Under the Tuscan Sun

Monday, June 8, 2009

This is our first day around Tuscany and we really wanted to see as much as possible. We started the day with breakfast at our apartment again before getting in the car. We first went to the main square in Greve (the town where our villa is located) to look at the butchers, bakers, souvenir shops, and a cappuccino for Greg.

The main square in Greve:

The boar at the butchers:


Once done with that, we spent much more time there than we had expected to, we headed towards Siena. It was such an amazing drive through the hills and vineyards, unbelievable scenery. Once we got to Siena we immediately headed into the main area of town. We went by Il Duomo which was built in pink and white marble. It was stunning on the outside but there was quite a line to go in so we did not wait around. We then did a bit of shopping and then stopped for lunch at Taverna Il Capitano. While the food was good, the personalities were good, the service was slow. We were really ready to get a move on.

View along the way to Siena:


Siena has a snail as their emblem:


Romulus & Remus statues are very prominent in Italy:

Us at Il Duomo in Siena:

Il Duomo:


After lunch we went to Piazza del Campo and by Palazzo Publicco and Fonte Gaia. We went into more shops and took lots of pictures before getting in the car for our next destination, San Gimignano. Again, the most spectacular views along the entire drive.

Palazzo Publicco:

Birds drinking from Fonte Gaia:

Fonte Gaia:


San Gimignano was a cute little country town, it looked like entering a Medieval town, walls and all. Along the outer walls of San Gimignano you could get some amazing views of the hills and towns below. We first stopped in at Combattenti so Greg could get an espresso, and then all 3 of us enjoyed yet another wonderful gelato. The other thing San Gimignano is known for is it's towers, this small town has 14 of them. We did see all of them while walking around.

The main wall at the entrance to San Gimignano:

Me and Mindrey at the entrance to San Gimignano:

Yummy gelato:

More views down:


We walked over to Torre Grossa for some great views then to Piazza delle Cisterna. Next we continued to Rocca, which is an old fortress now in ruins that has olive and fig trees growing in it. There is a watch tower still here where you can get amazing views over the city and see most of the towers. We slowly made our way back to the car, stopping to buy some wine for dinner, pastries for breakfast, and souvenirs.

Views from Rocco down:

Climbing up Rocca:

Greg and Mindrey in front of the towers:


On the way back to our villa we stopped be Castello di Gabbiano to see if they were still doing tastings, but they were already closed. We did see a super cute dog though. We ended up having dinner at Caffe Lepanto in the Greve main square before heading back to the apartment for some wine and hanging out time.

Some unusual animals in the water, being fed by a local grocer:


Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Today was going to be a bittersweet day, we had more to do and see but Mindrey would be departing from us, so we were sad about that. We began with breakfast at the apartment as always and then started our drive to Cortona. We thought we would squeeze another city in before having to take Mindrey to the train station. Along our drive we stopped in Levanella of Montevarchi to stop by the Prada outlet. There is a joke there with me and Greg. We finally found it, the store is not marked at all so you just have to know where it is, we got directions from the information center. We didn't buy anything, but still enjoyed looking.

We got back in the car and continued our drive. We finally made it to Cortona, which is an amazing hillside town in Tuscany. It looks so neat when you are driving up to the city. We walked to the main square and had lunch at a cafe in Piazza di Reppublica. Of course we then did a bit of shopping and looked at the exterior of all of the buildings. We then walked to the outer edge and saw some wonderful views of the hills and lake. The views all over Tuscany are just amazing, like nowhere else we have ever been. After a bit more walking and looking we left town to head back towards Florence.

Like the neon:

Hillside town = steps:

Looking down at a cemetary:

Mindrey, me, and Greg in Cortona:

Views from Cortona:

The main square in Cortona:


They have an escalator built into the hillside of Cortona, too funny:




When we left Cortona we were trying to get back to the road but instead took a short cut down a path straight down the side of the hill, it was kind of fun. When we got to Florence we had to navigate through the traffic and mad roundabouts, I would never recommend driving in Florence if you don't have to. It was crazy but we made it to the train station and got Mindrey on her train.

Some of the sites as we left Cortona:

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Greg and I then drove back to Greve and did a bit of grocery shopping at the co-op and then some gelato at the shop nearby. We then headed back to our apartment to cook dinner, play cards, and unwind.

Sunset from our villa:

They call it Firenze

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Today was to be a day full of culture and rain. We had purchased supplies to have breakfast at our apartment before driving back to Florence for the day (the Italians know the city as Firenze). We were a bit nervous about parking, but luckily we found a parking garage near the Uffizi Gallery that we were headed to. We dropped off the car and immediately went to Uffizi to pick up our tickets and then made our way inside.

Part of Uffizi:


Some of the highlights of Uffizi Gallery include: Botticelli's Birth of Venus, Botticelli's Primavera, Leonardo Da Vinci's Annunciation, and his Holy Family, among thousands of other pieces of art. We had been walking around for a couple of hours we decided to take a break in the cafe. We enjoyed a drink and pastry and some good views over the city before diving back into the gallery. When we were done we walked towards the Duomo. On the way we passed through Piazza della Signoria and saw one of the replicas of David and many other huge statues. I did not realize how big David was going to be, but the real one and the 2 replicas are each 17 feet tall. We took some pictures and admired all of the statues before continuing on.

