Tuscany Untour, Spring of 2001
by Judy & John Zankowski, Stewartsville, NJ
After what seemed like a very long and uncomfortable flight to Paris, we completed our shorter leg from Paris to Florence and were met in the terminal by Harriet and her team. Things seemed to be progressing according to schedule, until we got on the bus to wait for the next group to arrive and ended up sitting on a hot and stifling bus for over an hour. We eventually found out the reason for the delay was that the next group had arrived with no luggage. I think there were 40 or so passengers who needed to file claims with the airline so needless to say that took quite a while.
Finally, we were off to Siena for our rental car. By this time, everyone was hot, sweaty, thirsty, tired of sitting, and suffering with full bladders so as soon as the bus pulled over to park, the entire bus emptied out in search of a toilette. Harriet had told us that there was a toilette in the bar near the rental place. Finally, after a search up and down the street, we discovered that an italian bar is not what we know as a bar in the US. In Italy, a bar is a place that serves beverages, ice cream, pastries, and sandwiches. So...not only were we pleased to find a toilette but in the search we also discovered GELATO!!! We couldn’t believe how good a frozen, wrapped cone could be.
Orfeo, our patrone, met us at the lot where we picked up our Citroen, Picasso...we were a little concerned that we wouldn’t be able to get a car to fit luggage for 4 people, but it worked out perfectly. Dennis, Mr. Motorhead and our very capable driver was very impressed with the vehicle and we all came to love it during our 2 week stay. It was red, shaped like a poundcake, and ran on diesel. We traveled caravan style with the other untourists that would be staying with us and followed Orfeo to LaCanonica, our new digs. Once we turned off the main road onto the steep, gravel road leading to LaCanonica, we realized that we were going to be living in paradise for the next 2 weeks. Olive trees, grape vines, red poppies, and a variety of wildflowers and grasses lined the roadway up to the top of the hill on which our stone farmhouse stood. When we reached the summit and got out of the car we were greeted with a spectacular 360 degree panoramic view of the entire countryside and by Diana, Orfeo’s wife, and Serenella and Donella, his daughters. They invited us inside to cool off with some of their own vino and a snack freshly prepared with their own olive oil, pecorino and prosciutto.
While they took care of some administrative items, we had the pleasure of meeting our other untourist apartment mates. Ann and Ed were back to LaCanonica for their 3rd time. They had become close friends with the Vanetti family. Lucky for us all, that Ann spoke very good italian and through her we were all able to communicate with the Vanettis who speak very little English. Our other mates we dubbed “the Golden Girls”. Marge, Mary, Nan and Margaret...four very adventurous women from Georgia with very spunky personalities. LaCanonica, we learned was built in the 1860’s and was originally a nunnery and then later in 1970’s became a farmhouse. In 1997 it was opened up to agritourism. The farmhouse has been restored, preserving its original structure, but offering very comfortable accomodations. Serenella showed us to our apartment and we were all extremely pleased. The rooms are spacious, decorated in Tuscan style, and when she threw open the shuttered windows, in each and every room, we were greeted with a magnificent view of the countryside and valley below. At this point, we were beginning to feel the jetlag. We decided that we were not going to go to sleep until at least 9PM so that we would sleep through until morning. We prepared pasta and salad with the food that idyll had left for us and finally hit the hay at around 9. We were all pooped.
Thursday, 24 May 2001
OrientationWe found our way to Pieve de Salti for the orientation and lunch. Only made one wrong turn but it caught it early on so felt pretty good about our mapreading skills. Harriet and her team presented us with some very good and helpful information and afterwards we stuck around for the luncheon and met some very nice Idyll folks at the restaurant. Good news. The lost luggage had arrived. Many people who had been wearing the same clothes since Tuesday were VERY happy!! Boy the vino is good here. While we were chatting and enjoying the vino an unbelievabley blustery rainstorm erupted. We were all soaked getting to our cars, but whatever...we’re in Italia!!!
We made our first visit to the COOP for groceries. What a cool place. We decided to buy the cheapest bottle of wine that we could find and see if it was any good. Bought enough stuff to last a few days and then headed out for a quick drive around Montelcino area. We stopped at an enoteca and tasted our first Brunello. Such smooth and rich flavor. And we had 2 full weeks to drink as much of this nectar of the gods as we wished.
