14/6/2011

Not much to report for today. We just went to the beach, and lay in the sun, and had a few swims, saw some topless sun bathers, and went for a wonder around the streets, and had a few late afternoon drinks…..God this is hard work, I’m going for an afternoon nap.

14/6/2011

Today we fair well the town of Lucca and head for Levanto and the five villages of Cinque Terre in the Italian National Park.
The lady at the BB in Lucca advised us to go and see the Marble mining hills around a town called Carrara and their Marmo caves, on our way. We sure are glad we did this, as it was a real adventure climbing up the mountain in the car and going through some pretty daunting tunnels to get to the mine face(see pics). These tunnels are used by the same big trucks and machinery that work at the mine so as you can imagine our little car was like a speck in the dust. Speaking of dust..there was plenty of that when the trucks went by. Then there was the skinny gravel road and did I mention the shear drop to the valley below.
It was quite unique to arrive at the mine face to find the workers having lunch in their smoko shed that doubles as the souvenir shop. We bought some marble dice here but there were plenty of other items that would have been much to heavy for us to bring back, like a solid marble mortar and pestle.
Once back down the mountain we set ‘Jennifer’ our GPS for Levanto and the Gentile Villa B&B. After a very long, windy but beautiful road through this Italian National park area we finally arrived at Levanto.
Once settled in we took a stroll around this beach town on the Italian rivera. It was great to see that Google maps had not let us down and our B&B, as planned was only a one minute walk to the levanto beach front that is just gorgeous.
Tomorrow we will relax on the beach and then over the next few days explore the 5 Terre(villages) of this area.

13/6/2011

Today we went to Collodi the birth place of the story of Pinocchio.
Carlo Collodi, the author of the story of Pinocchio, was the pen name of Carlo Lorenzini, who was born and grew up in Florence. The last part of his pen name was the name of the Tuscan village where Lorenzini’s mother was born: Collodi.
You can see the photo of Sheree standing outside ‘Parco di Pinocchio a Collodi’, the Pinocchio Park of Collodi. It’s a rather old fashioned kind of park from the days when you didn’t need bloodcurdling death-defying rides to charm the kids. The park tells Collodi’s version of the story of Pinocchio through sculpture, mosaics and puppet shows. It features a museum with Pinocchio related items. There was a bewildering amount of Pinocchio souvenirs here. (see pic). Other than the park there was not much else here so we decided to go and visit the Pieve di Santa Maria with a church that dated back to 1086. Perched way up in the hills above Collodie it had some great views and was not very touristy so saw more of the locals just doing what locals do.

We were planning on visiting Pisa the next day but as we had time, decided to go today. Finding parking in Pisa was the next trick. Being a very popular tourist stop it was very busy. We found some parks but standing close buy were groups of colored people offering to watch your car if you bought some of their trinkets. This made us feel a little uncomfortable so ignored them as much as possible, bought a parking ticket from the machine and hesitantly went to the tower. There was a police man at the entrance to the tower so Steven asked him if the car was safe and he assured us it was (no proplemo).
The leaning tower, really is leaning a lot and we took some of the standard tourist pics. Even the church beside it looks like it is leaning over as well. There are heaps of little market type stalls as you walk up to it so we bought a little tower and a tea towel as a keep sake.
Walked back to the car and our friends were there again so we made a hasty departure to avoid them.
Back in Lucca and as it was such a lovely evening we went for a stroll around the town and stopped for tea at a lovely restaurant, that was popular with the locals and sat out side in the plaza. It was just lovely sitting here, as when other dinners saw people they knew who walk past or rode past on their bikes, they were greeted with a friendly and exuberant Italian greeting. Some would stop and come over for a chat or even have a drink. It was all very Italian and we loved it. It was quite late and with more than a little wine under our belts that we slowly wondered home….wonderful

