Day 8 - Pienza, Montepulciano and Cypress Trees

Friday, July 10, 2009
Yes we did indeed wake up at 6:00 am (to catch the beautiful morning light) and Dan was sure he would find the setting with the Cypress trees.  So we drove and drove...until we gave up and went to Pienza.  We visited the market, where I think we were the only tourists and bought one tablecloth - a mixture of cotton and linen for our dining room table  (12 Euros), the one for our table on the deck (5 Euros) and oh yes one more...lucky we don’t have more tables.... We stopped at a cafe for a morning coffee and treat and I bought this cool little rolling pin which cuts pasta. Then we headed over to the tourist information centre where Dan was convinced that if he described what he was looking for or found a picture of a scene that was in his head, then maybe...she would point us in the right direction.  And yes she did...but it wasn’t easy to find...and guess what?  By that time the light wasn’t right, so it looks like we will be going back there another morning.  I made sure that before Dan moved the car, I set Higgins, our GPS,  to register exactly where we were, so we would find our way back to this dirt road in the middle of one of the most picturesque landscapes in Tuscany.

Dan reached in the back seat and pulled out a large plastic bag and asked what I bought??? I told him that I bought the rolling pin. No, he meant the bag of light bulbs...hmmmm I didn’t buy a large bag of light bulbs...I  put the rolling pin in my bag with the tablecloths and must have picked up another bag in the store.  OMG...I was a shoplifter!!!!!  We need to go back to Pienza to return the stolen goods!  When we returned, the shop owner laughed at ( with) me and waved me good-bye with a Grazie and arrivederci and off we went to Montepulciano.

Wow, it was a very steep climb to the top!  We enjoyed a stroll through the square and  the many wine shops and stopped for a refreshing drink.

For the first time, we found wireless and Dan ran back to the car and got his computer where we each sent a couple of emails.

We found our way to Foiana del Ca....where I heard there was a great shop for eye glasses.  Actually, I was admiring the glasses that a girl in an art gallery was wearing and asked her where she bought them.   Since my glasses were broken, I thought this would be fantastic.  I would get a beautiful pair of Italian glasses.  When I suggested this little side trip, I could see the look in Dan’s eyes...Where are we going????  For what?????  So it was a little town kind of out of the way...but isn't that the beauty of a trip like this?  Flexibility?   We arrived in this town and were pointed in various directions until one  man knew exactly where we wanted to go and led me through the town...she didn't speak English at all and the glasses were just too expensive for my budget right now...oh well it was fun anyhow! 

I need to share with you a little superstition that my parents told to me when I was very young.  It is simple  – when you see bales of hay in a field when driving through the countryside, you make a wish.   When my family would go on driving trips, my mom and dad would point out bales of hay in the fields and would tell us to make a wish.   You would hear “Hay!... Hay!.... Hay!... I am not quite sure of the origin of this superstition or ritual...maybe they created it to keep us distracted ....I must say that I have very eagerly passed this on to every person who travels with me and I’m sure Dan , Elliot and Joanne – even if you don’t like to admit it – you are silently making wishes on those bales of hay.  By the way, it works...but let’s be reasonable now and unselfish  (those are my rules!).   
And so I am always requesting pictures of hay...special memories of my mom....

We headed back to Gli Archi where Emanuela greeted us warmly.  Dan decided to do some laundry.  I’m not sure what happened with Dan and the washing machine, but it had something to do with plugs matching the machine then him mistaking 90 for temperature but it was minutes.  He kept returning to the machines every 15 minutes to see how it was going.  He was gone for quite a while and a thunderstorm rolled in and then he returned very wet hugging very wet laundry.  We draped them around our apartment. No...he was not a happy camper.
We had a nice dinner with wine (Vernaccia di San Gimignano) and toasted to tomorrow – The Cortona Market day and our move to our new home for the next week – La Foresta.  Oh yes, and another morning visit to the scene with the cypress trees...how could I forget?
Arrivederci

Penny

Stay tuned for Day 9

Day 7 – Back to Tuscany

Thursday, July 9, 2009

It took us five hours to drive back from Sorrento to Gli Archi. We felt like we had taken a mini vacation on the Amalfi coast. We made it to the grocery store in Carmuccia in time to pick up a few things for our picnic the next day.

The owners of Gli Archi put on a pizza night every Thursday and for 10 Euros per person we decided to join them for dinner. All the women including the grandmother, who talked to me nonstop in Italian, even though the daughters kept telling her I didn’t understand, were involved and busy chopping and frying toppings.