Piazza Della Signoria, me & Greg with David replica:

Piazza della Signoria:



Hercules by Bandinelli, the only original left:

Neptune fountain by Michelangelo:


At the Duomo we saw the amazing bronze doors of the Baptistry called the Gates of Paradise. We tried to go into the Museo Dell'Opera but they were closing up for the day. The weather was not looking very nice so we decided to go ahead and grab some lunch. We ducked into a place close by called The Yellow Bar just in time. As we were sitting there waiting to order the skies opened up and it was not only raining, but hailing as well. Greg had fagioli all'uccellieto (cannolli beans in tomato sauce) that came served in a large frying pan, it was very tasty.

Bronze doors of the Baptistry:



The Baptistry:

Front of Duomo:

Tower of Duomo:


After lunch we proceeded to walk through the San Lorenzo Market, darting in and out of tents in between the rain drops. It was now time to go to Accademia Gallery to see the real David statue. When we got in we saw not only David (which was super impressive) but lots of other Michelangelo statues as well. Accademia wasn't nearly as big as Uffizi so we didn't spend too much time there.

When we left we walked over to Cariba for some Sicilian style gelato (more ice milk than ice cream). Once we had devoured our gelato we headed to Palazzo Repubblica and saw the famous boar statue and down onto Ponte Vecchio. This is mainly full of gold shops so we didn't purchase too much, but we did still look. We were about wiped out so we headed towards the car, stopping to pick up a few items for dinner, and then drove home. We spent another evening cooking at the flat and just hanging out and enjoying our time together.

The Boar near Palazzo Repubblica:



Ponte Vecchio:

Closed shops look like little treasure chests on Ponte Vecchio:

Uffizi from Ponte Vecchio:

Just like The Italian Job

Friday, June 5, 2009
We woke up and showered and then headed to the bus stop to go to Venice. We arrived early, especially in Italy standards, and found a bakery to grab some pastries from and then Caffe Ateneo so Greg could get a coffee. Let me just say this, I cannot tell you exactly where we went or what bridge we went over, all I can say is we walked ALOT. We walked over more bridges than I have ever seen in my life and through more canals than I knew could exist, and I have been to Amsterdam. We went into most shops to look at masks and other souvenirs.

A gondola in front of Pont Rialto:


We finally made it to San Marco Square and the famous San Marco's Basilica and Doge's Palace. This is the iconic Venetian spot with the large cathedral, on the waterfront, and the thousands of pigeons around. Interestingly we found out that this is the ONLY spot that you can legally feed pigeons. We didn't go in, the lines seemed massive, but the buildings were amazing. Doge's Palace is even pink. (When we made it back to London we immediately pulled up the Italian Job and it looks exactly the same as it did in the beginning of the movie)

San Marco's Basilica:

Yes, pink lamppost:

Towers in Piazza San Marco:

Piazza San Marco:

Doge's Palace:


We had been walking for hours at this point so we decided to go into Harry's Bar (they supposedly invented bellini's) but with some confusion we could not go in either because Greg was wearing shorts or because they didn't do drinks only until after 6 pm, still not sure which reason it was but either way we couldn't go in. We decided to get on a water bus instead and head to the Rialto Market, the foot market in Venice. When we finally got there they were all packing up, but it was mainly fresh fish and vegetables so wouldn't have been good for what we were wanting anyways. So, we found a place nearby and grabbed some pizzas at Trattoria Antica Torre. We also had entertainment with 2 pigeons that kept fighting.

Canals and gondola's around Venice:




We then continued walking around Venice (I really had no clue it was so big) and bought masks and souvenirs before taking a gondola ride around the city. Yes, it is very cliche and quite expensive, but it was fantastic. The gondolier was great, lots of personality and took us not only through the Grand Canal but also through a lot of the smaller canals. When we got done we did some more shopping at which time it started to rain.

On the gondola:




We ducked in and out of shops during the rain and made it to the Jewish Ghetto. The museums were closed but seeing it and the walls and memorials was really interesting. The city gathered all of the Jews up and made them all live in this one completely enclosed area during the war. There were only 2 bridges that got into the ghetto and they were guarded at all times so nobody could get in or out. It was very fascinating to learn about. We couldn't make a decision on dinner so we ended up back at Brek's before catching the bus back to the hotel. While there
we hung out and had some bellini's with some pastries we had bought before going to bed.

A lone gondolier before we left Venice:


Saturday, June 6, 2009
We left Venice for Florence after having an okay breakfast at the hotel. It was quite an experience getting to Florence. Our train was 40 minutes late by the time it got to us and then around Carmeggio it just stopped for a while. They finally made an announcement (in italian) that there were problems on the tracks between Bologna and Florence. A very nice lady on the train translated for us and let us know what they had said. What this meant was that there was only 1 track and that only 1 train could go through that area at a time, so everyone was having to wait their time. This made us an additional 2 hours later, but it was no big deal at all. We hung out on the train, playing cards, and enjoying the sandwiches that I insisted we buy before we got on the train.

When we got to Florence we picked up our rental car and set about finding our villa. It only took about 50 minutes to get to our villa in Greve in Chianti (Tuscany) from Florence. It was amazing being in this place surrounded by olive trees and grape vines. Mindrey had been getting sick so we let her rest and Greg and I went into Greve and found the grocery store to pick up supplies. Our apartment at Patrizia Faliciana was a full 2-bedroom, 1-bath apartment with a full kitchen, dining room, and living room so we wanted to utilize it. We bought groceries and came back and cooked dinner. Mindrey got up in time for caprese, bread with olive oil, spaghetti, and wine. We even got some gelato to make sure we did not miss a day without it.

Enjoying our first meal:

Around our villa: