Day 56, 3rd of June. Travelling from Lucca to send San Gimignano
Debora at our accommodation, had organised the taxi to drive us the 1 1/2 hrs to San Gimignano, rather than 3 buses and 4 hours to get there. He was there bright and early and came right into the city for us, which was great as it is a pedestrian town and only residents can drive in. So much better when you have suitcases and stairs to navigate.
Fairly easy drive over, the roads were a bit windy and we both felt a little carsick, but not too bad. Had to ask the driver to give us a little bit of air as it was pretty stuffy and he was obviously a heavy smoker as we could really smell it.
There was a cycling event on through the beautiful tuscan hills which meant there were many, many annoying tourist cyclists (mum & dad cyclists in lycra 😬, as well as the serious riders) going down the middle of the road a lot of the way, but the driver did well. He dropped us right outside our accommodation which appears to be the nicest in town. I felt for him though, we took our bags and then went to go out as we were too early to check in and there he was still trying to get out as it is a one-way street with tiny little alleyways, that he obviously didn’t know. He did a couple of u-turns, then got out thank goodness. It was €190 so that saved us €30 on another quote I had had.
We wandered around, but man it was packed – we had arrived on a weekend that had the cycling event on, a public holiday, which means all the Italians come out, and then also there was a wine festival on in the little town. Apparently, because the seaside was wet and not appealing the rest of the nation came as well! It was reminding me of Athens and how packed it was, but many many shops you could pop your head into. We stopped and had a nice cold wine and an aperol with the obligatory lemon soda – it doesn’t even feel like alcohol when I drink it 🥂😊. We went to the only chemist that was open to buy some bug spray as well, as they are everywhere and we both can feel them during the day as well as later in the evening. Of course it is pretty expensive there but after my experience with been bitten by a spider, I’m not keen to take any chances!
Went back to the hotel as we were able to check in and a room with a view that won’t be forgotten quickly – it is stunning over the Tuscan hillside and reminds us of our trip back in 2007 when we stayed for a week – it is just so beautiful. Was talking to the guy on the front desk of our hotel and he said a villa on about an acre with a swimming pool is about €450,000 to buy –man if it wasn’t for family, we would probably move here!
We went out and walked again….and walked and walked! There was still a lot of people around, it was hard to find a restaurant as many were just bars and everything else was only pasta or pizza, but I think tourist type food as it was all on the main drag of San Gimignano. We sat down at one that looks fairly dirty, but no-one came to serve us so we decided to go on elsewhere and found somewhere – we got the pizza and the pasta! and a couple of drinks - it was okay. We wandered the streets and then back to our hotel – nice comfortable bed which is also really good standard this time (our last bed and Lucca was quite dodgy and felt like it was going to collapse!), but the bummer is it has two beds pushed together so a big gap in between – boo 😒. But once they got the air conditioning going, it was time for bed. It wasn’t blowing cold earlier in the day and it was really hot in the room so I rang downstairs and they said that the next-door had the same problem so they needed to get someone to do the re-gassing, which worked thank goodness, as I really need a cool room to sleep 🥹.
Day 57– 4 June
Woke up gently this morning which was nice, threw open the shutters and looked at the beautiful stunning view again. We mooched around a little bit, then went down for breakfast as it is included in the room – it is quite high-end here and they have renovated what was previously the very old monastery, beautifully here. Had a nice breakfast, then back up to the room until we went out for another walk. We were looking for some stick deodorant – have been trying to get the old spice stick deodorant for months and months and you just can’t get it anywhere. Couldn’t find any here either, I think you can only get it in the UK now? It’s a pity as it doesn’t have any of the nasties like aluminium in it.
We walked out of the far end of the town, and all the local old boys were sitting on the seat having good chats in their beautiful Italian. We walked further down and round the corner of the convent which is a huge stone building. We sat down on a bench there and it was so peaceful, just sat and looked at the view. Then walked back through town and back to the room and gave Graeme a haircut as it has grown so fast since we’ve been away. A little hard doing it with a beard trimmer and little scissors, but it turned out pretty good.