We decided to go on a search for that excellent pecorino, but took a couple of wrong turns and never found anything. We did see some magnificent views of the rolling hills strewn with dots of red poppies, mustard, roses, olive trees and grapevines. Came back to the farm and everything just smelled divine after the rain...Lemon scented breezes mixed with roses wafting in the dampness of the rich, rain soaked earth!! We’re in heaven!!
Had some snacks and salad for supper including the cheap wine from the COOP. It was really good!!! And only US $2.50 a bottle. We talked about tomorrow’s activities and Friday was John’s day to plan...we’re off to Siena so he says.
Friday, 25 May 2001
SienaStill trying to adjust to the time zone change and I keep on waking up at around 5 am. The weather is so perfect we slept with the shutters open last night and this morning I awoke to the sound of a cuckoo. I’ve never heard the real thing and it was so pretty. I got up to take a look and when I got to the window I discovered the whole valley was fogged in. I just stood at the kitchen window for about 30 minutes watching the sun rise and the fog lift and felt so blessed. It’s just so beautiful here. Made it to Siena without any problem. Harriet had told us the good parking places so we looked for a p with a roof on it indicating a parking garage and low and behold ...there we found one. We walked to the Piazza del Campo, Sienna’s main square which was filled with bustling activity. The piazza is laid out in the shape of a shell, paved in a herringbone pattern, and subdivided into 9 sections. The sections represent the Government of Nine, a group of merchants and bankers who led Sienna to great prosperity. We saw the Torre del Mangia, the Duomo, and the Hospital de Santa Maria. The hospital which is directly across from the cathedral was built to care for homeless and orphans. The exhibits there were very impressive and included statues and frescoes illustrating the history of the church, archaelogical finds such as pottery and crypts, and even a walk through catacombs.
Again we were pelted with a severe rainstorm and managed to duck into a little shop which just happened to be a GELATO shop. This was the real thing and even more delicious than our first experience with gelato. How do they make this stuff? How come we can’t get this in the US?
Walked in the rain to the parking garage and then found out it was the wrong one. Walked about another km to the right garage in the pelting rain meanwhile trying to protect our Tuscan landscape print that reminded us of LaCanonica that we had purchased earlier in the day. Thank heavens for gortex!!
Finally got to the right garage and by then were soaked to the bone. On the way out of Sienna we missed our turn and ended up on a flooded road. Took some great pics of the flood, though and finally found the right road back to Torrenieri.
For dinner, we went to DaMario’s, a great family restaurant in Buonconvento. We all enjoyed our meals. I had lasagna with artichokes, carpeggio..swordfish with pecorino, trifle, and vino rosso. Tried the grappa, but it was too strong for me. We were out of vino at home and all of the enotecas were closed, so Christian, our very gregarious English speaking waiter “gave” us a bottle of their vino della casa to take home. We took some pictures with Momma and Grandma and then headed back to the farm.
Saturday, 26 May 2001
Buonconvento Market DayWe saw Orfeo on our way out and asked him where to get the pecorino by saying, “Dove pecorino?” With gestures and some basic italian that we understood, he told us to take the road that went through the back of LaCanonica until we got to the large cedar tree. At the cedar, we were to go right. We followed his instructions and knew we were on track when we came upon a couple of sheepdogs and a few hundred sheep on a hillside. We made the right and came to the pecorino dairy farm where we purchased 1 kilo (which we thought would be about a lb. but was more like 1 and ½ lbs.) of rosso and a smaller wheel of pecorino pepperoncini (spicey).
Arrived in Buonconvento and could smell those herb rotisseried chickens as soon as we got out of the car. We weren’t sure where the market was but we certainly knew it was close. Stopped at a couple of shops along the way and then found the open air market. Purchased 2 chickens for lunch, some pomodori and cherries. On the way back stopped at the bakery and purchased Panforte, the local fruitcake, and Ossi di Morte. “Bones of the Dead”. We also picked up some cookies as a gift to Orfeo and his grandson, Francesco.
Back at the farm, we ate the chicken and pomodori and purchased a bottle of the LaCanonica vino. Very nice red table wine. We made our plans for the next day...it was Cathy’s pick and she chose a medieval crossbow tournament in Massa Marratima .
