September 2012 - Week 1 - Tuscany

 After delays through Chicago, we finally arrived in Rome at noon, got our rental car, a standad transmission, and headed on a two hour drive to Montepulciano, our first stop in the Tuscany region.  First off, Italian drivers are crazy!  They weave in and out of traffic, 30 mph over the speed limit, using no signals.  Second, it was obvious to me that since I hadn't driven a standard in 20+ years, that poor Greg would be stuck with all the driving.   Montelpuciano is a great little walled city sitting high on top of a hill.  We stayed in a farmhouse located on an organic vineyard, which was charming. 



Long uphill walk into the city

 First glass of wine in the piazza



one of the many hills and buildings in the city



View from city

The next day we were off to Florence, which what should have been a 2 1/2 hour drive, but turned into 3 1/2 hours.  Our GPS tooks us right to the city, but when we tried to get to our hotel, the road was closed down due to constuction.  After driving around in circles for a bit, we ended up taking a road into the center part of the city, which is forbidden unless you have registered your license plate.  The fines are 70 euros each time you go in and out of the central part of town, which we did countless times.  The roads are super narrow and motorcycles, bicycles and pedestrians are weaving in and out.  It was extremely stressful.  We found a parking garage and then wheeled our suitcase through the streets to our hotel.  They claimed that for the price of 1 euro they would reigister our car so we wouldn't be fined.  When we eventually turned the rental car in, there were no charges, so hopefully it won't come back and haunt us.

We had a beautiful hotel with a rooftop sitting/dining area which viewed the duomo.  Florence is full of piazzas, historic buildings, museums, great restaurants and loads of people.  We were sorry we were only there 2 nights as there was much to see.  We took a walking tour and learned much about the city and then when to the museum to see Michaelangelo's David.  It was quite impressive and to have it explained by a well versed guide was fascinating.  We also did a food and wine tour, which had us tasting some of the local cuisine, wine and of course, gelato.

front of duomo

from our rooftop



from our rooftop

Greg and Neptune

Ponte Vecchio bridge crossing Arno River

Our next stop was San Gimignano, another walled city in the Tuscany region.  There is something very fascinating about watching how people live in these small towns.  Laundry hanging out their windows, stopping at the local cheese and meat stores for food every day.  Their life is very simple and they don't have extravagances.  As explained in Florence, the piazzas are their living rooms because their homes are so small.  At night you will find families sitting, drinking coffee while the children run around.  Dinner doesn't take place until 9:30 or 10:00 and the food in this area is fabulous.  I have set a rule for myself where I will eat pasta every day while in Italy.  My waistline may not like it, but my tastebuds are doing cartwheels.

Entrance to the City

view from inside the city

nice view



typical Italian street.  Imagine driving on here with cars, bicycles and motorcycles


 

The next stop is Siena which was one of my favorites.  Our hotel room was very small, but the view out our window was amazing.

Sienna has a huge piazza named El Campo Piazza and at a certain time of the year they actually bring in dirt and straw and race horses around it.  There is a Duomo here, as well as a museum, a baptismal place and a crypt, all of which we visited. The paintings in the museum and church were remarkable.  The history in these cities is just amazing.  Once again, food is awesome and I have fallen in love with chianti wine, which I never touch in the States.  And......gelato is a must almost every day.

Huge piazza



Steps up to Duomo and museum

One of the many churches

One of the many streets

Ceiling in one of the churches

One of the many walls in the church

Looking up at the Duomo

Outside the Duomo



View of the Duomo from other side of city

Our next stop is to stay in Lucca as we were invited to our friends Kristin and Bengt Morten's birthday/anniversary celebration.  We drove through the countryside instead of the highway and it was beautiful.  The fields have all been harvested, but the colors of the fields are really pretty.  We decided to stop in Pisa to see the leaning tower since it was on our way.  There is really nothing else in Pisa, just a large busy city. 



Are those bushes leaning too?

After lunch in Pisa, we arrived at La Principessa Hotel in Lucca.  Great hotel with beautiful grounds.  This would be the place where the party would be held the following evening.  We took an afternoon of relaxation by the pool visiting with Kristin's family.  The next day we drove into Lucca and wandered around.  Picked a bad time because we had forgotten that shops shut down in the middle of the afternoon for lunch and siesta.  Lucca wasn't as beautiful as many of the other Tuscan cities, but still had loads of history, churches, etc.

Our Hotel

One of the churches

Beautiful building



The party was on Saturday night and was wonderful.  There was a huge spread of food, the children were playing and having a wonderful time and we met lots of new and interesting people.  Many of the people spoke English so we were able to have conversations.  When it came time for the speeches though, that was a different story.  Everyone spoke in Norwegian and it was interesting to watch everyone while we had no idea what was being said.   Wonderful music all night long and eventually dancing started.   It was a great party and we were happy to have been invited.

 

 The family to my right are Steeler fans.  Maybe we will have company from Norway.

Bengt Morten and his daughter Josephine

Kristin's parents dancing the night away

 

We absolutely love Tuscany.  To just wander through the towns, viewing the life style, stopping for lunch or dinner or coffee or gelato is a great experience.  Most restaurants have English menus and most people speak some English so getting around has been easy.  The first week went by too quickly, but we know there are some exciting times ahead.