Day 15. The Road Back to Milan

Another perfect start to the day in Tuscany. We were up a bit earlier than normal to finish packing, clean up the unit, finish the food left in the fridge and take off to Asciano to drop off the keys.  Then the GPS routed us back out on to the A1 and we headed north.

We had traveled this road before on the way to Florence so it was familiar until we turned off toward Pisa. This takes you west across the middle of the country and into some larger mountains. 

It is built up on both sides of the highway but about halfway across we went through a zone of ornamental horticulture the like of which we had never seen.  Mile after mile of trees of every description.  Hundreds of shaped trees all the same.  Fantastic.

We had planned to visit the leaning Tower of Pisa but a wrong turn that would have meant an additional 30 km and two highway tolls turned Jim off and we kept on going to Genoa.

The highway running into Genoa is a masterpiece of engineering. We went thru tunnel after tunnel, some up to 2 km long.  It seemed that half the route was underground!

From Genoa we turned north to Milan.  The first few km are in tunnels and then it flattened out to the agricultural land we started out with two weeks ago.  Rice fields, barley and corn.

The rest of the trip was uneventful.  We checked into the Sheraton Hotel at the airport, returned the car and got ready for for an early departure in the morning.

One interesting fact.  The Telepass had registered 126 euros in tolls during the trip.  The 15 euros we had invested in it were well spent.

Long trip to Canada begins at 6:45 Friday.

Day 14 The Back Roads of Tuscany

It was a lovely day in Tuscany today. Sunny and highs of 27-28. We left mid morning and went south to the town of Montepulciano. It is only about 20 minutes away so we had a nice drive through the country.

The types of crops changed from field crops like barley to grapes. Lots and lots of grapes. This area is known as the Noble Wine Region.

Montepulciano is spread  out along a high ridge line and enclosed with high walls. They had parking and a tourist information area just by gate that made it convenient. One more sign that Montepulciano has thought about tourism marketing is the existence of not only good signage in the city but a lot of QR codes on the signs that link to further information. They even supply an open and fast Wifi connection! Brilliant.

There is the requisite window shopping but here there are a lot of food and wine related stores. Everyone had a free tasting.

We walked around Montepulciano and took in the sights. There are some great views of the countryside.  Grape vines everywhere.

We next headed toward the town of Montalcino. It is located about 30 min west of Montepulciano. As it was after noon we stopped for lunch in San Qauirico d'Orcia. This is a great little to town that feels more "authentic" for some reason. It is not overrun with tourists but has some good shops and we had a great lunch.  The parking was even free!

When we got to Montalcino I missed the sign for the first parking lot and we found ourselves immediately into the narrow and steep streets of the town. We crept through it and got out to the other side where there was also a parking lot.

However it had a pay and display machine that only took  coins and we didn't have any.  I tired to talk to the parking ticket person who was making her rounds and she suggested we go somewhere and buy something to get change otherwise we'd get a ticket.  So in doing that we found ourselves back in the old town trying to find a store that was open (and a place we could stop) and ended up on some scary steep and narrow places ... one of which we had to back uphill for a couple of hundred meters to get out of. As by now we had seen much if the town from the car (unintentionally) we decided to abandon our efforts to find change and get parked and we left the way we came. 

We did get some wine tasteing in at a couple if wineries, the best of which was Conti Constanti. We bought a bottle of Brunello that was very, very nice.

It was back to our villa il Fornacino for some drinks around the pool before we headed off to supper with the wedding party.  It was held at the Lazy Olive where our cooking class had been.

It was a great evening and we watched the sun go down on our last night in Tuscany.  It will be packing and cleanup for our long trip back to the the airport in Milan in the morning.

Day 13 Florence

Florence is not a place you can see in part of a day as we discovered.  It had been on our list of places to visit and we headed out after breakfast.

It's a 125 km drive so we took the Autostrada there and followed the GPS route to the old down town.  We passed through one of the narrowest walled roads we have seen so far.  It was like a slot car track!
Finally we followed signs to a parking building (always the hardest part of visits to these places) and left the car.

Florence is a city where the motorcycle or scooter is king.  There are streets full of them parked. They pass you on both sides when you drive and seem to have their own road rules.  Everyone from businessmen to kids are on two wheels.

There are also a lot of pedestrian streets and in addition to walkers you have to watch for bicycles.  If you're lucky, they ring their bell as they come up behind you.

The center part of the city is dominated by the huge domed church all done in green and white carved marble.  Stunning. 

There was no way to get near it with the crowds.  We had lunch in the square and looked at it and all the people streaming by. This is the first place we had noticed gypsies working in the crowds.  The women were begging for money for their children. Most people ignored them.

There are artists everywhere around this city, more than any other place we have been. Some places there were 8 or 10 in a row set up with canvas or paper and either painting or sketching. If you wanted to sit for a few minutes you could have your portrait done.

There are lots of statues on display as well.  The famous "David" is here but every corner has something displayed. Again, we didn't get into any of the exhibits due to lineups and lack of time.
What you could not avoid were the stores and shops. Barbara bought a few things, the prices seemed better here than certainly Venice.  The famous Ponte Vecchio bridge is lined on both sides with jewelry stores all competing for the tourist euro.  There is a lot of gold on that bridge.