We decided that we should do some laundry in preparation for our upcoming sidetrips to Cinque Terre and Rome beginning on Monday of the following week. Harriet told us that it takes 2 hours to do laundry with the Italian washing machines if you use hot water, and only 1 hour if you use cold. We followed the instructions for cold, but got hot and it really did take 2 hours (actually it would have been more than 2 but we helped the cycles along where we could).
We hung the laundry on the lines to dry and got out our books and decided to sit out in the sun by the pool, which had not yet been opened. We passed a few hours reading and chatting with our neighbors and when the laundry was dried, we took it in off the line. It sure smelled good, but that’s about all of the good that I can say. The laundry was grey, stiff, and crusty...and we decided from that point on we would be hand-laundering our stuff.
For dinner, we went to the Taverna Grappolo Blue in Montalcino and had an excellent meal. We were lucky to get seated without a reservation, and just after we sat, the restaurant was packed and with people outside waiting for a table. We would highly recommend this place and their crostini is wonderful.
Sunday, 27 May 2001
Crossbow tournament at Massa MarratimaUp early and in the car for a trip to Massa Marratima to see a crossbow tournament that has been held in the same manner since medieval times. We took along our map of Tuscany and planned out the most direct route as it appeared on the map. Little did we know, and later found out, that our route would take us along dirt roads that just abruptly ended. After many turnarounds, and doubling back, we finally got on what seemed to be a main thoroughfare, despite approximately 1 hour of continuous steep curves and switchbacks. A trip that we thought would take about 2 hours turned into 4, but we saw the most spectacular scenery along the way. Very different landscape than where we were staying in Torrenieri. Much more foliage and larger mountains. It was beautiful.
We reached MM around 2 pm just in time to purchase our tickets for the pageant which was to begin at 4. It was very hot in the sun so we decided to take our seats in the piazza on the church steps beside the local kids who made up the cheering sections. It was so refreshing to see all of the children together regardless of their ages. The older kids looked after the younger ones. And we remarked how wholesome they appeared singing and joking, and putting balloons in their shirts to make each other laugh. No gameboys, walkmen, or electronic plug-ins. They were all having a blast. They had banners, balloons, signs, and wore the colors of their archers. This was very serious business!!
The pageant began with a parade of the players, all dressed in medieval garb, the flag throwers, and a few falconers. The colors were absolutely magnificent. A flag throwing demonstration took place and we could sense how much effort had gone into this pageant. Colorful flags twirling and flying in the air made me think of the days before fireworks. We all oohed and ahhed as the colors erupted into the sky. And finally, the crossbow competition began. After some very competitive shots that ended up splitting arrows, the winner was declared and the town erupted in celebration.
When we got home, we made up a salad, had some fruit and went to bed early for our trip the next day to Cinque Terre. After hearing such wonderful things about CT, this was my trip to plan and I was very excited to finally get there.
Monday, 28 May 2001
Cinque Terre- MonterossoWe took the autostrada all the way to the Cinque Terre region and reached there in less than 3 hours. It was a very easy drive through lots of different terrain. Around Lucca we noticed a mountain range to our right that appeared as if it was covered with snow. We were perplexed...this was May and it just seemed impossible. Later on in our trip we learned that what we thought was snow was actually marble. We found out that the towns surrounding the area were some of the most beautiful because they were constructed from the marble that was mined locally. Good stuff to keep in mind for a future trip.
After a very steep, narrow, curvy, and winding descent into town, we finally hit the beach and Monterosso. Thank goodness for Dennis’s good driving. This was not a drive for the faint-hearted. We joked that a few people we knew would have most definitely crumpled up a fender or two on that road.
Monterosso felt hot and steamy compared to the cool breezes that we had become accustomed to in Tuscany. We were very happy with our accomodations at the Hotel 5 Terre, clean comfortable rooms with a view of the courtyard and street parking just in front of the hotel. We took a walk to town and found the train station. We had the afternoon to explore a couple of the villages and decided to take the train to Riomaggiore and then walk the trails to Corniglia. However when we reached Riomaggiore , to our dismay, we found that the trails were closed for renovations...not to be completed until summer 2002. We figured we would just take the train to Manorola and then on to Corniglia, but after waiting for an hour just to get the train out of Riomaggiore, we decided that we would be spending the entire afternoon just waiting for trains, when we could be sitting under a cool umbrella by the beach in Monterosso, drinking vino, eating focaccio and looking at the beautiful Mediterranean.
