Ciao, buongiorno!
We have found a beautiful little piece of Tuscany. We're staying in part of a big old farm house, shown below, with amazing views all the way out to the hills around Florence, which is about an hours drive north west from here. The house is just outside of a small hill top village called San Pancrazio. I'd say about 100 people live there.
Below shows the back of the house, early evening, after a day out visiting one of the many beautiful towns in Tuscany.
An Easter egg hunt! This was taken that special morning just after they found their eggs, very happy. Love the way the Italians wrap their Easter eggs, a lot of flair. Those spiky looking shrubs you can see behind Connor are artichoke plants. We've spent time relaxing in this little part of the garden, on those deckchairs with a little sand pit for Soph and Connor. This house, La Fonte, as it's called, is just perfect for the kids, and well, for us too really.
Here we are one morning having coffee with the owners Barbara and Stephano. They live here with their kids, Barbara's parents, and her grandmother, four generations! As I write Jane and the kids are downstairs making bread with Barbara. They are so lovely, warm, and generous, we feel very fortunate to be staying here.
We visited Florence yesterday. It was one of those amazing, memorable trips that leaves you buzzing the next day. We had planned to catch a train, but after asking for parking directions at the train station from a helpful guy who spoke just a few words of English, we accidently missed a turn off, and so missed the train. So we drove instead, not easy considering the mayhem of Italian city driving. We made it!
Here are two of the incredible statues in Piazza della Signoria, just outside the Palazzo Vecchio. It shows Neptune and behind him Cosimo I De' Medici. The De' Medici family were a very wealthy, powerful family that funded so many of the buildings and so much of the art that we now see in Florence.
This photo below shows Connor and I in front of the Loggis dei Lanzi, where originally Cosimo I de' Medici's Swiss bodyguards were stationed. Behind us is Benvenuto Cellini's 1545 bronze sculpture of Perseus with the head of Medusa. With such dramatic statues around me I felt like had to do something at least a bit dramatic, hence the pose, and it keeps Connor amused.
We spent hours just walking the streets of Florence, enabling us to see the different faces of this grand city, from a peaceful tucked away playground to its many fancy shops, as shown below.
Barbara, who's family owns the house here, lived in Florence for many years before making the big move to the country. She recommended a little locals restaurant in the heart of Florence, wow, what a find, so authentic. It was one of those meals you never forget. Sophie took this photo below.
Our waiter, Migelli, or Mike as they called him there, was fantastic, unbelievable service, in a very casual, friendly way. Here are some of the tapas (one of them being chicken livers) and other Tuscan delicacies he recommended. The mains included a plate of cows tripe in a lovely tomato sauce, Jane and the kids weren't too keen on that one.
The photo below shows Mike with some of their wine collection. He was saying that its the oldest wine bar in Florence, that it was previously the house of a De' Medici Archbishop and the tomb of the De'Medici Archbishop was just above the room shown below, fascinating stuff. The walls of the room itself dated from the 12th century.
The small plaque shown here in the middle marks the underside of the De' Medici tomb.......
After dinner we drove up to Piazzale Michelangelo which overlooks the city, a perfect way to end the day. This was the jaw dropping view that lay before us........, the Cathedral di Santa Maria del Flore (the Duomo) on the right, and the Palazzo Vecchio on the left...
And the iconic Ponte Vecchio further up the river....
A couple of days ago we visited San Gimignano, a town strongly recommended to me by my brother who was fortunate enough to stay there for a week years ago with his wife, it was outstanding. Below shows Connor off to the side with Sophie further on in the green cardigan, gorgeous streets, with one of the famed towers in the distance...
Tim had talked about a place that sold the best ice cream in town. We saw this ice cream shop (below) with a line of about twenty people, and thought right, that's the one. The owner, Sergio, came up to us for a chat, we had to take a snap.....
San Gimignano is known for its medieval towers. There were originally 70 of them in the town. Powerful, wealthy families would build them as a sign of their might. Due to wars and reconstruction there is now only 14 towers left. The photo below shows the Salvucci Twin Towers. After a height limit was installed by the rulers of the day, this family decided to build two of them!
