Firenze

Sunday, May 15,2016

Today we took the train from Sieci to Florence.  It's about a 20 minute trip.  I figured it would cost more to park in Florence than it would cost for the train ticket.  And I wouldn't have to drive in Florence!

We decided to take a walking tour that was to start at 11:00 a.m.  According to the website, all we had to do was meet the guide in front of the Santa Marie Novella church.  They had a picture of it.  We got there and waited.  And waited.  There was a couple from Edinburgh waiting too.  No one ever showed up.  What a waste of time!  We walked to the San Lorenzo market and I bought a few things, as did Marie.  Then we went to the Duomo.  Marie couldn't believe how big it is.  We were hoping to go in, but the lines were incredibly long.

We walked past the Uffizzi, where outdoor sculptures can be seen.  There was something new since the last time I was here -

I've been to the Uffizzi and Marie wasn't interested.  I wanted to show her the Ponte Vecchio. 

This was taken from on the bridge.

I've never explored the 'other' side of the river, so we took a look around.  We made a pit stop at a WC.  When we came out the rain began.  We took cover, so we wouldn't get wet.  We had left our rain coats and umbrellas in the car because it was so sunny when we got to the train station.  What a mistake.  Or was it?  We were across the street from a little restaurant.  As we watched the lightening and heard the thunder, it seemed so close.  That little hole in the wall restaurant was looking mighty good.  It was called Vinaino Lo Sprone.  I looked at the reviews and it got 4 1/2 out of 5 stars.  Hmmm...maybe we should have a late lunch or early dinner.  We dashed over, but there were no available tables.  A young woman from Bristol, England was sitting alone at a table right in front by the door.  We had been watching her, and commenting that she had the best seat there for people watching.  Apparently she had been watching us too.  She said she thought they were going to kick her out since she had finished her meal.  She was planning to join us!  Marie sat down with her and I perched on a bar stool until a table opened up. The young woman left and we saw her standing over where we had been, having a smoke and waiting for the rain to subside.  We proceeded to have one of the best meals of our trip.  This hole in the wall restaurant that wouldn't attract anyone besides locals had delicious and reasonably priced food.  It was 10€ each for our food including bread and a glass of wine.

By the time we finished the rain had stopped.  We walked over to Mercado Centrale, only to discover that they were closed for the day.  Upstairs from the market there was the Italian version of a food court.  We saw these kids taking a cooking class -

We were tired, it was starting to rain again, and we were done.  Time to go.

This was sunset tonight from our Agriturismo -

The Road Less Traveled

Saturday, May 14, 2016

This morning after breakfast we said goodbye to our home away from home in Siena.  There were many things I enjoyed about staying there.  My only complaint was that the wall between our room and the room next door was paper thin, and we could hear our neighbors talking until very late at night.  Although we were in a separate building, our room was close to the reception/dining/bar area.  There were people talking outside late with no regard to the fact that others might be trying to sleep.  I would definitely ask for a room in another location if I went back.  The owner, Gaia, was charming and full of personality.

Our drive from Siena to our Agriturismo outside Pontessieve took us through the breathtaking Chianti countryside.  Our first stop was Radda in Chianti.  What took me by surprise was that on the way to Radda, even though we were on an official government road, at least 10 miles wasn't paved.  It was gravel and/or dirt, and full of big potholes.  

Dirt road, minus the potholes

We arrived in Radda, only to discover that tomorrow there is a big bike race between there and Greve in Chianti.  Another one of our stops.  In other words, our drive was the same route as the bike race.  It's a good thing that we were making the drive today instead of tomorrow.  Radda was a cute town.  We walked around for awhile, then drove to the next town on our list, Castillina in Chianti.  There were many bike riders on the road.  Maybe practicing for tomorrow?  Anyway, we were behind bikes the entire way.  That was better than the pothole filled dirt road.  We checked out Castillina, then drove to Greve in Chianti.  It seemed to be the largest of the 3 towns.  There were a lot more activities with regards to the bike race, including a track set up for kids to ride.  In all the towns there were signs, pink balloons and other decorative items celebrating the race.  It must bring a lot of money in to their communities.

All the towns were in the spirit of the race.

