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!

Day 1- A Taste of Tuscany....our adventure

Introduction:
Dan and I, when travelling together, prefer less structure when visiting new or old destinations, which allows us more flexibility. We spend little time in big cities and prefer the picturesque countryside, where we stay in more rustic accommodations, can stand in the middle of a sunflower field for as long as we want, shop at the town markets and enjoy sitting at a sidewalk cafe watching people go by for an entire afternoon. We cook for ourselves most of time and love candlelit dinners with wine on our own little patio with a view.

I suppose all my years in travel have taught me that everyone has their own priorities when travelling. Some may love what we did and others may not. Really look at yourself, and in your heart, you will know what you enjoy experiencing on vacation and what to avoid. Maybe you will find some things here that you would like to do or those things that you know you absolutely would not. This is our personal story about our trip to Tuscany- a day by day account and we loved it.

Friday July 3, 2009

I was going to say that our vacation began when ICE picked us up. Actually it was Brian, but it didn’t begin then. It began on New Year’s Eve 2008. That’s when Dan and I made the decision to go to Tuscany. We then started researching, buying guidebooks and deciding on dates... and yes I "encouraged" him to watch “Under the Tuscan Sun.”
I’m writing this on the flight to Munich where we will connect to another flight to Florence. Brian picked us up in his Lincoln town car and whisked us off to the airport. Upon arrival at the airport, he asked us when we would be returning so he would be there to pick us up - how nice!  Reaching for our itinerary, from our very well organized binder, I pulled it out and the wind released it from my hands. It took flight. And our very proper driver, Brian, began running after it. Yes, if one watched from a distance, they would have thought he was doing a river dance act- leaping and stamping, trying to harness it to the ground! Whew...he was successful and handed it back to me out of breath, stating “that’s why they call it an airport!” Dan and I checked in, relaxed in the Air Canada Lounge, and then boarded our flight.
Aside from the mix up with someone sitting in our seats and a woman telling Dan he absolutely needed to find a spot for her bags, everything went well.

We toasted to our vacation...and fell asleep...