After a great supper at the Monterosso beach, we headed back to Hotel 5 Terre and found a lovely terrace on the roof. We sat out, drank vino and while John and Dennis played a couple of games of backgammon, I watched the italian women hang all of the day’s linens on the clothelines on the roof. After our experience in Tuscany with european clothes washers, I have great admiration for them. Called it an early evening as John and I planned on hiking the trail from Monterosso to Vernazza the following day and wanted to get an early start before the great heat of the day. Dennis and Cathy would meet us by the harbor for lunch.
Tuesday, May 29, 2001
Cinque Terre-VernazzaGot up early, packed our gear, and checked out of the hotel. Maria, the manager kept shaking her head saying, “only uno notte..not enough..” We shrugged our shoulders, agreed with her and headed out of town for the trail to Vernazza. The cabana guys were setting up cabanas, chairs, and umbrellas for the day as we headed for the trailhead. Along the way we picked up some water, a couple of bananas and apples for breakfast. Monterosso is a hot, steamy, beach town with beautiful, clean beaches and clear water. Blue skies, and hazy, hot and humid temps. If we hadn’t planned on doing this hike for the last 9 months, I think we would have changed into our bathing suits and jumped in the Mediterranean. It looked soooo inviting.
The first 45 minutes of the hike were continuous steps leading up, up, up to the top of the mountain. We were hot, sweaty, and very challenged. At one point along the way as we were both bent over, catching our breath, John turned to me and muttered, “what the heck did you get us into now?” I just laughed and said, “we can do this” but secretly wondered the same thing. The only way out was up and ahead. We moved on and it was most definitely worth sweating for!! The views leaving Monterosso behind us were simply breathtaking. The trail passed terraced farmland containing grape arbors and lucisous roses, meticulously maintained by the area farmers. It was hard to believe that they could get this type of growth out of the side of a mountain, but everywhere in sight were all kinds of wildflowers and foliage. And it smelled marvelous! I have a passion for good scents and the smells along this hike were like no where else I have ever been. After about an hour on the trail, we passed by a waterfall and in the shade of a tree, sat an old man selling water and lemons for lemonade. We laughed to see him sitting there but for anyone who was out of water, he was a gift from heaven. But we still had plenty of water left, so we moved on. We were on top of the world.
We kept pace with a couple from Sun Valley and as we were creeping along a particularly high and narrow part of the path, the woman confided in me, “this is where a woman in our hometown was killed. She leaned over to pick some wildflowers and fell to her death.” Not what I wanted to hear at that particular moment. I told her this would be a topic better shared while drinking a cappuccino when we reached Vernazza. We all laughed and moved on.
We kept pace with a couple from Sun Valley and as we were creeping along a particularly high and narrow part of the path, the woman confided in me, “this is where a woman in our hometown was killed. She leaned over to pick some wildflowers and fell to her death.” Not what I wanted to hear at that particular moment. I told her this would be a topic better shared while drinking a cappuccino when we reached Vernazza. We all laughed and moved on.
The hike took us about 2 hours and then we were on the descent into Vernazza. We were just mesmerized by the beautiful and colorful little town and lively harbor. There actually seemed to be something magical about it. We found a bench along the harbor and watched a couple of little girls playing with a whole family of cats and kittens all living in a clay flower pot that included a pretty large palm plant. Even the cats were sweet and friendly. The town seemed to exude a feeling of peace, tranquility and happiness. The colorful umbrellas in the square by the harbor, multi-colored boats set up in a horseshoe in the harbor. It was paradise.
As we walked over to a trattoria for some capuccino, Cathy met us along the way. She and Dennis had taken the train earlier and Dennis was climbing up to the castle. We had a cappucino and for some reason, it was the perfect beverage after the strenuous hike. I guess we needed the caffeine jolt to replenish our energy because it certainly hit the spot. We talked about how peaceful we felt in this lovely little place and Cathy and Dennis agreed; it had affected them the same way.