Onions were fried for the toppings of a focaccia appetizer and we had a choice of four different pizzas, all created in the little kitchen beside the outdoor brick oven. One of the women was assigned to oven duty and would point the paddle which was at least 10 feet long, into the kitchen while another woman slipped the pizza on it. She would have to then back up and start manoeuvring forward like she was jouster and march towards the oven and slip it off the paddle right onto the oven’s stone floor. You wouldn’t want to get in this woman’s way!

We all were seated at picnic tables – There were about 30 people, a mixture of adults and children from all over the world. We joined a couple and their son, originally from Belgium who now live in Abu Dhabi. We exchanged stories while enjoying our focaccia, pizzas and homemade wine. Then came watermelon and Vino Santo. She plopped a biscotti into it and smiled. Of course there were other desserts as well...a meringue, chocolate cake and cookies.
We toasted with homemade limoncello to tomorrow.... market day in Pienza, a visit to Montepulciano and a hunt for a particular setting with cypress trees that Dan was determined to find in the very early morning light.

Arrivederci
Stay tuned for Day 8... ...

Day 6: The Amalfi Coast - Sorrento, Positano, Ravello and more

Day 6
Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Waking up on the Amalfi coast with the view of Mount Vesuvius was fantastic. We headed down for breakfast which consisted of fruit, toast and coffee - 40 Euros – YIKES!!!! Our dinner last night with wine was 60 Euros – but there were no other choices there for breakfast...oh well...we were in an expensive hotel (booked on Dan’s Priority Club points) so couldn’t really complain.
The very handsome Francesco picked us up at 9:00 am speaking excellent English. How did he learn? U2, Michael Jackson etc. These were his English teachers and inspiration to learn more about the language. A soccer fanatic, he lives in Sorrento and plays soccer about five times a week. He even took time off to attend every single Italy game at the last World Cup - won by Italy he boasted.

Every square inch of land seems to be cultivated in this region. The hillsides are terraced with Olive trees, lemon groves, walnuts, chestnuts, fig trees and vineyards.

The Olive trees had nets tied up around them , soon to be released to catch the ripened olives during harvest time. The olive oil is graded by the acidity, and bruises greatly affect the acidity levels. The nets provide a soft landing for the olives and avoid bruising. The olive oil must pass the acidity test to be classified as extra virgin olive oil.

Francesco drove us through Sorrento to Positano – where we walked down to the water and wound our way back up through paths of beautiful boutiques.

 A stop at the Sireneuse hotel (a five star with exquisite views) gave us a moment to regroup and take some photos from a new perspective. The Sireneuse sits on a high point of the town and overlooks the Duomo and beaches below.

Francesco pointed out several of the locations where the movies “Under the Tuscan Sun” and “Beautiful Women” were filmed. We travelled through a variety of other villages until we made our way to Ravello for lunch.

We ate on a terrace overlooking the breathtaking Amalfi coast. The meal was good but I will mention the dessert (as usual ). Homemade lemon gelato frozen in the actual lemon skins...sooo delicious. Actually there were two other fruits on the plate. We think they were peaches or nectarines also frozen filled with their matching gelato.

We continued to the town of Amalfi for more photos before looping back to our hotel.

The excursion took about seven hours and we saw quite a bit without feeling rushed. We said our goodbyes to Francesco and returned back to the hotel for a short rest. We decided to go back to Sorrento that night for dinner.

The traffic was horrible as everyone was coming back from the beach and merging onto the main road to Sorrento. What would take 20 minutes took about one and a half hours, most of it spent inching through a tunnel! We headed down to the Marina Grande and had dinner at a recommended restaurant Il Delphina, a 20 minute walk down to the water. I removed my high sandals and slipped on my flip flops... (I wouldn’t have made it otherwise!) The meal was good but the service wasn’t. We waited a long time until we were even served our wine, and the waiter, although funny was impossible to track down.

We huffed and puffed our way back up the hill and then enjoyed the walk through the streets , all lit with decorative lights.

Our free shuttle returned us back to the hotel where we toasted to la Dolce Vita!
Arrivederci....Stay tuned for Day 7 when we head back to Tuscany!

Day 5 The Amalfi Coast ... Sorrento

Day 5

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

We left at 6:00 for the long drive to Sorrento. This time we programmed Higgins to use the toll roads so we could get there quickly...well it still took us 5 hours..... The cars moved fast on this autostrada and although we were not the slowest –we were not in the same league as most of the other cars. We were faster than the trucks though! We did scoot out briefly to pass some trucks, and then before we knew it, a car would appear behind us out of nowhere and was tailing us. They flashed by us like lightning – we were going about 120 kms hr ...they were going about 180 kms hr.