13/6/2011

Putting aside the traffic Florence had grown on us, so again it was with a tinge of sadness that it was time to leave.
Our first stop was a little town high on the hills above Florence called Fiesole. The views from up here were magnificent and there were some lovely homes on the step climb to the lookout.
We had some time and Sheree had heard about a fashion outlet store in a town a little out of our way called Barberino Di Mugello. Unfortunately when we arrived it was closed as many business are in Italy on Sundays and sometimes between 12pm and 2pm. The upside for us was that we came across a large lake formed by a dam that was very obviously a camping and holiday area.(see pic)
We arrived early evening in Lucca and our B&B (see pic). Once settled in we decided to go for a stroll around this walled town as it was such a lovely evening and look for somewhere for tea.
Lucca appears to be more of a family town and it was just lovely wondering around seeing all the families just enjoying the evening and socializing in the many different Piazzas (little open squares) dotted around the town. We found a Kebab place so decided on this for a change. They made it up like they do in Greece by putting chips inside with the meat & salad. Yummy. Steven was proud of himself as he ordered everything in Italian.

11/6/2011

Today started with a Buffett breakfast that is not like the sort of breakfast we are normally used to. It consists of a limited selection of cereals, boiled eggs, thin cold cheese and ham slices, buns and breads, dry bread for toasting and lots of crososints, sweet buns and cakes.
After breakfast we headed back to the bus stop that is only a couple of hundred meters from the hotel to get back to the centre of town.
The bus stop is very close to a large roundabout that our bus has to go around before arriving at our stop. While we are waiting for it to arrive a very large tuck arrives at the roundabout to deliver some items. However there is no way he can get to the skinny streets close to his drop off. So he just stops the truck in the middle of the roundabout, gets out and walks with his goods to their destination. Meanwhile our bus arrives and can not enter the roundabout that the truck is blocking. Several minutes go by as the bus driver just waits, but this does not last long and a short blast on the horn occurs, but the bus driver is unaware that the truck driver is not in the drivers seat. Meanwhile more traffic is building up behind the bus and more tooting occurs. Several more minutes now go by and you can sense the frustration building with the local people also waiting at the bus stop. The bus driver now leans on his horn for a very long blast. Impatient cars now start tooting and then moving into the off ramp for the oncoming traffic of the roundabout to get away. You had to see this to believe it as exiting cars meet cars coming on the wrong side and going the wrong way round the roundabout. The truck driver now appears and is running down the street to his truck to the sound of horns and hand gestures from the waiting cars and bus driver. As he gets in the truck the locals are yelling from the bus stop ‘shamo’ ‘shamo’. Finally the truck moves on and the traffic is back to ‘normal’. Just another Florence traffic experience.
Once in town we decide to do the complete circuit of the town on the hop on hop off bus that takes an hour an a half, and then we,visit the central market.
The market is much bigger than we expected and there is a bewildering array of leather and other goods to choose from. The locals keep telling us that the only place to buy leather items in Italy is in Florence as they have the best craftsmen and leather. Sheree is on the hunt for some leather boots, a bag and some gloves. After discussing the price with several merchants, Sheree finally buys some very nice soft Italian leather gloves and we both buy soft leather glasse’s covers that hang around your neck for our reading glasses that we have been constantly been reaching for in our bags. We stubble upon a large indoor food market that smells of fish as you enter and permeates the entire market to a lesser degree as you move in. There are some wonderful and different items in here but nothing that we can take home with us or that we felt like sampling (see pics).
We spent most of the morning and early afternoon in the market and Sheree finally finds a couple of shops next door to each other further down the road, with bags that she likes. Prices are negotiated with both and a decision is finally made. As we walk out with the bag of choice the other lady shop owner gives us a glancing stare from her door and the pervious happy pre-purchase smile is gone. But the smile is all on Sheree’s face with her new lovely soft Italian calf leather, hand made bag and that is all that matters.
Next we visit a museum with the biggest display of stuffed animals from all around the world that either of us have ever seen. The quantity of birds was staggering and yes they had a Kiwi. They also have a huge display of original drawings and waxed human anatomy body parts from the 17th and 18th centuries that are so life like you would be hard pressed to tell them from reality. There where rooms and rooms of these and we found it fascinating but unfortunately no photos allowed.
We had an earlier tea in a nice taverna right beside the Santa Croce Church (see pic) before catching an uneventful bus ride home as we now thought we new the stop to get off. Don’t be silly the bus goes a different way, just to keep us guessing. Thankfully it is earlier and lighter than last night when suddenly Sheree recognizes the stop is upon us and we get off.

