Happy birthday to our eldest son Stephen, we hope it is a good one.

After leaving Siena, we rode cross country to Pesaro. The ride was about 250km - one of our longest yet - we really have been taking it easy! The scenery changed as we rode east from the pencil pines of Tuscany to the lush green pastures of Umbria. We arrived in Pesaro, in the province of Marche, about 2pm and set out to have a look at the town. Greg says he has finally found an Italian city he could live and enjoy riding in - the streets are flat, wide and not cobblestones and the hills are close enough for good breaky rides. Of course there is the added advantages of proximity to Imola, Misano and Mugello all within a couple of hours ride for the Superbikes and MotoGps.

Pesaro is a beach town with our hotel only about 50m from the Adriatic Sea. According to the receptionist at the hotel, people stay here because it is cheaper than San Marino, which is about 60 minutes up the road. I'd say she is spot on because the whole of the beachfront is one hotel after another. Between the hotels many restaurants and cafes are getting ready to greet the summer tourists - people are painting walls, planting flowers and generally tidying up for the expected influx in a few weeks - glad we won't be here then!

Two claims to fame belong to Pesaro. Rossini, the composer was born here in 1792 - he is known as the "Swan of Pesaro" and many streets, restaurants and cafes are named after him. His statue is even in part of the wall of the Post Office in Piazza del Popolo in the centre of the town. The other attraction is Rocca Costanza which is a fortress that was started by Constanzo Sforza in 1472 and completed by his son Giovanni in 1505. The fortress has an empty moat around it and was built for the defence of the town which must have been much smaller in those days.

As with many Italian towns there are many churches and the Cathedral houses a huge floor mosaic with geometrical patterns and mediaeval decorations.

Pesaro also boasts many museums and lists art works on its tourist maps such as a giant ball in the Piazzale della Liberta. We found this sculpture by Arnaldo Pomodoro a bit funny as a pomodoro in Italian is a tomato - does that make the big ball - a big tomato? On closer inspection of the 'big tomato' we discovered it is a fountain as well.

One of the attractions for riders to the area is the Strada Panoramica Adriatica which is road through Parco San Bartolo. This is where Valentino Rossi and his friends would ride their scooters as teenagers to improve their skills. The road winds through the national park with sweeping curves and coastal views - apparently. When we rode it, there was so much fog that we mainly saw the road in front of us and a few bushes beside us. Hopefully we get to ride it again on our day trip to San Marino and the fog might be gone!

Our ride to San Marino this morning was in bright sunshine and quite warm as we didn't leave the hotel until 10am. We decided to ride via the Autostrada on the way to San Marino and take the more scenic route home after our visit. San Marino was visited on our 2007 trip but we had both forgotten how steep the ride was in to this Principality. Perched on top of a narrow escarpment are several fortifications that date back to the 13th century and have been added to over the years. This is another of those places high on the tourist list with 12 tour buses parked at the bottom of the hill and another 3 arriving as we rode passed. We found a spot to park after getting some friendly directions from the local constabulary and put on walking shoes for our exploration of the fort. The views from the top are spectacular. Tourists from many countries could be heard among the crowd but the most eye-catching would have to be 3 German boys complete with lederhosen- very stylish. There was even a display of Mutoids all over the area - looked like the extras from a film set.

After wandering around for a couple of hours and some lunch we got back on the bike and headed back to our hotel. This time we stuck to the country roads where Greg says the countryside is prettier than Tuscany - I couldn't agree!

The ride back took us through Misano so it was a no brainer that we would go and have a look at the track now named after Marco Simoncelli. We also decided to have another ride along the Strada Panoramica Adriatica through Gabicce Mare hoping to see some of the great views. What a difference a day makes! No fog today. We rode passed a fort that we didn't even see yesterday.

On the way back to Pesaro we stopped at a supermarket to stock up on goodies for dinner. We are now sitting on our hotel balcony eating olives, cheese and pringle chips as we sip on a glass of Rose. Life is good!

Off to the superbikes at Imola tomorrow.