Italy is quickly becoming one of my favorite places. This was my 4th trip (Marianne's 5th I believe..) and although
I love different things about each place, this was definitely the least
touristy, the best food, and the most gracious hospitality. Many areas have tourists’ offices on every
corner to direct you but that is not the case in Tuscany. It’s more a figure-it-out-yourself
situation. Ie: We finally found a map
of the Chianti wine region and asked someone to pinpoint the wine routes. She took a fat highlighter and drew big
circles around many, many roads. Um,
ok. I guess we’ll just head that
direction! I’m not sure there is a true
wine route but just a drive until you
see a sign pointing you towards olive groves or vineyards. …It’s fun though
because it makes finding something fantastic a huge score! And the driving is a-mazing so it’s not a
chore to go hunting.
The spontaneous adventurers
We didn’t want to limit ourselves to one area or rush to be
somewhere due to a hotel reservation so we didn’t. No reservations…Only a general direction and
area notes. This can be a stressful way
to travel. It can also be extremely
rewarding. We experienced both and would
do it again in a heartbeat. This was a girls’ trip and our 1st dilemma before
we took off was which car? Marianne’s
husband had generously offered us his fine
Audi convertible but this comes with compromise.
1. We can’t hit anything with it -- Laugh if
you will, but it’s easy to do when your car is 1.5 the size of everything else
on the road, the roads are tiny, and the parking is even tinier or
nonexistent.
And, #2. We had minimal
trunk space for shopping.
The Audi won. The upper 80
degree and sunshine forecast made the convertible invaluable. We had the top down the entire trip.
We left early on Thursday morning and headed to Bavaria
where her sweet Collin was awaiting his riding lesson. Marianne’s trainer is a former Olympian and I
was allowed to sit with her and her pups to watch the lessons. She yells a lot. She eventually warmed up to
me and allowed me to sit with her in her dog’s spot. :D I really enjoyed watching all the horses
doing fancy things. Fun experience.
Not a bad view, buddy.
We drove into Innsbruck, Austria for lunch and piddling
around. Neither of us had been and we were
excited for a peek at the town.
Innsbruck is a popular ski area surrounded by little ski villages like
the famous, Sankt Anton. Innsbruck is a
beautiful little place and Marianne found a sweet cowbell to take home.
This little guy was guarding the door
Stopping in Laives, Italy for the night, we found this
campground resort. http://www.campingsteiner.com/en/camping/welcome.html
Who gasped? I know, I know.. Me, camping. But, it wasn’t really camping. Well, there were definitely actual campsites
with tents and others for RVs but we picked a rustic cabin bungalow sans
bathroom for the night. They actually
did offer a smaller place with a bathroom but I was committed to our camping
experience after viewing the exceptionally nice and clean shower/bathroom
situation. The place was great; a pizzeria, a nicer restaurant in the main
hotel, a general store, and a wonderful help desk for information and
rentals. 43€ a night + a reasonably
priced dinner. Can’t beat it for a quick
stopover.
Me with the broom
Verona- Shakespeare
helped Verona rise to fame by using it as the setting for Romeo and
Juliette. The Roman amphitheater
(looked similar to the Coliseum) is an operatic hotspot including of course, Romeo and Juliette. We looked into Verona a bit before the trip and
wow, it was super expensive which just seemed so out of line with everything
surrounding it- even Florence, which was very reasonably priced! The operas were very long and pricey as well so
we opted to skip this but I’m happy we stopped in to see the city center and
the theater. It is very beautiful.
Verona to Florence
If you follow me here, you know I’m a bigger fan of quaint
and old towns. Not cities! But Florence…. I liked Forence very much. Maybe even loved it! We scored a wonderful boutique hotel room with
a huge terrace (w/ hottub) facing the Duomo, a great living area, and beautiful
bathroom with rain shower. Only 80€ a
night! It was the most we paid for a
room the entire trip! This room would
have been €300-€400 in Verona or Paris.
Oi' the scooters... Little ladybugs everywhere...
Walk-up bread window
Enjoying the sunset...