Along the way we stopped for coffee at the Autogrille, a favourite roadside stop where had coffee shooters, espressos, not the Tim Horton’s extra large that you nurse for 200 kms. No, these are consumed at the counter/bar and even though this is a roadside stop, each coffee is individually made with care.

When we exited the highway at Castelamare, according to Higgins, but not the right exit, we were assaulted with traffic coming at us in all directions. Scooters were driving on the wrong side of the road and cars were honking everywhere. I suppose it didn’t help when I kept on shouting out to Dan ”Watch out!!!” Yes it was stressful and even “Higgins” was getting confused. We pulled over at a gas station where I showed the address of the hotel to the two guys working there and they proceeded to argue, in very animated Italian , about the directions to get to our hotel. We vaguely understood...did he say 200 metres turn left or 2 kms....hmmmm.... and started off again. Finally we arrived at the Crowne Plaza, a very imposing hotel perched on the side of the mountain.

The room was very modern and airy. The bed was positioned in front of a very large picture window. The magnificent view in front of us was Mount Vesuvius!



We spent some time on the beach and it felt like we were having a couple of days vacation from our vacation!!!



In the evening, we took advantage of the free shuttle bus to Sorrento – Dan was not too eager to face more of the chaos of the roads here.



We walked around, admired the dramatic views and had a beautiful candlelit dinner with a lovely white wine from the region. Candlelight was important at the restaurant (and the surrounding square) as the power would go off frequently. The view from our little table, perched on the edge of the sidewalk, provided added entertainment. When a beautiful woman walked by, the waiter winked at Dan and commented “good table!” And then there was the horse and buggy parked in the square – the driver arguing with the horse...we are not sure what the argument was about. Delicacie de limona, a favourite of the area was the finale and was light and refreshing. What a very international destination – the people at the tables around us were visitors from Germany, England, Australia, Scotland and Spain. One of the common elements we all had was enjoying food with friends and family!



We ended the evening with a toast with Fiagre to tomorrow on the Amalfi coast... our day with Francesco.

Arrivederci

Penny

Stay tuned for Day 6....

Day 4 From Carmuccia to Siena...

Day 4 - Monday, July 6, 2009

We set the GPS to avoid toll roads and travelled on side roads from Carmuccia to Montalcino.
This is the hilly area south of Siena know as the “Sienese Crests”a land of incredible panoramic vistas of the Tuscan countryside.



Rolling hills dotted with cypress trees and topped with medieval towns.  Olive groves and rustic farmhouses...the classic Tuscan countryside...a photographers dream.  There weren’t many vineyards in this area.  When we started out, the weather was dreary with thick fog.  As we wound our way through the countryside through San Giovanni d’Asso and Asciano the fog slowly disappeared and the sun cast its magical spell on this majestic landscape.


Dan was repeatedly pulling off to the side of the road and saying “I think this is a picture” or waiting for the the sun to come creeping out from under a cloud: “the sun is almost out...just another minute... don’t you see it starting to come out of the clouds?" Honestly, I would look up and wonder where he was seeing the sun. It was a mystery to me. And, so we waited and after 20 minutes sometimes, it would finally reveal itself like a tidal wave of light slowly flowing along the land and as its grand finale projecting the light on the one lonely farmhouse on a hill....yes, it was beautiful and worth waiting for. The challenge is how you capture that magic in a photograph.

We enjoyed coffee and biscotti in Montalcino as well as a very whimsical parade of tourists – big umbrellas shielding them from the sun as well as very big colourful floppy hats and full length gloves of all styles – from lace, fingerless to long black elegant – and a multitude of styles and colors of running shoes to match. They were having a blast, posing for pictures and enjoying each others company.


We planned on having lunch in quaint Asciano, but when we arrived, around 1:00, all restaurants were closed.  We walked around the sleepy town and decided to drive to Siena for lunch. Central Siena is off limits to traffic so we parked outside the city walls and walked to the Campo, fresh from the Palio a few days prior.  We enjoyed a leisurely lunch at one of the many restaurants, a great place to people watch. We walked around the old city, visited the Duomo, which looks like a wedding cake with its very ornate facade and spent a lot of time admiring this medieval town.


I bought some panna forte and with tired feet, we made our way back to the car and returned to Gli Archi for dinner.  We had fresh pasta and sauce with some added spices we bought along the way.  A bottle of local Chianti accompanied our simple meal and we toasted to tomorrow’s trip to the Amalfi coast where we will spend 2 days and meet up with Francesco!

Arrivederci!

Stay tuned for Day 5!

