Tuscany North Untour, Summer of 2004
by Al & Jo Toepfer, Albuquerque, NM
We would like to share some general information, impressions, a sketchy diary of our daily activities and a few hints on our wonderful Tuscany North Untour Adventure that occurred the first two weeks in June 2004. The Tuscany North Untour experience was well organized and planned. We were provided with lots of valuable information and hints, as well as a list of current events, art exhibits and concerts. The local contact person, Alessandra, was a charming lady who made herself available for information and problems.OUR HOME AWAY FROM HOME:
We enjoyed our charming apartment, La Folaga. This had two bedrooms, two baths, a suitable and basic kitchen and a small modern washing machine in house. Wash lines and clothespins were available to handle our wet and weary travel clothes. This apartment was located on “Fattoria di Migliarino” which was situated in the “Tenuta Salviate”, a private estate of over 3,000 hectacres that was an active working agricultural farm. The buildings and grounds were so picturesque. The refreshing swimming pool provided many relaxing moments. Our landlords, Martino and Giovanna Salviati, were gracious, accommodating and helpful. The roosters and birds enjoyed being our wake up call each morning. We also heard the cheerful voices and singing of grade school children as there was a Catholic grade school across the road. The roads and train tracks near the Fattoria were busy all hours of the day and night. One of the best features of this spot was being so convenient to many touring destinations. The village of Migliarino was a small crossroads with a tiny convenient and ample grocery store, bank. ATM, post office and several pizzas places and bars.THE AUTOMOBLE IN TUSCANY:
Driving in Italy and in the Tuscany region is another story in itself. We enjoyed zipping around in our small Alfa Romeo Sedan. One person navigated the driver through the unknown while we in the back seat tried to remain quiet. We always arrived at our destinations sometimes a bit frazzled. Challenges were parking spaces (lack of them often) speeding, passing cars, motorcyclists everywhere, round-a-bouts, being honked at, entrances and exits at the autostradas. Road signs drove us crazy. Their placement is different than in the US and spotting them takes some practice. The signs were tiny, with many in one spot pointing in various directions, and often destinations were not listed. It was the Italian guessing game!THE WEATHER REPORT:
A consensus of the weather report for this period of June were many days of hot, brilliant sunshine with few warm cloudy days, spots of gusty winds and rain drops. The hours of sunlight were longer with dusk occurring around 9:30 pm.
DAILY DIARY HIGHLIGHTS:
Day One:
Alessandra met us at Pisa Airport and led us to our apartment. Lunch was an average pizza at the Migliarino crossroads. We explored our apartment surroundings and ate a light dinner in our apartment with food and wine provided by Untours.
Day Two:
We met Alessandra and the Tuscany North Untour people at an informational meeting at Trattoria Stefani in one of the nearby hill villages, Santa Maria del Guidice. We had the option of buying our three course lunch at the Trattoria.We explored Lucca in the afternoon following Alessandra's instructions for parking outside the wall.
Day Three:
We explored Pisa today viewing the tourist spots in “Miracle Square”. We had done these tourist things on another trip. This time we walked through the medieval sections of the city along the Arno River. Once again we followed Alessandra's instructions for parking outside the gates without a problem. We ate lunch at a sidewalk café. The Gallileo Trattoria was recommeded by friends at home, but we never found time to check this place out. We enjoyed pasta and vino at a local restaurant, Rustichello, for our evening meal.Day Four:
This was Puccini Day as we visited the villa of Puccini at Torre Del Lago during the day. That evening we attended a concert of Puccini arias featuring three outstanding sopranos in an old Church in Lucca. This was the first annual concert dedicated to Puccini in his birth town. Alessandra had included concert information in the Welcome Packet. We enjoyed an average dinner at Ristorante Del Teatre on the corner of Piazza Napoleon in Lucca.Day Five:
It was road trip day to explore the Garfagnana region. We stopped to take a few steps up the Devil’s Bridge. The upper town of Barga was an undiscovered treat with few tourists roaming about. We drove back through the industrial marble area. We stumbled on a terrific lunch spot in Barga. The Osteria Angelio was located in the Piazza Angelio. This spot featured local food and wine. Remember to try a salad made with spelt. HINT: Do this trip on Sunday so you don’t have to follow slow dusty marble loaded trucks down the narrow switchback roads.Day Six:
“Take me to the Sea, the beautiful Mediterranean Sea”! The weather was picture perfect for our Cinque Terre adventure. We caught the ferry from Lerici. At the end of the day, we enjoyed a fresh fish dinner at one of the local sidewlalk cafes, La Calata.HINTS:
- Do not go on weekends.
- Take the ferry if the weather is good. Train is another option but you do not see anything.
- Lerici is the best ferry departure spot but parking is very difficult. You wind down and around the narrow streets. There is one “P” lot about one block from the sea. Have lots of coins to put in the machine for the whole day.
- Leave early and have your coffee in Lerici so you can catch the mid morning ferry so you can get on & off the ferry to hike and to explore. If you go on a later ferry, your options diminish.