In a city this big with so many people we were surprised to run into members of the wedding party we had met the night before. They were shopping as well.

It was back to the villa once we got tired of the crowds.  This time we ignored the GPS and took the slower back roads home, seeing some of the same country from a different direction.  It was after 6 by the time we got there. There were snacks and beer by the pool before another of Barb's wonderful suppers. She created her own ragout like we had made in cooking class the night before using the ingredients we had on hand.

If we come back to this part of Italy again we'll plan on staying in Florence for a couple of nights to get a chance to see more of its art and history.

We have only two more nights in the villa before we head north so tomorrow we visit some wineries.

Day 12 Rain in Tuscany & Cooking Class

For the first time since we had left Milan we awoke to an overcast and rainy morning.  It was not a heavy rain but it was cool and dark and didn't encourage us to go out quickly to see anything. Eventually we did take a run into Asciano to get some supplies. It turns out that nothing is included with the rental including having to bring your own salt, pepper and toilet paper. 

Anyway it was just after lunch when we got back and as we were unloading the groceries Dominick and David stopped by to check that we were still coming to the cooking class that afternoon.  Dom is a friend of our daughter-in-law Monique.  She and David are getting married later in the week.  Unfortunately Monique is not able to travel so the visit that we had planned for this part of the trip with Monique and our son Steve will not happen.

The sun had come out by noon and we walked up the road to the villa known as the Lazy Olive at 3 where we met others in the wedding party. We immediately were included in the activities and felt at home.

The owners of the villa live at their property. The husband is a chef and they brought in a friend who works as chef  a local spa to help.  We were divided into two teams and proceeded to work with the chefs to prepare the evening meal.

We made pasta, a cheese and favabean salad, duck ragout, steak on the BBQ
and chocolate cake. There was also a dish with eggplant and cheese that was interesting. 
With lots of wine, cats, dogs and children to entertain us, the afternoon flew by. I discovered that there is a wifi node at this villa so was able to finally connect, get the e-mail and upload the blogs I had been creating.

A long table was setup outside the villa with a great view of the countryside and the meal was served. It was wonderful.  Unfortunately it turned cold once the sun went down so we were glad we had our coats. 

It was about midnight by the time we got back to our own villa. It was a day we won't soon forget.

Day 11 Siena and North

We thought there might be rain in the forecast but the day dawned clear and ended up being very warm.
We decided to go north  of Asciano to visit a couple of places so after a leisurely breakfast we headed out.
We made quick stop in Asciano to try to connect to the village Wifi but didn't have any luck so that will have to wait.
The road from Asciano to Siena runs along a ridge line over farm county called le Crete.  It's hard to describe but in places the land falls away on both sides of the narrow road. Houses are perched on hill tops all around.  Pretty.
The city of Siena is about 25 km north.  It's a big place with high walls and massive gates that you pass through on the way in. There were lots people and traffic so it was a bit confusing as to where it was OK to park. After our experience in Garda I was nervous of where we left the car so we only went into the main central square to look around and then left. They have a famous festival in the square each year that we had seen on TV. Today it was covered with tourists.  It's big and banked on one side which I found unusual.
We struck out further north to the town of San Gimignano.  The place is another walled town known for it's many towers.  There are 17 of the original 72 left.  It's hard to imagine what it must have been like, as it is, it's stunning. 
They also know how to handle visitors. There are clear directions to the several paid parking lots around the outside of the walls and good signage to point you into the various sights. We had lunch in a square where there was a flea market going on (a common thing for Sunday) and then walked around town.  Again, lots of shops and restaurants and lots and lots of people.
Like San Marino it's obvious that San Gimignano has fully converted to appeal to visitors and while it uses its natural features to attract people, the real purpose is shopping.  Nothing wrong with that.
Back to the villa and another nice supper as we watched the sun go down and the lights appear on the hills around us.

Day 10 Tuscany

We left San Marino in the bright sunshine of mid morning and started toward Asciano.  This time we rerouted ourselves to go the most direct route and not the fastest so we saw many of the back roads of Italy as we passed through the mountains heading west into Tuscany.

While the speed limit is usually 90, I was not comfortable driving that speed most of the time. There are lots of switchbacks and sudden turns not to mention the little villages that we ran thru.  As it was Saturday everyone with a bicycle was out and we had to go around groups of them.  There were also plenty of motorcycles... all going very fast. Scary at times.

By early afternoon we arrived in the village of Asciano and connected with Barbara, the woman from the Agrotourismo office. The streets to there were not really meant for cars and at one point I'm pretty sure we were not meant to be driving there at all!   Made it however.

She lead us out to the villa in her car.. we would not have found it even though we had an idea where it was from Google earth.  Very nice with a great view of the country side.

We had to make a run back into the village (4km) to get some supplies and food and then settled in for the night.  We shopped at a Coop store for food and wine for a couple of days.  We have the place to ourselves for the weekend.

We watched the sun go down over Siena and drank a bottle of wine as we planned the rest of our week.

There is no phone or internet out here so we have to go into the village to get connected. Postings may be slower or bunched as a result.