Day 3 of our Tuscany Adventure - Cortona

Sunday, July 5, 2009

We decided to have a relatively easy day today without too much driving, so off to Cortona we went. We followed Rick Steves’ walking tour of Cortona and visited some shops...of course. We stopped by “Il Pozzo”, a little art gallery. It has an excavated well from the 11th century, surrounded by photography, watercolours and etchings of Tuscany. We chatted with Ivan who showed us his uncle’s exquisite photography and then bought a print of Cortona, which we will get framed when we get back home.



I’m guilty...I just couldn’t control myself ...and asked him if he was around during the filming of “Under the Tuscan Sun”. He WAS!!! And Diane Lane even bought several paintings from him...and then he kind of sort of...told us where Bramasole was located. The owners still live there and of course we weren’t going to be those tourists who shows up at their doorstep...

We returned back to Gli Archi (very close by) because the skies darkened and it was close to lunch. We watched the storm from our terrace and then returned to Cortona. We had coffees and gelatos – I had pistachio and coconut and Dan had caramel and chocolate chip. They were absolutely yummy but melted very quickly. I think this was the first time that I wasn’t the messiest while eating something...yay!!!!



I then suggested that we take a little walk up the hill...and perhaps we would check out Bramasole ...

So what if a thunderstorm was rolling towards us and lighting was shooting through the sky in the distance...it would be a nice walk...wouldn’t it? We would just walk by, as if we happened to be taking a walk in the area...It should be very close and we could just take a peek?




After walking for 45 minutes down a deserted, very beautiful path, the weather was approaching quickly and after I repeated for the 10th time...”I think it is just up ahead” Dan looked at me with furrowed eyebrows and suggested that we perhaps should turn back since it looked like it was going to start raining any second. Speed walking back, the rain pouring down (let’s not mention his expensive camera and lenses hanging off his body) I asked if he still loved me???? When he replied “We are not back to the car yet” I walked/ran even faster. Escaping the lightning, we arrived back at the car and returned home to enjoy a home cooked dinner and a crostata di frutta.



We thought about our plans for the next day and entered the cities into Higgins (our GPS).

We toasted with our “Est Est Est” white wine to tomorrow’s itinerary... Montecatino...and Siena.

Arrivederci!

Penny

Day 2 - Arriving at Gli Archi

Saturday July 4, 2009

It’s not that we were dawdling when we heard our names being called in the Munich airport; it’s that security and immigration caused some delays. Of course, Dan being a photographer always has his equipment searched and tested regularly, but I had my new camera knapsack now and they examined that too. Well, I shouldn’t say new, as Dan cleared out an old one for me since I am now officially a multi lens owner. I felt like a little kid getting their own little piece of luggage to take with me on a trip. We did make it to the flight on time – Air Dolomiti – direct to Florence. After my luggage didn’t arrive in Florence, we picked up our car rental (in the parking lot of the Florence Airport) , drove to Lucca to kill four hours, not recommended after an overnight flight but hey...Florence airport is small ...so easy to go in and out of...despite the extreme heat...let’s keep positive now – after all we are so happy we are in Tuscany!

I finally received my luggage (5 hours later) and we were off.

Now it was up to Higgins (our nickname for the GPS- credit to Zac for naming it) to get us to Gli Archi, near Camucia/Cortona, our home for the next week.
Winding through the roads in our little yellow Fiat Panda, we enjoyed the picturesque countryside.

The GPS was fantastic but eventually we were on roads that even “Higgins” didn’t know the names of. He continued to provide the directions just referring to turn right on “road” and left etc on “road” and believe it or not...we got there!
Gli Archi greeted us with fields of smiling Sunflowers, radiating joy, and in fact rejuvenating Dan after this very long day. We couldn’t help but smile. They seemed to be standing there like a chorus line, all the same height with the same yellow hats on - their heads facing us...welcoming us to this land of the Tuscan sun.




Emanuela checked us in to our lovely apartment with its’ modern bathroom, bedroom with a terrace, kitchen, dining room and another terrace with a table overlooking the sunflower fields. The property has bicycles available to borrow any time as well as laundry, a very nice pool and tennis courts.
We followed (raced) Emanuela to the grocery store to pick up some dinner. Gli Archi did not come with any condiments, dish soap, paper towelling, sponges etc. So if you intend to stay at this property, you might want to bring along a small amount of spices etc. or pick things up at the grocery store when you arrive.
We toasted to our first meal – our first bottle of Chianti. We had lasagne and I’m not sure exactly what else we ate, since I just pointed at things when they looked good and said “Si, per favore!”
BTW, we can’t speak Italian....

Ciao

...stay tuned for Day 3!