycling heaven. My favorite ride in the world is the descent to Cala Ganone (one of my favorite places in the world) and the gradual 20 mile ascent from Dorgali to the Barbagia Mountains with the sea on one side and the mountains on the other. My favorite cycling is along stunning coastline and Sardinia has more than anyplace I have been.

2. Gorgeous Scenery: Sardinia is is defined by its abundance of gorgeous views and variety of scenery, especially abundant are a wonderful blend of mountain and seascapes. Unlike the rest of Europe, Sardinia is rural, and underdeveloped. One of the last off the beaten path destinations Europe has to offer. It is like Wyoming surrounded by an amazingly beautiful blue waters. If you love to swim or simply experience some of the world's most gorgeous blue water than Sardinia is the place for you.

3. Culturally Fascinating: The Sardinian indigenous and native culture is alive and thriving. Sardinia with its own unique language, many distinct cultures and rich craftsmanship offers the cyclist Abundant opportunities to connect with the local culture. It is difficult to find a musical heritage so varied and full of expression as the one you can find in Sardinia. Sardinian traditional music is in every sense one of the richest and oldest in the Mediterranean. The expression of this heritage can be found in polyvocal or monodic songs and in the use of instruments, some of which are typical of the island. Undoubtedly one of the most original forms in the island's polyvocal heritage is the CANTO A TENORES (Tenors song). http://www.sardi.it/sardinia/artig1.htm

4. Natural Wonders Abound: Sardinia has the cleanest waters and most pristine natural areas in the world and is working harder than most of Europe to preserve and protect them.

5. International Cycling Destination: Although Sardinia is still emerging as a cycling destination for Americans, this amazingly varied island attracts thousands of pedaling Europeans who flock to Sardinia every year.

6. Delicious, healthy cuisine: Howard Hillman's in his World Cuisine Guide calls Sardinian cuisine "the most distinctive of Italy's regional cuisines, mainly due to the island's geographic isolation from Italy's mainland." That's why Ciclismo alumni and master chef Micheal Romano of the Union Street Cafe chose to join our Swept Away in Sardinia tour. For a cyclist Sardinian specialties such as Pane Carasau, Culingiones (fresh stuffed pasta) Bottarga (spaghetti with a tuna roe sauce) and so many other delicious others make all those miles worthwhile!

7. Historically Intriguing: Sardinia is a living museum! While there is not the abundance of museums as on the mainland, any Sardinian itinerary historical Abundance of historic and cultural options including roaming around ancient nuraghi villages or stopping to explore a romanesque church.

8. Sardinia is Europe's Adventure paradise: The second largest island in the Meditteranean, with thousands of mile of pristine coastline and gorgeous protected natural areas, there is plenty of adventure for non-cycling days. Kayaking along Sardinia's gorgeous coastline, hiking through the lush barbagia, sailing around La Maddelena, snorkeling, rapelling and caving are a sampling of this outdoor paradise.

9. Charming, tasteful, historic accommodations. The Sardinians have been very careful in developing their tourism as a result most hotels are small, family run and connected to their local culture. My favorite hotel in the world (and used on our Sardinian tours) is Sul Gologone nestled into the the Barbagia mountains near the famous muraled village of Orgosolo. Literally a gallery of Sardinian fine art and crafts, the rooms, cuisine, and spa make this a family-run hotel a place you'll want to call home!

10. Welcoming, friendly and caring! On my first bike tour around Sardinia in 1992, I was welcomed into the Fonteduus home in Siniscola (northwest Sardinia), treated for three nights to abundant local specialties and even dressed up in the traditional wedding clothes of our hosts! I could tell that I had landed in a very special place where I would be honored to bring cyclists. We have been running tours there for over 15 years and have expanded our guide team to include Sardinian specialist, Simone Scalas

As one of my favorite Italian web sites, Italy Online writes: "Small enough to be classified as an island but big enough to be a universe unto itself, Sardinia lies about 120 miles west of the Italian peninsula. Its coastline is probably Europe's most spectacular. Its waters teem with fish and shellfish. Its broad valleys turn into golden oceans of wheat in summer. Its rugged mountains, pocked with caves, are home to large flocks of sheep that feed on pungent wild herbs and produce a cheese your palate will never forget. Nestled into its silent olive groves are some of the continent's oldest archeological remains, dating back to 1700 BC. Its people speak a language incomprehensible to all other Italians, celebrate more saints' days than anyone else in the nation, and love to dress up in elaborate costumes at the drop of a finely-embroidered hat. ' "

Interested in joining my family and I for a very special week in Sardinia this July? email me at lauren@ciclismoclassico.com

Favorite Sardinian Links:
Best overall Site: http://www.mondosardegna.net/index.php, http://www.sardegna.com
Sardinian Photo Album: http://www.initaly.com/regions/sardinia/sardinalb.htm
In Italy Online: http://www.initaly.com/regions/sardinia/sardinia.htm
http://www.sardi.it/indexuk.htm