And below shows the view out the other side, showing the top of its twin. Interestingly the towers have been converted to stylish rental properties. As I climbed the many, many stairs, it was fascinating to see on one floor a tiny bedroom, the next a tiny kitchen, the next a tiny TV room and so on. You can see below the outside patio chairs and table for the tower house next door, what a view, I'd stay there for sure....
We visited Arezzo earlier this week, one of the larger towns in the area, very picturesque. Here is Sophie picking flowers with the cathedral bell tower in distance...
Arezzo has one of the most charming, gorgeous piazzas you will ever see, it's called "Piazza Grande". Here is Jane and I in the middle of it, so happy just to be there, in such magnificent surrounds.
That building you can see over my shoulder in the photo above, is the same one above the bike cart in the photo below, a scene from the movie "Life Is Beautiful". This film, if you remember, won a host of awards at the 1998 Academy Awards, including best actor by Roberto Benigni ( the guy on the left below). A lot of the movie was shot in Arezzo.
And speaking of town squares, below shows the Piazza del Campo in Siena, just as we entered it, Sophie and Connor hand in hand, wow, what an impressive sight....
In the back streets of Siena we came across this very cool little delicatessen that specialized in wild boar meat, people sipping red wine and nibbling some of the shop's delights just out the front. You can see a wild boar's head above the entrance.
Sophie's been watching me taking photos for quite a while now, so she decided she wanted one of her own, well, a pretend one. Here she is with the new purchase outside of Siena's main cathedral, the Duomo.
And here is a photo I took of the Cathedral's ceiling, the Italians really know how to do churches as you can see......
Here is another view of the magnificent Piazza del Campo with the Palazzo Pubblico (town hall) and the Torre (tower) del Magia, which I was lucky enough to climb that day. The view from up there over the surrounding countryside was spectacular.
It's in this square that the famous bareback horse race, the Palio di Siena, happens twice a year. I took this photo of a picture of the race which was hanging on a street wall nearby. I've thought to myself, we should come back one day and see this race, when the kids are older......
Here is Sophie and Connor, hand in hand again, enjoying a tree swing out the back of the house here....
In the same way Peter Mayle's "A Year in Provence" did so much for Provence, Frances Mayes' "Under The Tuscan Sun" has done a lot for Tuscany. Both great reads by the way. We were able to see her house just outside of a town called Cortona (the tourist office gives directions). There were about five workmen tending her garden, she's obviously doing very well.
Here is a view from one of Cortona's streets. That valley below you can see in the distance was where Hannibal successfully ambushed the Roman army in 217BC.
Cortona was an ancient Etruscan town. The Etruscans inhabited this area for many years before the Romans took over in the late 4th century BC. This mysterious civilization produced some impressive art, such the one shown below, dated 430-400 BC .
On Easter Friday night we went to mass (mum would be so happy with me) which included a traditional march through the village, just as you would imagine, statues of Jesus and Mary being carried by the men, hymns being sung, a special experience that I had hoped for, being in Italy for Easter and all. You can just see the statue of Mary at the front of the crowd below.
That night a guy called Enzo (shown below with Connor and I a few days later) came up to us for a chat. He was so friendly, and basically wanted to show us around. The town here, San Pancrazio, has a very tragic story in its past. Just before the end of the war, in 1944, the Nazis assassinated all the men in the village, about fifty of them, including Enzo's brother, father and uncles. The main house (shown below) where they were all shot and which Enzo showed us through, is a permanent memorial to those men. The woman of San Pancrazio remarkably over the years brought the village back to life.
Below shows where we stayed in Pitelli, near Cinque Terre. Talk about convenience, we had a man with a fruit and veg truck sell his goods just out the front of where we stayed (shown below), the town butcher across the road, and a few houses down a playground . We were in the heart of this friendly village up in the hills. You can see our apartment just behind the silver car, more rustic then what we have been used to, an authentic, enjoyable experience.
Seeing the leaning tower of Pisa had been on the wish for a long, long time. Below was the view you see as you enter the gates, incredible.....
The Leaning Tower of Pisa is actually the bell tower for the Pisa Cathedral you can see above. Below shoes the base of it. Apparently, the original architect skipped town back in the 12th century, he knew he had done a bad job.....
Here is our attempt at a "holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa" photo... It was fun watching people everywhere having a go at their own version of a "holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa" photo, very entertaining.