- By 9:30 am the parking spots have all been claimed.
- Stay in Lerici for dinner but nothing opens until 7:30 pm.
- Remember Monday and Sunday evenings are tricky for eating out because so many places are closed.
Day Seven:
This was an Untour event day in Pisa where we met Alessandra and other Untour guests for our own small, guided boat ride down the Arno River. We enjoyed lunch at a quaint and rustic fisherman’s spot.Day Eight:
It was road trip day to Siena. We chose the autostrad route around Florence and down to Siena. Traffic around Siena was heavy and congested. Parking is a nightmare in Siena. Do some advance planning! Be there as early as possible, We stopped for a very late lunch at an outdoor café in the fortified, restored castle at Monteriggioni.Day Nine:
This was an “R & R” day. We rented chairs and umbrellas at the neighboring beach, Marina di Vecchiano. In the evening, we strolled on top of the walls of Lucca. We had an excellent Tuscan country dinner at Osteria Barallo. HINT: In warm weather do not go near the beach areas on weekends. There are traffic jams at the Migliaruno crossroads.Day Ten:
“Hit the road again, Jack!” We stopped at a tiny hilltop village, San Minato. There were fantastic views from the high tower. We also stopped at the village of Vinci, the birth place of Leonardo. We spent time in the Museum featuring models of Leonardo di Vinci’s machines. We took a charming back road (A11) toward Pisa Nord that twisted, turned and climbed over Monte Albano. The valley views of terraced olive groves and hillside vines were spectacular. Pizza at Pizzeria di Mary in nearby Nodica was good.Day Eleven:
It was garden day as we toured the gardens of two old villas near Lucca. The extensive gardens of Villa Reale di Marla, created by Napoleon’s sister, Elisa, were spectacular in size and grandiose. The Villa Oliva gardens were filled with statuary, pools and fountains. We were the only people strolling these gardens.HINTS:
- If you need peaceful places, the villas will do the job.
- Don’t choose more than two gardens to view in a day. Most of the villas are not open.
- Remember the general Italian lunch rule. Villas like shops are closed for a two hour lunch period.
- Have you been having your daily gelato?
Day Twelve:
We drove to the town of Fucecchio to see a special Corpus Christi celebration of a procession on flower carpets. This annual seasonal event was very unique. It also was listed in our Welcome handout. We then drove up and up to Monticatini Alto which was another tiny village with twisted, narrow streets and Kodak views. Another tasty lunch was consumed at the Giusti Café on the small main square. The ribollita soup was delicious.HINT:
Parking is limited and roads are very narrow and winding. An option is to take the funicular from Montecatini Terme to Montecatini Alto.Day Thirteen:
Chianti Hills were calling us. There are so many hills, wineries and market towns to explore. We chose Castellina and Radda. We enjoyed lunch in Radda at Danti Café. The bruschetta was very tasty. Our evening dinner was at La Rota, the restaurant up the road from Migliarino. Yea – It was open on Monday nights.A ROAD HINT:
We took the Fi-Pi-Li highway out of Pisa to the Emboli exit. We took SS429 all the way down pass Poggiboni over to Castellina. It was a beautiful, scenic drive. Parts of the trip were busy with local traffic but it avoided the conjestion around Florence. This might be a good alternative to driving to Siena.Day Fourteen:
This was our last day in Tuscan Paradise. We saved the best meal for the last day. We enjoyed a long leisurely lunch at La Baca di Sant’ Antonio in Lucca. This is a famous old restaurant listed in most guide books.RESTAURANT NOTE:
Italian meals are long and leisurely with many courses and vino. Dinner time is late. Last chance for gelato!Day Fifteen:
Into the wild blue yonder, we did fly! We were heavier in weight because we did eat our gelato! Our suitcases were heavier with Italian treasures. Our cherished memories were many.AUTHOR’S NOTE:
Florence was not a destination for us as we had previously explored this city on another trip.SOME ITEMS THAT WE PACKED AND FOUND USEFUL:
- Loose Kitchen size garbage bags – around eight
- Loose Qt. & Gal. Size zipper zip-lok baggies (not the boxes) – never too many to refrigerate food
- A package of Handiwipe cloths – great for drying hands, beach feet, etc.
- Several packs of full size kleenix that come in bright crushable packages.
- Few Laundry soap tablets – cut in half for small machines.
- Few Shout’s Color Catcher sheets to mix colors in the laundry
- Wash cloths are non existent in most of Europe. Buy the cheapest baby wash cloths that are thin. I found 6 for $2.00 at the Dollar Store.
- Phone cards can be purchased in Italy from Alessandra. We found an overseas cell phone deal that we just pay (dearly) only when we use it and it has phone messaging.
- Buy the cheapest flip flops to use in the apartment and at the beach. Did not bring them back.
- Very useful – the maps. This advice was previously listed on this web site. We had Lucca and Pisa. We could have used Florence and Siena. You have to work your way through the initaly.com site to order these maps. But do it and it will save you some anxious moments.