After some ridiculous instructions from Google maps, we finally found our way to Agriturismo Fattoria Lavacchio.  It is beautiful here, but not exactly what I had expected.  I knew there were separate buildings, but I guess I pictured them closer together.  The property is on 270 acres.  It includes the Agriturismo, a winery and a restaurant.  Olive groves cover 108 acres, 52 acres are vineyards, 14 acres are wheat fields and 22 acres are wooded.  Everything is organic. The main house, Casabella, has the office, rooms, plus that is where they serve breakfast.  The pool is next to Casabella.  We are in Casanova.  Our room is really nice.  It's plenty big and it has a modern bathroom.  It's an old building with wood beams and an old tile floor that is very uneven.  We are upstairs.  So far there is no sign of neighbors.  It's very quiet out here in the country.

We had dinner at the restaurant here, Mulino a Vento, named after the windmill across the street.  It is a working windmill, and the wheat grown on the property is ground there.  Dinner was good.  We both had Potato Stuffed Tortelli with Chianina Beef Sauce.  The Tortelli looked like ravioli.  We had ravioli earlier in the trip, and they looked like tortellini.

We are going into Florence tomorrow.  Time to get some sleep.

Farewell Siena

Friday, May 13, 2016

Today is our last day in Siena.  We decided to spend the entire day here.  When we first arrived on Tuesday the weather forecast was terrible for our days here.  Rain was predicted for every day.  So far we have been lucky.  Let's hope our luck holds out.

We walked up to town via the nine escalators necessary to get there.  It is a very steep hill!  We were going to go to the tourist information office first, but we got distracted by some things.  By the time we got there it was 11:30.  The only walking tour left at 11:00.  Just our luck!  We were next to the duomo, so we picked up tickets to go in there.  We will save them for later.  First we went to Santa Maria della Scala.  It is a former hospital, which ran from the 9th century to the 1990's.  Included in the ticket was an archeology museum.  It was all very interesting.  We then decided to go to the Campo.  It is so much fun to people watch there.

We were practicing taking selfies, because we can.  I photobombed one that Marie took -

After walking around town a bit we went into the duomo.  It is most impressive.  We were in there at just the right time.  First there was thunder.  Then the rain began.  We waited for it to subside before we left.  

We left too soon.  We were trying to find the restaurant where we ate Tuesday night with Darcy and Doug.  I had looked at restaurants online in the morning and determined that it was Ristorante San Dominico.  We set Google maps to take us there.  Right.  Siena is a very confusing place to find your way.  Even with GPS.  We had to take shelter a couple of times from the large pea sized hail.  

We finally found the restaurant.  Thankfully they were opened, because as soon as we were seated the skies opened up again.  We had an early dinner.  I ordered one of their house specialties, Pici senesi cacio e pepe, or Pici senesi pasta, cheese and pepper.  It was very good.  Marie and I split a dessert.  We had Bacio di Siena, a chocolate-shelled, cream filled cooled treat.  A Sienese specialty.  What better to have on our last night?  Well, wine of course.  I had a half bottle of Vernaccia.  Just the right amount.

Because the walk back to the hotel was almost 3 kilometers away and a half hour walk ( if we don't get lost in this crazy place), and because of the uncertainty of the weather, we took a taxi back.  Time to get ready for our move tomorrow.  We are going to stay 4 nights in an Agriturismo east of Florence.  It isn't too far away from here, but it will be very different.  The drive there will take us through Chianti.  I have a lot of small towns I hope to explore on the way.  I hope we have better weather than today!

More Tuscan Hill Towns

Thursday, May 12, 2016

Today we had another nice breakfast, then we were off to do more exploring.  Our first stop was San Gimignano.  One of the most touristed of the hill towns.  It is known for being the most evocative of the Middle Ages of any town in Tuscany.  There were once 70 towers rising up from the town.  Now, only 14 remain.  As it turned out, today was market day in town.  The piazza's were full of vendors selling their wares.  While I always like to experience markets when I can, the one draw back here was that it was impossible to see the towers as they should have been experienced.  I've been here before, but I bought Marie a postcard so she could see how it normally looks.

There was something else I remembered from my previous visit, the best gelato ever.  We have not been adhering to our every other day gelato plan.  We hadn't had any since leaving Verona.  That was about to change.  Gelateria Dondoli has been voted the best gelato in the world in the past.  Lonely Planet says, "Think of it less as ice cream, more as art. Former gelato world champion Sergio Dondoli is a member of Italy’s Ice Cream World Championship team (of course there's such a thing). Among his most famous creations are Crema di Santa Fina (saffron cream) gelato and Vernaccia sorbet."  Of course we had to go.  Jim and I stood in line for it in 2010.  No need for that today.  Marie had pistachio and I had half stracciatella and half strawberry.  Stracciatella is my favorite flavor and this was the best.  So much more chocolate than the others I've had.  The strawberry was so fresh.  Even Marie, who doesn't like sweets and is just humoring me admitted that it was really good.