Day 9 San Marino

Our second morning in Venice was much like the first except for birds singing early in the morning.  They sound much like our Robins and seem pretty happy even with so few trees.

We were on the "road" right after breakfast. I say road because first you have to wheel your luggage down to the nearest ferry stop.. in our case St. Marks Square and wait until one arrives. It stops at 6 or 8 places along the Grand Canal before it gets to the car parking lot...  in all from the time we left the Inn, it as almost 2 hours gone.

The good thing was the car  was just as we had left it and, with a new GPS heading, we were on the way to San Marino.  We  took the Autostrada and made good time.  With one stop for a quick bite of lunch and fuel just past Balogna, we were in the Grand Hotel San Marino by 3.

The country from Venice to Bologna is mostly flat and heavily agricultured.  You see very few animals but all manner of crops.  It would appear that the barley will be ready to harvest in 3 weeks time and corn will tassel in a couple of weeks.

We paid 1.74 euro/l for fuel so it didn't take long to put 50 euros in the tank.  The car is a diesel so pretty good on fuel.

The GPS really proved its worth today. It even warned us about upcoming traffic in Bologna. The best part was how it took us right to the hotel door through so many twisty turny streets.

We explored San Marino until about 6. I was expecting crowds but it was really pretty quiet. 
A lot has changed since I was first there 30 years ago.  It has, for lack of a better expression, Disneyfied.  Everything is super clean and fixed up. It is full of factory stores and tax free outlets. Things are much cheaper than Venice however.  While the old town and fortifications are intact and better than ever, it just seems to have lost a bit of something.

What has not changed are the views of the surrounding country which are fabulous. 

The very nice young woman at the front desk had given us a recommendation for a restaurant and she was certainly right. The Titano Panorama served a great meal at an excellent price.  The service was every attentive.  One of our best meals while on Italy so far.

We also recommend the Grand Hotel San Marino.  It was very comfortable and modern and the staff were great.

We head to Tuscany tomorrow to start the last part of our vacation.

Day 8 Venice

There is something spooky about a city without cars.  It's quiet! 

After the restaurants and shops closed and a few of those with plenty of wine in them went home..there was hardly a sound until the bells rang in the churches at 7am.  It was quieter than the country.  No animals or wind sound. After 7 there was the rumble of hand carts in the street and the day began.

We had breakfast at 8:30 and headed out to the Doge's palace which is just around the corner from where we stayed.  It is much more than just a palace for a rich person but rather the seat of government for the Venice Republic that lasted nearly a 1000 years. Interesting stuff.  We rented one of the self guide systems and visited the whole place.  We went early to try to avoid the crowds.. only partially successfully. But we ended up spending 3 hours there.  The art is amazing.  How can things like this survive so long?

It was then off to the Rialto Bridge and market.  We had passed under it on the way in.  Lots of ticky tacky things but off the bridge there is a food market with fruits and vegetables and a fish market with lots of interesting things.

We had lunch along the Grand Canal and then headed off toward the Accademia area. Lots of stores on the way.  Any number of old churches... all different all lovely.   We ended up close to the one Anglican church across the canal from St. Marks Square but by this time we were about churched and cultured out! We wandered back and had a beer in the square near our Inn. 

We went out for supper one last time as we head out in the morning to San Marino.  We can't put our finger on it but the city has a very different feel tonight compared to last night.   There were a lot fewer people around for one thing but it is just quieter.  The makeup of the tours staying over has something to do with it... but... Venice is a city always changing.

Day 7. Goito and Venice

It was a driving day as we headed from Garda to our next stop in Venice. The day was clear and bright and we saw lots of sights on the way out of Garda that we did not see on the way in because of the rain.
We went to Venice by way of the town of Goito. Since my first visit to Italy 30 years ago I had wanted to see this place.

Goito is in the middle of big agriculture in the Po Valley. There is an old canal and lock system that runs thru it and the countryside looks so much like where I grew up in southern Ontario. A lot of crops. l felt right at home.

We then went right into Venice on the big highway.

One thing I should mention. There are a lot of toll roads in Italy. However we rented a telepass transponder with the car and its a great thing in this situation. The last tollgate into Venice is the first time it failed.

We were stuck at the gate until someone called and let us through. I went into the office at the toll booth and they could find nothing wrong with unit so they let me go. I hope it works on the way out.

We left the car at the car park on the way into Venice and took the water bus in to St  Marks Square.  I have to say the signage is not great getting into the ferries but once you get there it is just like the bus system in Milan.

Finding the Laconda Cavenella was another matter. Fortunately I had the GPS programmed for the address and it walked us right there. Its a small but comfortable B and B near the main square.
We the spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the city and planning our attack for tomorrow.
Venice is like no place else.  Its hard to describe.  Its bigger than I thought and we will see only a small fraction of it.  The buildings are works of art themselves and the canal system is unique. The crowds are huge! You can have no idea of the number of people in one small place  Its a wonder the city does not sink under the weight.

We had a nice meal in a  restaurant down the street and then walked the city after dark.  The crowds are gone and the city takes on a new face.  Big day tomorrow.