10/6/2011

Our journey from Siena via San Giamano to the out skirts of Florence was fine. However we needed to cross through the centre of Florence to get to the Hotel Diva on the other side of town. Now started the most unbelievable driving experience we have ever had. Rules..what rules? The traffic just did what it wanted. Driving down a two lane skinny street at the speed limit, simply means that traffic just passes you, even if you are doing 30kmph over the speed limit and regardless of what is coming the other way and some times three abreast. A red light just means an indication that you may… need to give way, and a roundabout’s a giant free for all that begs believe how any one does not get killed several times a day.
With Sheree calling out instructions, the GPS chiming in with ‘turn left at the roundabout, then left again, then right. Horns tooting for god knows what and with total panic set in, we were amazed and very relieved that we finally made it safely to the hotel. It was with great relief that we put the car in the car park, under the hotel, and there it will stay until we leave. We will be catching the bus back into town. We had tea close to the hotel at a local restaurant before heading back to bed.
Our room was on the street side so it was a bit noisy, past experience has taught us the benefits of ear plugs so we did manage to sleep ok.
After breakfast we organized the number 22 bus that would take us direct to the centre of Florence. With a little hesitation we did get off at the right stop and were quickly swamped with hawkers for tours and other goodies. We bought a 2 person 48 hour hop on hop off bus tour for €52 that included a 45 minute walking tour of the centre of Florence.
The first trip on the bus took us to the panoramic view at the Piazzale Michelangelo. Here is a large bronze statue of David and the most amazing views over Florence. Sheree bought a new scarf here that you can see her choosing and wearing in the pics. Steven bought a very elegant BBQ apron that you can also see in the pics.
We needed to get to our meeting point for the walk around tour. The next hop on off bus arrived soon and we were on our way learning more on the history of Florence from the audio commentary as we went.
We are a bit early so go for a look inside the very impressive Santa Croce Church (see the pics).
After this we meet up with William our guide for the walking tour, and as it turn’s out we were the only ones for this time slot. So we have our own personal tour and guide. This was a truly enjoyable and very educational experience. We learned so much about the city, it’s history and culture. In the pics you will see Sheree looking at all the jewelry shops on the bridge with houses on it. This was originally the area for butchers and the offal was thrown into the river below. However one of the Dukes wives did not like the smell it made and being so close to their own place. So the Duke banned the sale of meat and passed a law that only gold could be sold there, and so it still is today. This was just one of so many truly interesting history stories.
We visited Micheal Angelos house. and then went to the Uffizi Gallery for our next tour. Guess who the guide was???? Yes William again. He created us like long lost friends and again we had an amazing and educational tour that gave us an appreciation of the fine old paintings and what the artists like Michael Angelo, DeVinci, and Rafael to name but a few and what they were trying to achieve with each painting. It was quite eery to be standing in front of these huge original masterpieces and to understand the painter talking to you through the canvas. We will not look at these paintings with the same eyes again. It makes such a difference when you understand a little about the artists and the detail they put into the paintings. Williams knowledge and understanding was marvelous. Unfortunately you are not allowed to take photos in these places.
It was now getting late and so looked for something to eat that was not Pizza, pasta or spaghetti. Chinese fitted the bill and we headed for the bus home…..aha… but the stop you get off at, is not the stop you get back on to go home. Steven jumped on the bus to ask if it went past our hotel. The driver was not impressed and said some derogatory comment in Italian and then proceeded to close the bus doors and start the bus with only Steven inside. Steven slammed his foot in the closing door that forced it to reopen. With the driver yelling abuse and the bus about to move on managed to jump off back to a relieved Sheree still standing at the stop.
Finally we found the right place to get on, but now it was getting dark, so this makes it harder to see what stop is our hotel stop. We must have looked like lost tourists with our map in hand and checking each stop to see where we where and what direction we were going in. A helpful local offered some help and we finally got off not far from our Hotel.
It had been a full on and eventful day and we where sound asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow.