Another thing we have noticed everywhere we have gone - school kids.  Large groups.  All ages.  Everywhere.  Maybe they are doing end of the school year field trips, but it is noisy with kids.

San Gimignano is known for Vernaccia wine.  This is the only place that makes it.  I love it.  I first had it when Jim and I stayed at Agriturismo Marciano.  They are a winery and theirs is really good.  La Lastra is their brand.  I bought another brand today, since there was no sign of La Lastra.  When I got back to our room I put it in the little fridge.  I doubt that's going to do much.  It doesn't feel cold at all.

The next town on our list was Certaldo.  It's in the same small geographical area as the other towns on our agenda, so we thought we could fit it in.  We got there, but the GPS (Google maps) kept taking us in circles. We took that as a sign that we weren't meant to stop there.

Onward to Colle di Val d'Elsa.  It was a nice little town.  Definitely the quietest place we've been.  There were only a couple of tourists besides us and almost everything was closed.

Our last stop was Monteriggioni.  Per my guidebook (DK Eyewitness Travel, Top 10 Florence & Tuscany) this town is the subject of the most popular aerial-shot postcard in Tuscany.  The tiny hamlet is two streets wide and is entirely enclosed within medieval walls.  It's 14 towers were compared by Dante to the Titans guarding the lowest level of Hell.  I thought the town was charming.

We decided we were done for the day.  Back at the hotel we relaxed a bit, then had dinner there.  This is the second dinner at the hotel, and I think I've decided that the food is good, but nothing special.  We will spend tomorrow in Siena and have a farewell dinner there.  My wine never got cold enough to drink.  Oh well, maybe tomorrow?

Tuscan Hill Towns

Wednesday, May 11,2016.  Breakfast this morning was impressive.  There were so many things to choose from.  Eating here for 4 mornings, we won't be able to put a dent in the selection.  I even had a cappuccino.  Shocking, since I don't like coffee.  I should say I tried a cappuccino.  After a few sips I knew it needed something.  I'm thinking chocolate.  But the only chocolate around was a packet of Nutella.  Why not? If anyone saw what I was doing I'm sure they thought I had lost my mind.  As for how it turned out with the Nutella, I don't recommend it.  I'll be sticking with tea in the future.

We decided our first town to visit would be Cortona.  It was a nice drive and we enjoyed walking around town.  It was up a very steep hill from where we parked, and there were a couple of escalators that took us up, in addition to plenty of stairs.  It was mostly stairs on the way down, except a section of escalator since it was too steep for walking.

We returned to the car and had a little picnic lunch before driving to Montalcino.  This town in famous for Brunello wine.  We were hoping to find a place to taste some.  The first place said we could taste if we were going to buy a bottle.  I remarked to Marie that it wouldn't make sense to obligate ourselves to buying something if we didn't know if we would like it.  We tried another shop.  This one had many choices to taste.  For a price.  Some big prices. Apparently Brunello can be quite expensive.  That would explain the lack of free tastings.  There wasn't much in Montalcino besides a lot of wine shops.  We did find a large fortress on the top of the hill.  Of course there was a wine shop in the fortress.  

We were going to squeeze in another town on the way back to Siena, but I couldn't put a new destination into google maps on my phone because there wasn't cell service where we were parked.  We knew we could find our way back to Siena, so we decided this was our sign to go back to the hotel and get our laundry done.  When we got service we were able to use the phone to find our way.  Down the street from the hotel there is a store called Coop.  We would pronounce that co-op.  They pronounce it coop.  Like a chicken coop.  We stopped in for a couple of things.  That store has everything!  Food, clothes, yard equipment, small appliances, bikes...you name it.  Maybe they are the Walmart of Italy?

The laundry room at the hotel contains two washers and a dryer.  Tokens costing €3 have to be purchased at the office.  Both washers are front loaders, a small and a large.  Something had been left in the large washer, and the load was done. The only dryer also had clothing in it and it was no longer running.  We waited at least 1 1/2 hours for the owner of those things to do something with them.  We took the comforter out of the washer and combined our clothes into one load.  An hour later, when it was done, we took the still damp clothes out of the only dryer so we could use it.  There is a seasonal restaurant at the hotel, so we ate dinner there.  After dinner we went to the laundry room to check the dryer.  It wasn't running and the clothes were damp.  Marie got another token and we started the dryer again.  The laundry we had removed from the machines was exactly where we had left it.  Sadly the dryer seems to have shrunk some of our clothes.  They went from still damp after the first token to scalding hot part way through the second.