Festa della
Rificolona- Festival of Lanterns
One of Florence’s largest annual festivals that celebrates
the birth of the Virgin Mary. A parade
of people carrying lit paper lanterns—many homemade and very elaborate. I wouldn’t describe it as solemn but it was
tame—aside from the hoards of people at least.
We believe this religious event is why we kept seeing the groups of nuns touring the city.
Leather market: If
you know only two things about Florence, it’s probably David and leather. Leather anything, everywhere. There is a large, permanent leather market
where you buy just about any leather good you can envision. It reminded me a bit of the straw market in
Nassau with vendors packed into small spaces and turning sideways to fit down
aisles. Haggle here! The streets of Florence are also lined with
leather shops. The smell is
intoxicating. A weekender bag for Mike,
a briefcase for Marianne’s husband, gloves for me!, and fantastic coin holders
were the scores of the week.
You might notice no further mention of David. Someone later asked me "Well, did you see him?" The truth is, we stood in the slowly moving, very long line for about 15 minutes but instead of staying in line, we bought aprons, boxer shorts, post cards, and other ridiculous tourist paraphernalia with David's piece on it-- And then we left. I considered it an honest effort.
Tuscany- The Chianti
Region
Tuscany is divided in a few regions. You would think blessed with a week to travel
this area of Italy we would see it all but there is just too much and that
would be impossible. Perhaps next time
we will get down to Umbria but not this trip.
Siena
Remarkable! One of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever seen. About 45 minutes directly south of Florence,
Siena is an unbelievably preserved, medieval walled city. Pictures won’t do this place justice and it’s
just difficult to describe. We visited
twice and the second visit we went earlier in the morning in an attempt to
photograph it without all the people.
The second day we were surprised with a festival of sorts- A marching band with vivid yellow flags—The
same yellow flags we saw on all the streets of Siena. Thanks to Marianne’s Spanish, we finally
found someone to explain the yellow flags.
It’s a celebration of the winning horse!
Since the 1600s, Siena holds their annual Palio de Siena horse race in
July and August where the riders compete bareback in hopes of winning the silk
banner. The first horse to cross the
finish line, with or without their rider, wins!! This is Europe’s most famous and legendary
horse race. The horses are even blessed
at the church prior to the race. It is a
true medieval tradition they have successfully preserved. Absolutely awesome. I brought home a hand
painted Christmas ornament of the yellow silk flag.
We spend an entire day just riding the winding roads of the
Chianti region. Up to Castellina in
Chianti and back around. Stopping at
wineries, olive groves, and little wine towns with markets. You won’t see tour buses out here. They don’t make things easy to find which
makes it feel more real. Because it
is. Tuscany is one of those places that is
what you envision. -As good if not
better than the pictures. It’s relaxed,
the people are friendly, and the food is fantastic.
We had a pretty sweet system. Marianne was driving so she tasted and I drained the rest.
Sunset in Tuscany
We found an agriturismo in Sovicille (outside of Siena) to
park ourselves for a few days. A very
old yet beautifully restored farmhouse owned by an equally beautiful
family. Agriturismo= Farmstay. You stay where they make everything! Each agriturismo has their own specialty. It could be a type of cheese, wine, olives,
salamis, etc. They grow many of their
own foods on the properties and you stay in a family type atmosphere with meals
served based on what they’ve produced locally.
It is so personal and so fantastic.
When we showed up without reservations, we were instantly offered an
espresso. The hospitality of this region
is indescribable. Their children were
running around, dogs lazily sleeping on the front steps, people sitting out on
little patios to enjoy wine. Not one
English speaker until the day we left. In
fact, only the owner spoke English here.
One night, a storm came through the town. We had slept with our window open and it had
soaked Marianne’s backpack and all of her clothes. We laid it all out to dry but when we
returned later that day, the family had come in and using hangers, hung each
one of her things on our canopy bed railings to dry.
Appertiv at the farmhouse restaurant
Common area in our part of the farmhouse
Ceiling in our farm room
*If you’re headed to this area, I strongly urge you to skip
the hotels and find an agriturismo.