9/6/2011

We where sorry to leave our lovely sun deck and surroundings at the Siena accommodation.
Our next stop was Florence but on the way we wanted to call into a little place called ‘San Giamano’ that we had heard about.
This was a very nice clean place and we both really liked its friendly feel. There were a lot of nick-nack shops and hand made jewelry also the prices appeared more reasonable here for the souvenirs.
Next it was back to the car and then set the GPS for Florence….but ohhhhhhh the traffic, but that’s the next story.

8/6/2011

Today we decided to venture out a bit into the surrounding country side and see a bit more of Tuscany. Our first stop was ‘Castello Di Brolio’ (Brolio Castle). This castle was for centuries involved in bitter rivalries between Florence allied with the Papacy and Siena, a partisan of the Empire, Based in Germany. Built about 1000 A.D. The castle was owned for a while by the monks of Badia Fiorentina but in 1141 the Ricasoli’s family traded it’s property near Badia a Coltibuono to the monks in exchange for Brolio and it’s surrounding fields. The Ricasoli family have been at Brolio ever since. We were fortunate enough to be able to get see around the castle grounds and to also have a wine tasting afterwards. Much of the castle interior is still lived in by the family and not open to the public. Every were you go you can see the deep family history but no more so than in the family crypt. The chapel inside the castle is adorned in fine wall paintings and the grounds are pristine. When we finished looking at the castle we walked down from the castle through the wooded road of cypress and conifer trees to our wine tasting. The lady that served us was very knowledgable and lost us both not long into her explanation of the wine differences. At this point we nodded polity and smiled false understanding smiles. The wines tasted ok, but at a beginning price of 50 euro upwards, for these kiwis, the 5 euro bottles we’ve been buying tasted just fine.
Next we decided to go and see an Italian lake that was about 1 hours drive away called ‘Catiglione del lago’ in Umbria. This was a large lake but not as clean and clear water as we are privileged with at home. The shore is sandy and they seem to treat it more like a beach with umbrellas and volley ball nets set up. Above the lake is another walled town that are common in Italy. We did a little shopping here and bought more wine and cheese. We found a nice little Taverna for an early tea before heading home. This time taking the shortest quickest route via a motor way and avoiding many of the small streets of the towns.
Tomorrow we leave Siena and head for Florence.

7/6/2011

We woke up today to the lovely view from our bedroom window (see pic)

We decided that we would venture out with the car and try and find some parking as close as we could to the walled city of Siena. We had been given some instructions but once you are out there trying to negotiate the traffic it is another story. We found parking that we thought was close but as it turns out Siena is not flat and the walled city is quite high up and so a step and long climb from our car was required.

Siena is different again to the other places with the same skinny streets but this time the shops were larger and more variety.

After wondering around the city for a bit. We could not pass by an incredible Gelato store without trying another of these delicious ice creams (see the pic of the shop window display, and yes that is the real stuff).

We then bought a combined ticket to get us into all the main attractions. ‘The Museum’ has amazing Italian art. ‘The Battistero’ was the meeting point of the greatest renaissance sculptors. ‘The Cathedral’ which is said to have bought tears to a king who visited there in 1880. Check out the photo of Sheree standing by the massive entrance doors to get a sense of the size of this place. ‘The Siena library’ with some of the oldest manuscripts. See the photo with Sheree and the size of the old books. The paintings around the walls in here were incredible. ‘The Panorama’ that gives amazing birds eye views of Siena. ‘The Cripta’ that is dedicated to the first paintings using colour and lastly ‘The Oratorio’ that has some of the most amazing surveys of Sienese pictorial production starting from the 16 century. It took us most of the afternoon to get around all these.