After doing a little shopping and roaming around the town, we decided to get some lunch and stopped at a colorful and bustling little place in the harbor square called Gianni Franni’s. It was a good choice. Cinque Terre is the region where pesto was invented, so of course, our choices were all loaded with pesto. It was the best pesto ever. To die for...Cathy showed me where she had bought a jar to take home and I purchased one too.
We walked around a little more and reluctantly decided it was time to head back to Monterosso and then on back home to Tuscany. We needed to leave for Rome the next morning. We took the boat back to Monterosso which is definitely the more pleasant way to travel between the villages. When we got back to Monterosso, we did not want to leave.
The sun was shining brightly, the beach was full of sunworshippers, and the water was so inviting. As we walked along the beach, a young American guy approached us with a flyer for a restaurant or some other tourist attraction. We told him that we were leaving in about an hour although we really didn’t want to. He replied that he understood perfectly; he had come there for three days and had ended up staying 9 months!! We nodded with understanding.
Got back in the car and headed back to LaCanonica. On the way back, we had a couple of disagreements on how to read the road signs so of course the men sided together and we went the men’s way which Cathy figured out was wrong within a couple of minutes. But, no, men never turn around and we kept going the way we were going. Our 3 hour drive turned into a 4 hour drive but we ended up driving through Chianti country...on the Chianti trail and it was beautiful country. Very hilly and more green than our rolling Tuscan landscape.
We finally reached LaCanonica had a bite to eat, unpacked and repacked our bags for Dennis’ destination of choice...Rome.
Wednesday, May 30, 2001
RomeLeft the farm at 10 am to reach Chuisi by 12 noon. We were hopeful that we had read the train schedule correctly and there would be a train to Rome at around 12:15. We drove to Chiusi with only one wrong turn (took about 1 hour and 15 minutes) and Dennis and John dropped Cathy and me off at the station with the luggage while they went off in search of a parkage lot. Before they pulled away, I inquired in the biglietti (ticket) office and the gentlemen pointed straight and said, “Garage”...perfect..it was right down the street from the station.
We purchased our tickets, stamped them in the machine, and waited on the platform for our train to arrive. We were happy to see that our train was on time!! After about 1 hour and 45 minutes, we reached the Rome terminal and walked to the exit where we saw a couple of taxis waiting. We grabbed the first one and instructed the driver to take us to Hotel Lancelot on Capo de Africa. He acted as if he didn’t understand so we just gave him a copy of our hotel confirmation to read. OK...we were in business...he understood.
We reached our hotel in about 15 minutes, exited the cab and were told that the fare was $L 54.000 including our 4 backpacks. He was saying something in Italian and pointing inside the front seat of the cab. We gave him another $L6.000 tip and just figured that cabs were very expensive in Rome. However, once we got into the Lancelot, we asked our very friendly English manager, what a typical cab fare would be from the train terminal. She said we got ripped off; the ride should be about $10 American or $L 20.000..with bags maybe a little more. She said that there is a black box in the cab and legitimate drivers will only charge the amount on the box. She said to make sure upon entering a cab to check to make certain that the box was starting out on 0. So that is how we learned how not to get ripped off while taking a cab.
Hotel Lancelot is a very lovely, welcoming place with a fantastic location. Just a couple of blocks from the Coliseum and Forum, the hotel is staffed with English speaking personnel who are very attentive and helpful. We shared conversation with a few other guests during mealtimes, and one of the main questions was, “How did you hear about Hotel Lancelot?” We all felt as if we had found a real gem in this hotel. Once again, an Idyll recommendation does not disappoint.
We spent the afternoon at the Coliseum and walking around the area of the Forum. We were just overwhelmed with the anitiquity of the buildings. We purchased a book in the Coliseum which depicted photos of the existing building remnants with overlays showing how the stuctures appeared in their finest days. It was incredible that we can still enjoy them today, 2000 years later. By the time we had walked through the Forum and over to the museum, it was getting late and we were hot and tired. We headed back to Hotel Lancelot. Along the way, we noticed that the main streets were being set up with grandstands, banners, and bleachers. There were a few tv trailers, and a number of military personnel running electrical lines and lights. We found out upon reaching the hotel, that Saturday, 2 June was an Italian national holiday. We were told that the holiday would correspond to our 4th of July celebration.