There are hundreds of places to choose from but this is a good place to
start! www.tuscanyaccommodation.com/
San Gimignano
I did a poor job of journaling during this trip so I cannot
remember every little town we visited but we won’t forget San Gimignano! It’s a
miniature Siena but with more towers.
Small, charming, friendly, and great food! We had intended on just stopping for a bit
but stayed the night because it was so darn cute! Finding a room was an adventure. With a little help from the tourists’ office
we finally found a place. It was an
older Italian couple that didn’t speak a bit of English. Between the wife and Marianne’s Spanish we
were able to determine they had no availability in their home but they did have
a little apartment in town we could have for the night. Like Siena, San Gimi (our nickname) is also a
walled city so only residents were allowed to drive in the city. We had parked outside and it was now pouring
rain. This gentleman insisted on taking
us to our car and bringing us and our bags back to the apt. The man was at least 85. He piled us in his small car and whipped
through the tiny streets to find our car which at this point, we weren’t really
sure where it was. He was so insistent
on unloading and loading and then carrying them up to the apartment. Sweetest man!
San Gimignano was definitely a favorite place!
How cute is he?! You don't need a mutual language to know a special person.
Ha- I love our camera set-ups!
She's so cute and fun with her new hat!
Interesting walkways in this multi-level town. Thank goodness we brought backpacks!
Beautiful!
Best Ice Cream in the World? It was very tasty!
See the cute little lady?
Our tiny but super cute apartment
Lucca
Maybe Siena and San Gimignano had stolen our hearts because
when we arrived at Lucca we weren’t nearly as impressed as the books suggested
we would be. We just didn’t feel it had
quite the charm … Beautiful, yes. But, missing
something…. We did learn it was a college town and we definitely noticed the
younger generation. Maybe the young
mixed with the old walled city just didn’t do it for us.
Cinque Terre
I might hurt feelings or step on toes here but, I gotta say
it. I feel like nobody says it and it’s
really unfair to future travelers when they read travel books, blogs and travel
forums about amazing Cinque Terre
which we have renamed “Cinque Shitty”.
Cinque Terre is by far my least favorite place I’ve visited in Europe. C'mon, we're talking me here. I can find something fun or neat anywhere but not this time.. It does not look like the travel book
pictures. Those photos are without a
doubt, Photoshopped. It doesn’t feel like Italy. It doesn’t taste like Italy. If you went and loved it, I apologize for
sounding like a travel snot but Marianne and I both agreed it was the biggest
European disappointment we’ve experienced.
Why?
Our joint synopsis:
Cinque Terre was likely once beautiful seaside towns where
people came to enjoy wonderful food, beautiful hikes, gorgeous views, and quiet
holidays. Cinque Terre was made famous
many years ago and we think they are still riding those curtails without making
any effort to maintain their original charm.
The food was terrible. Please do
not judge Italian food by Cinque Terre.
Even the coffee was horrible.
Really? Bad Italian coffee? I didn’t think that existed. We noticed a distinct difference in
hospitality. Yeah, there was none. And the tourists…. Unbelievable. It was swarming with
Americans. Don't misunderstand- I love my fellow Americans but, when I go to a French town, or German
village, or Italian city I want to feel like I’m in another country. And usually it's a mix of nationalities which is fun but not here.. Swarming is not an exaggeration. I’ve never seen anything like it. And for what?
Run down villages, horrible food, unfriendly people, a tiny little
beach, and it’s extremely expensive!
Cinque Terre is the shell of a once beautiful area, charm sucked out,
and American tourists crammed into every inch.
The train system was horrible. 45
minutes late which caused an uncomfortable body-stuffing situation. Everything about our visit here was terrible. Wish we had kept driving and hit Parma (ahem, parma ham, parmesan), Asiago, or Bassano del Grappa instead. The lesser knowns. Do your research. That being said, we both agreed that had we
not gone we would’ve always been left wondering about this magical place we
hear about…. Now we know. Next
time? I’d go south. Down the coastline. Although we didn’t see it, I’d be willing to
bet there is a lot of awesome down there.
It is a nice picture but there are better places. Croatia for one.
Small hoard.. This was nothing compared to the train debacle earlier though