Graeme watched a bit of the Grand Prix on tv, then we went out for another walk – stopped at the cafe bar just up the road and had an aperol and a red wine – seems to be our staple now 🍹🥂😉. I could drink them for ever! We got a 2nd round, then went walking again. All the restaurants open pretty late for dinner here so it is nice that when you buy a drink they seem to give you either potato chips or nuts as part of the service. We bought some sweets from a candy store – there have been the same brand of company in about three different countries we have been to, so of course I have had to try some in each place!
We decided to walk around a bit more and found some streets that were interesting with proper restaurants that served more than the tourist pasta and pizza so we went back to one, once it opened around 7 pm. We had roast pork and potatoes with a side dish of grilled vegetables and then a delicious special tiramisu for Graeme that was full of something like a custard whip and alcohol and I had a deconstructed cheesecake. It came in a jar which was quite cool(paid for it middle of the night though with indigestion& heartburn!). Dinner tonight made us realise how little meat we have been eating since we have been in Italy as the staple is prosciutto so very thin, if you have any meat.
Dinner was delicious, then we wandered back as it started to spit a little bit, it was quite nice as it is a balmy evening. All of a sudden all the streets are empty – so weird after what it was like yesterday and earlier today, but everyone has gone home ready for work tomorrow. A lovely evening.
Days 58 & 59 5th- 6th June.Volterra
The hotel had organised a taxi for us today to get to Volterra as otherwise it would have had to get three buses and go all the way to Florence to get there! The €90 for a taxi was well worth it. The lady came and picked us up – we had to walk out of town as she couldn’t get the big taxi van in, but it didn’t take long, and we had the whole eight seater to ourselves :-). It took about 45 mins and saw some beautiful countryside along the way. Volterra is 500 m above sea level, so it looks out on beautiful landscapes. The taxi driver parked outside the gates – again you can’t drive in, and she walked us the five minutes to our hotel, – Alberto Etruria. This is a quite old-fashioned hotel right in the Main Street, that is over four floors. We had chosen a room on the top floor over the street and we were lucky that the owner carried our heavy bags up for us while we were getting sorted with check in.
We had a quick walk around the town and it’s narrow pedestrian streets, but then it started to rain – we got soaked, even with a small umbrella, so we went back to our room to dry off and spent the rest of the afternoon, just mooching around until the rain has stopped. Most restaurants don’t open until 7 pm in Italy as they are open from 9– 12:30 pm, then close until 3 pm and are open again till 6 pm for shops and restaurants open later and stay open much later in the evening than we would normally eat. Their culture is to take that lovely siesta in the middle of the day for 3 hours – wouldn’t that be great in our part of the world? Exactly when your body feels tired after lunch. Anyway, we went out and walked around and found a quite swanky restaurant and Graeme had a very interesting dinner of wild boar stew which had chocolate citron and raisins and pine nuts in it. Wild boar is the main meat in Tuscany they told us – lamb hardly ever features and is quite expensive, there is a little more beef but pork is the mainstay and very nice. We wandered around the streets after dinner them back to the hotel and bed.
Day, 59 – 6 of June.
Woke up around 5 am this morning as I had crashed out last night. We were quite tired after going in and out of the hot and cold during the wet day yesterday. Breakfast was delayed as our shower had no hot water and the owner wasn’t sure what it was but then found it had needed a reset after all the rain yesterday. We had breakfast – it is a continental buffet breakfast – very busy as they can take 34 rooms so around 70 people so you have to call down 5 mins before you go and they reserve a table for you! The hotel is run by a husband and wife who, like so many others clawed their way through covid to stay in business. But these 3 months from May are their high season and bookings are looking pretty good.
We were talking to Daniela, the owner and he sorted some tickets that you buy for all the main archaeological and art sites around the small town. We got a discounted ticket at €30 each and you can go to 6 of the sites within 3 days. We needed to do them all today as we are leaving tomorrow, but got caught up in trying to organise a transport for tomorrow to get to Rome.