We had dinner at the hotel, sharing our table with a lovely British woman, Christine and her delightful daughter, Mia. Both the meal and the company were very pleasant.
Thursday, 31 May 2001
After breakfast at the hotel, we walked over to the area by the Coliseum, and flagged down a cab. John negotiated $L 30.000 for the 4 of us to St. Peters. OK. We were all happy...we didn’t get ripped off. It was an adventure riding in the back of this cab, through Rome’s morning commuter traffic and scooters zipping by, every which way. The cab driver told us that there were approximately 600,000 scooters in the city. Everyone drove like a maniac and it all seemed to work. People going down one way streets, driving on sidewalks...whatever...anything goes. It was hysterical watching the Italian women dressed in tight skirts and stilleto heels riding on these scooters. You go girls!!We reached St. Peter’s and spent the day touring the Cathedral (it was amazing), climbed to the top of the cupola on the duomo and overlooked the entire city and went throught the Sistine Chapel and archaelogical museums. There was just so much beauty to see and we only had a short time but we felt that we had experienced a good amount of Rome’s beauty.
By the time we came out of the Sistine Chapel, it was afternoon and getting very hot and steamy. As we walked along the street, we noticed a café on the other side with patrons sitting under cool umbrellas drinking lemonade. Boy did that look refreshing. The owner was calling to the crowd motioning people to come and sit at his café. I turned to John and said, “boy that sure looks inviting.” He turned to me and said, “it’s usually not a good sign when they wave you in to the café, you know.” We decided that we were hot and didn’t care...besides their special was a full meal for $L20.000 which wasn’t so bad so we crossed the street and sat down for some cool drinks and lunch. We looked over the menu and noticed that the specials were all heavy food, veal, chicken, etc and decided to go with a couple of lemonades, 2 salads, and 2 pizzas.
We finished the meal and the check came immediately. I got up to go to the toilette and when I got back John had paid. “That meal just cost us $L60.000”, he said. Neither one of us could remember what the menu showed as the cost of the pizzas, salad, and lemonade. And when we caught up with Cathy and Dennis later in the day we found out that they had also stopped at the same café and their meal was $L70.000 This is how we learned a second way to not get ripped off in restaurants. Write down the food item and price when the waiter takes your order and let them see you write it down. Then when the bill comes, compare it to your notes.
We headed back to the Lancelot to cool off and met Cathy and Dennis for dinner later that evening. We decided to try out one of the street cafes in the neighborhood and found a place bustling with locals. It was loud and busy, the owner pumping up the music and belting out the songs...a great way to experience the energy and excitement of the urban italians.
Went back to the Lancelot and decided to have a nightcap before retiring, and headed to the bar. Cathy noticed a couple of steps leading down and discovered a treasure! A lovely little grotto, filled with exotic plants and vines, and tables and chairs. A perfect spot to toast our last night in Rome.
Friday, June 1, 2001
Rome – Pienza-LaCanonicaThe woman at the hotel desk checked the train schedules and we found a train leaving in about a half hour...direct to Chiusi without stops. We called for a cab and reached the terminal in about 15 minutes and were back in Chiusi within a couple of hours.
Located our car at the garage and headed back to the farm. We decided that we would stop a Pienza for lunch. We had noticed the attractive hilltown on our way to Chiusi. Pienza is a beautiful little village and we found a lovely place for lunch called, Trattoria Latte di Luna. Lunch was spectacular and we spent the rest of the afternoon strolling through the town. The shops in Pienza are very unique and Cathy and I both found pottery to take back home. Upon arriving at LaCanonica, Serenella met us and invited us to Francesco’s 3rd birthday party that evening. She said that some friends and family were coming over and we were all invited. We told her certainly, we would love to come. The birthday party was a wonderful experience for us. Orfeo played the accordian, while Serenella and her husband, Gino served us a wonderful dinner. Appetizer was crostini, primi was pasta with tomato sauce, secundi was trout caught fresh that day prepared with lemon and spices and dolce was a custardy birthday cake baked by Serenella. It was all exquisite!!
As Orfeo played the accordian, we all chatted and enjoyed the warmth and graciousness of the Vanetti family. We could not have asked for a more perfect way to experience this wonderful group of people. We were all falling in love with the Italian people more and more each day.