Siena

Tuesday May 10, 2016.  Jamie's 28th birthday.  In the morning we had breakfast (including a few extras to take with us) and picked up the rental car.  An Audi A3.  I switched to an automatic after I sprained my knee.  It took a few minutes to figure the car out.  It's a bit strange.  The car seems to shut itself down while idling, then the engine comes to life when the accelerator is pressed.  The drive to Siena was uneventful.  

When we arrived at our hotel we both instantly were impressed.  It used to be a farm and is on a large piece of property.  Our room is in a building with 5 rooms.  The woman who greeted us was kind and helpful.  She had a man who works there make us a spritzer to welcome us.  A spritzer is a bright orange drink that we have seen people drink everywhere.  Lets just say that I couldn't finish mine.  We had that and a little picnic lunch with the stuff from the hotel. We checked out the grounds, which includes a pool up on the hill and quite a few places with chairs tucked away for privacy.  They serve dinner here, and I'm sure we will take advantage of that.  This place has a real feel of Tuscany.

After we settled in we walked into the city center of Siena.  Or I should say we walked, then took an escalator.  We walked to a place that took us down to a tunnel that goes under the train tracks.  An escalator goes through a mall, then up, up, up the hill.  We walked to the Campo.  It's very impressive. It was hot and we wanted to get in some shade, so we enjoyed a glass of wine while watching all the activity around us.  

We decided to see the duomo before meeting Darcy and Doug for dinner.  When we got there it was already closed, as was the tourist information office.  We will have to go back another day.  We were to go to their hotel to meet them.  What google maps said would be a 5 minute walk took us about 45 minutes.  Siena is a very confusing town.  We had a really good dinner with them.  I had a pasta dish with boar sauce.  Very good.

We said our goodbyes and took a taxi back to the hotel.  It was a very long day.

Farewell Verona

Today is Monday, May 9, 2016, our last day in Verona.  I think it was unfortunate to arrive on a Friday night and be here through the weekend.  It was very crowded, and although I have very fond memories of my time here with Jim in September 2010, it wasn't the same.  We had a good time, but we are excited to move on tomorrow.

Today we went to Mantova.  My brother, Dave, suggested it.  It was a short 45 minute train ride away.  Mantova is designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Unfortunately, today is a Monday.  Sites and most stores don't open until 1:30 p.m. or later, or are closed for the day.  We walked around the city center and saw the historical buildings from the outside.  The city is surrounded on 3 sides by 3 lakes.  There were 4 lakes, but one dried up in the 1800's.  They were formed as defensive measures.  We had a nice long walk along the shore of one lake.  There were groups of school children everywhere.  We were going to take a one hour boat ride, but when we discovered that there would be a lot of kids on board we passed.  We have nothing against the kids, but we were looking for a peaceful experience.  I'm sure Mantova is very interesting, but we were sadly not able to experience it for the most part.  Things in Verona were also closed or opened late.  I don't know if that's the standard for Italy or just this region.

After returning to Verona we went back to our hotel to take care of some things, then went into town to make a dinner reservation.  While on the train we looked a Trip Advisor reviews, then found a restaurant that look really good and had great reviews.  According to TA it's the #10 restaurant in Verona.  We thought it was worth checking out.  But first we wanted to walk to the rental car office to see how far we would have to go in the morning with our luggage.  It was a piece of cake.  Then we found the restaurant and checked it out.  Yes!  Reservation made.  We walked around Verona for the last time, then went to dinner.  

Graffiti at the entry to Juliet's casa.

Nastro Azzurro is on a little side street near the restaurants that surround the Piazza Bra.  From our table we could see the Arena and the people walking by, but it was far enough away that it didn't interfere with a calm dinner.  Our waiter was Stefano.  He was charming and attentive.  Very unlike most servers I have experienced in Europe.  It is just not their way.  Stefano made menu suggestions, poured our wine and kept our glasses filled, and insisted on taking pictures of us.  He insisted that it is a "full service" restaurant.  Marie got homemade lasagna and I got the prawn risotto.  Delicious!  When we said we were too full for dessert he brought us lemon sorbet.  On the house!  We couldn't have been more pleased with our dinner.

Now it's time to pack up and get things ready to leave for our next destination, Siena.