We were going to get a taxi to take us to a town called Cecina where we will then jump on the train to Rome. However there are only a few taxis in town and none were available at that time, so it was looking like we would have to leave at 8:20am to catch a bus to another town, then a 2nd bus to Cecina, then wait 3 1/2 hrs for the train which was not appealing. Daniela sent us up to the information centre as they sell the tickets for all the transport.
They also tried a couple of other taxis but no go. Went back and were trying to work it out at the hotel when Daniela said he would contact a couple of friends and see if anyone could take us to Cecina, as I was telling him about bla bla car and that we were happy to pay someone if anyone was going. He later let us know that one of his friends could drive us in for cheaper at €80, than the taxi which was going to be €105 for the 1 hr drive. I always say the transport is the dearest part of travelling! But this way he will pick us up at 10:30 am, and we will go straight there and then get on the train and hopefully be in Rome by 2:45 pm.
Once that was all sorted, finally around lunchtime, we started going to all the sites that Volterra has to offer – we went to the museum which was also the council hall and had some amazing frescoes and paintings in it, then up into the belltower right when it was striking – my goodness, it was loud as we were sitting right under the huge bell. Luckily, the staff member had warned us to block our ears!
Then we stopped and grabbed a wine and an aperol, along with bruschetta with tomato and olive oil on it – was delicious as she made it fresh in the deli. Then we went to see the Roman amphitheatre, which is on the outskirts of town – I had seen this on a travel show on TV and was the whole reason I wanted to come here.It originally dates back from an incredible first century BC – the original structure could hold about 1700 spectators. It blows my mind with things like this, and absolutely fascinates me – I should’ve been the archaeologist I wanted to be when I was a young teenager!
After that we walked to the Acropolis Etrusco which was where their religious temple was. You could walk around and see the foundations of it all – again, incredibly old. Right next to it was a beautiful jail, which is a high security with huge stone around the walls – very surprised to see that so close to the town, and in such a beautiful structure.
Next on to Pinacoteca e Museo civico which also houses an alabaster museum. The first one had the most incredibly old coins and paintings and other artefacts that had been found in the town. It was money well spent today to see all those incredible antiquities, especially the amphitheatre for me, having seen it on TV and then getting into see it in real life. We couldn’t get right down into it as they are doing renovations and because it has been raining so much, it’s too wet to walk around there, but seeing it from above was good enough! It has rained on and off all day, but we managed to dodge it and the hotel gave us a lovely big umbrella as well.
We went back up to the information centre just after 3:30 pm once they had reopened after the lunchtime siesta! And bought tickets for the train tomorrow to Rome at €34 each 2nd class. So not bad at all for a 2 3/4 hr trip.
We noticed there are a Lot of dogs out with their owners- Italians love their pooches and they can go pretty much everywhere with them🐾♥️love it.
Went back to our room, and relaxed as our feet were killing us. After all the walking and mostly climbing up very ancient steps that was so smooth, they were hollowed out on the outside edges. The steps everywhere were incredibly steep – they must’ve had strong thighs in the olden days! At 7 pm, we went out for dinner across the laneway from the hotel to a restaurant that had been recommended to us by the owner of the hotel. There were people lining up to get in even before it opened. We had a lovely meal – I had seafood that was steamed - several dozen mussels in the shell, which were probably the size of your fingernail! We have noticed they are tiny everywhere except New Zealand but these were really small, although very nice. Dessert was tiramisu for Graeme- of course! And I had a lemon sort of panna cotta but it had salted caramel covering the top. I was a bit sceptical but it was primo👍👏.
We walked around the square and the Piazza for awhile afterwards and bought a biscuit each after a very nice restaurant meal, then back to room to tidy up a bit as we will need to be ready to go tomorrow morning.
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| Art in the countryside! |
1 comment:
Such history - such food - such drink. So many stories and memories
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