Saturday, June 2, 2001
Italian National HolidayThis is a day for the Italian people to celebrate and everything was closed so we decided to just hang out at the farm and catch up on our laundry and relax. Cathy and I set ourselves up by the pool which had just been opened for the summer. The water was still too cold for swimming so we sat in the sun. Dennis and John camped out in the apartment for a backgammon marathon. We chatted a bit with our other untourist neighbors who were all just hanging around ...we all had kind of been derailed by the unexpected holiday.
John and Dennis decided to surprise us with dinner made from all of the left-overs and whatever stuff they had on hand in the kitchen. John calls this “gook”. He invented it when our kids were young and no one felt like going to the store for groceries. Diana stopped by the Cantina and they managed to buy some pasta from her. The gook was really good!
Sunday, June 3, 2001
San GimingnanoWe had heard varying opinions regarding San Gimignano. Some raved about its beauty, others complained that it was very commercial. We decided to go and see for ourselves and I have to say that of all the hilltowns we were least impressed with SG. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that it was a weekend and a German 4 day holiday, but the town was mobbed with people. There seemed to be a frantic, pushy feel to the town. We walked around the town, stopped in a bar for some cappuccino and left after about 2 hours.
Our most memorable moment in SG concerned the pay toilette near the lower parking lot. It’s the big steel one that does a complete sanitizing of the bathroom in between each patron. All I can say is don’t try to get 2 people in on one $L500 coin. The second person will be very embarrassed when the door automatically opens up after giving that person just enough time to pull down her pants and sit on the john. The skies were turning darker with a threat of rain so we headed back to Torrenieri. Just as we arrived, a storm blew up so we decided to hang out in the apartment and relax for a while. About an hour later, the sun started to break out and I looked out the window and could not believe what I saw. As if this fairytale trip wasn’t enough of paradise, we now had a huge rainbow...unlike any other rainbow I have ever witnessed.
The rainbow was made up of huge bands of color and each and every color was clearly visible. I grabbed Cathy and we ran outside to get a better look. John joined us and remarked that he heard a buzzing sound. We moved to the trees and looked up and discovered thousands of honey bees swarming in the trees. Where did they come from? What was going on? As we moved further along the property looking for an answer to the bee question, we kept uncovering more and more “delights” of LaCanonica that we hadn’t discovered earlier. We found pear trees, artichokes, fig trees, and some very exotic looking feathery flowers that we had never seen before. Simply paradise.
All of this activity was making us hungry. We got in the car to go look for a place to eat when Cathy noticed a pizzeria sign just past the intersection where we usually turned up to head back to the farm. It was called LaCampagna and we decided to check it out. Another excellent find!!
Monday, June 4, 2001
MontalcinoOnly 2 days left in Tuscany. We agreed that our last 2 days would be spent in Montalcino on Monday and Assissi on Tuesday.
In Montalcino, we walked around the fortress and then headed into town to check out the shops and buildings. Our timing was such that most of the shops were closing for the midday break and/or closed because it was Monday. We strolled around taking in the beauty of the city. We discovered a small outdoor trattoria with tables and pretty red umbrellas, called Bacchus which looked very inviting so we decided to stop for a snack and some vino. We ordered bruschetta and a bottle of the Nobile de Montelpuciano 1997. I really liked that wine. To me, it was just as good as the 1995 Brunello that we had been drinking. At the table next to us, sat a man painting watercolor postcards and his companion who was reading a book. When she turned the page, I noticed that she was reading, “Vanilla Beans and Brodo”. This is the book about Montalcino that had been recommended by several untourists as a must read while in Montalcino. I asked her about the book and she agreed that it was wonderful reading it while in the area. The book provides a great deal of information on the history, culture, and social issues surrounding Montalcino. During our conversation, we discovered that they had been in Tuscany for the past month taking photographs. They had spent a lot of time in and around Lucca taking photos of the marble mining and surrounding areas. They gave us their card with their gallery and website address and advised that their Tuscany photos would be posted on the website. They had already sold the photos sight unseen for $5,000 apiece. Nice life!! The website is www.seewald.com.