We then headed home and planned were to go for tea while sitting on the deck and enjoying some of the food and wine we had bought. It was late before we headed out to a restaurant on the other side of the walled city. It took a lot longer than we though to get there and there were some really skinny streets. Once we found the restaurant ordering was another treat as this was true Italian and very little English was spoken. After a few pigeon english words and some sign language we had no idea what we had just ordered until it arrived. What a relief when what we received tasted great. After a lovely meal we headed back home but this was a trying time as we kept taking wrong turns in the dark and the GPS was constantly recalculating. Steven was not enjoying this at all. Finally around midnight and feeling very tired we got home and hit the sack.

The night before leaving Cortona the locals did another big street parade in traditional clothing with beating drums that we put down to saying goodbye to us.
The next morning again after the kiss kiss on the check we said goodbye to Jeanette at the Casa Chilene B&B in Cortona. This B&B sets the standard that all the others should try and follow. Jeanette Wongs service and cooking was superb. Jeanette teaches the Italians how to cook in her spare time.
Once seated in the car it’s was a deep breath and then away we went again traveling on our wrong side of the road. We are starting to feel a little more comfortable with driving now as time goes by. Our first stop was another lovely little town called Pienza. This is a UNESCO world heritage town. Pienza has some gorgeous little shops and streets with wonderful hand made Italian shoes and clothes and a lot of other foody stuff. Really wonderful just wondering around looking. Annabelle White a New Zealand cook and celebratory speaker who has a cooking segment in one of the NZ woman’s magazine’s was escorting a group of about 10 people on Vespa motor bikes, around Tuscany, on a food and cooking tour. Sheree thought she recognized her when she heard her speak, and went up to her and made herself known. Annabelle immediately embraced us as fellow country men and named us Mr and Mrs Dunedin. She then told us about a little shop that had sliced pork and local cheese buns that were divine. She promptly marched us up and into it and ordered for us in Italian. Annabelle was right it was divine. See the photos of the whole boned out pig carcass that the pork was sliced from and Sheree eating her bun. We later went and saw them off as they went on their way to finish the tour(see the picks of the yellow vespa’s).
Our next stop was the little town called San Quirico Alighieri. Not much here but it was very medieval and unchanged over the years with a lovely rose garden. It was hot here so we found a lovely bar for a drink that was sheltered by a large grape vine growing over the seating area outside.
Bagno Vignoni was supposed to be our next stop but some how we missed it and did not realize until we reached the town of Buonconvento, the last town before Siena. As it was only a 20 min back track we turned around and found this ancient roman town popular for it’s bathing waters. Their is a nice hotel here and we would liked to have stayed, had we not already booked in Siena so as to experience the healing spa waters.
soon we were off again on the last leg to Siena and the Agriturismo Malafras B&B. We arrived at around 7pm after a journey that should have taken about an hour and a half, that had taken us all day. However we were in no hurry, we had the time and loved all the stops.
The Malafras B&B is like a country farm house that has the grape vines and olive trees to make its own wine a olive oil. We were offered a sample of their desert wine as soon as we arrived..lovely.
We quickly unpacked and sat out on the large deck that our room opens out on to, with a local red wine. We had to pinch ourselves as we soaked in the view of the grape vines and olive trees that spread out below us, with the green fields and a few other farm houses in the distance as we watched the sun go down in Tuscany….ahhhhh bliss.
That night we went for tea in the local village. We were not sure what to order so the waitress made the suggestions of some quite delicious fried and battered mushrooms for starters, Pork for Sheree and Calf steak for Steven. At the end of the meal they gave us a complimentary local Grapa drink each (this stuff is fire water) and some sweet tart. After the half bottle of wine we had with the meal, we made our way home feeling very very happy and content with a glow in our checks.