We bid them goodbye and met up with Dennis and Cathy. After hearing such wonderful things about the Barbi winery, we decided to check it out and taste some of their brunello. The Barbi property is also very lovely with a lively cantina and restaurant. We sampled the various years and purchased a couple bottles of the 1995.
We had read some comments from untourists about LaBefa, a tiny little village on a dirt road with one osteria that served Tuscan steak in the local rustic style and we decided to give it a shot. We headed to Buonconvento, turned down the road by the COOP and followed the signs to LaBefa. The asphalt shortly turned to dirt and we continued on a ways until we saw the sign hanging out front. When we entered the osteria, we were greeted by 2 Nigerian women and the place was empty. We sat down and ordered salad, pasta and 4 steaks. Within a few minutes, the place started to fill up with locals and couples. The steaks were cooked on an open fire in the back of the building and were ok...not great. Much better steaks in the US. But the place was cool and unlike any other in Tuscany and it was worth it just to experience its wackiness and its owners, staff and patrons.
Tuesday, June 5, 2001
AssissiIt’s amazing that we don’t seem to ever get tired of the walled medieval cities. Each one is spectacular and has an identity all of its own. Assissi is also a very beautiful city with its rose colored stone walls. The narrow staircases and ancient doorways and passageways are just unbelievable. In the cathedral , it seemed that every inch and space had a beauty of its own. We were very moved by the magnificent frescoes and art and were continuously struck by the details of the workmanship. We found a restaurant called Metastasio with a spectacular panoramic view of the surrounding valley and decided to lunch there. Again, we were not disappointed. It was a fine meal with good wine, good service, a fantastic view and the best tiramisu ever.
On the way back we stopped at the Barbi winery for some more vino to take back as gifts. They were just about to start a tour of the wine cellars and invited us to go along. Of course, we said yes and were very happy that we did.
Another lovely day in Tuscany and our last. We paid a last visit to our favorite pizzeria, La Campagna and then headed home to pack. When we got back to the farm, Ed and Anne invited us in along with the Golden Girls for a farewell bischetta and vin santo. Lucky them...they had 2 more glorious weeks on the farm. We all said our farewells and voiced our appreciation for having such wonderful company to share our adventures with. Not only are the italian people so warm and pleasant, but our fellow untourists were delightful as well. We couldn’t have requested better partners.
Wednesday, June 6, 2001
FlorencePicasso was packed to the gills when we pulled out of the road from LaCanonica and headed to Florence. We reached the city in about an hour and a half just as it was starting to rain. We followed Harriet’s directions, but got a little disoriented when we reached the circle with the statue of the woman. After an extremely nervewracking drive through tiny narrow streets, we found the Hotel Pendini and John and Dennis dropped Cathy and I off to check us in as the men wanted to drop off the rental car.
The manager gave the guys 2 sets of directions to Avis...1 way the “slightly” illegal way was a quick wrong way down a one way street...but if they saw a cop, they should go the “completely” legal way which would require that the make a complete circle of the entire city!! They dropped off the car with no problem (there was no cop) and met us around 12:30. We had a 1:00 reservation for the Uffizi and walked a very short distance in the rain to the museum. It was overwhelming to see so much art in one afternoon. We spent about 3 hours there and were absolutely speechless when we walked outside.
We didn’t realize what a great location the Hotel Pendini had until we walked back. It is directly on the piazza and very convenient to everything. We went back to the Hotel Pendini, got the key to our room and decided to get a little rest so that we could enjoy our last evening in Florence. Our room was directly behind the reception desk and was kind of noisey with telephones ringing and people talking, but other than that was comfortable.
We met Cathy and Dennis and walked over to see the Arno River. We meandered past the Uffizi where the local artists had their pieces displayed in hopes of a sale. It was getting time for dinner, we all wanted something light and we found a trendy, artsy type place for our meal. After dinner we walked to a gelateria for our last gelato and along the way there was a street entertainer keeping the crowd amused. We stopped to watch for a while and then continued on into the square where someone was singing, “The Girl from Ipanema”.
We sat on a bench just taking it all in. This city is just so fantastic. The treasuring of the arts, the antiquity, and the beauty. It is the perfect setting for romance and you could feel it all around ...couples sitting on benches with their arms wrapped around each other; people kissing wherever you looked.
Arrivederci italia.