Here is the ceiling of the Pisa Cathedral, remarkable. I didn't think I'd be taking photos of the inside of churches, but they're just so impressive as feats of art and engineering accomplished so long ago. Construction on this one started in 1064.
The Italians love their strikes. There was the ferry strike at Lake Como. And here we are below stranded on one of the Cinque Terre train stations, Corniglia, due to some other industrial action. But what a place to be stranded! The couple behind Sophie didn't seem to mind either.
Now for the bad news, the Vegemite has run out! This is serious, I've been looking for substitutes with no luck, I'm going to try and not think about it.
We have found a beautiful little piece of Tuscany. We're staying in part of a big old farm house, shown below, with amazing views all the way out to the hills around Florence, which is about an hours drive north west from here. The house is just outside of a small hill top village called San Pancrazio. I'd say about 100 people live there.
Below shows the back of the house, early evening, after a day out visiting one of the many beautiful towns in Tuscany.
An Easter egg hunt! This was taken that special morning just after they found their eggs, very happy. Love the way the Italians wrap their Easter eggs, a lot of flair. Those spiky looking shrubs you can see behind Connor are artichoke plants. We've spent time relaxing in this little part of the garden, on those deckchairs with a little sand pit for Soph and Connor. This house, La Fonte, as it's called, is just perfect for the kids, and well, for us too really.
Here we are one morning having coffee with the owners Barbara and Stephano. They live here with their kids, Barbara's parents, and her grandmother, four generations! As I write Jane and the kids are downstairs making bread with Barbara. They are so lovely, warm, and generous, we feel very fortunate to be staying here.
We visited Florence yesterday. It was one of those amazing, memorable trips that leaves you buzzing the next day. We had planned to catch a train, but after asking for parking directions at the train station from a helpful guy who spoke just a few words of English, we accidently missed a turn off, and so missed the train. So we drove instead, not easy considering the mayhem of Italian city driving. We made it!
Here are two of the incredible statues in Piazza della Signoria, just outside the Palazzo Vecchio. It shows Neptune and behind him Cosimo I De' Medici. The De' Medici family were a very wealthy, powerful family that funded so many of the buildings and so much of the art that we now see in Florence.
This photo below shows Connor and I in front of the Loggis dei Lanzi, where originally Cosimo I de' Medici's Swiss bodyguards were stationed. Behind us is Benvenuto Cellini's 1545 bronze sculpture of Perseus with the head of Medusa. With such dramatic statues around me I felt like had to do something at least a bit dramatic, hence the pose, and it keeps Connor amused.
We spent hours just walking the streets of Florence, enabling us to see the different faces of this grand city, from a peaceful tucked away playground to its many fancy shops, as shown below.
Barbara, who's family owns the house here, lived in Florence for many years before making the big move to the country. She recommended a little locals restaurant in the heart of Florence, wow, what a find, so authentic. It was one of those meals you never forget. Sophie took this photo below.
Our waiter, Migelli, or Mike as they called him there, was fantastic, unbelievable service, in a very casual, friendly way. Here are some of the tapas (one of them being chicken livers) and other Tuscan delicacies he recommended. The mains included a plate of cows tripe in a lovely tomato sauce, Jane and the kids weren't too keen on that one.
The photo below shows Mike with some of their wine collection. He was saying that its the oldest wine bar in Florence, that it was previously the house of a De' Medici Archbishop and the tomb of the De'Medici Archbishop was just above the room shown below, fascinating stuff. The walls of the room itself dated from the 12th century.
The small plaque shown here in the middle marks the underside of the De' Medici tomb.......
After dinner we drove up to Piazzale Michelangelo which overlooks the city, a perfect way to end the day. This was the jaw dropping view that lay before us........, the Cathedral di Santa Maria del Flore (the Duomo) on the right, and the Palazzo Vecchio on the left...
And the iconic Ponte Vecchio further up the river....
A couple of days ago we visited San Gimignano, a town strongly recommended to me by my brother who was fortunate enough to stay there for a week years ago with his wife, it was outstanding. Below shows Connor off to the side with Sophie further on in the green cardigan, gorgeous streets, with one of the famed towers in the distance...
Tim had talked about a place that sold the best ice cream in town. We saw this ice cream shop (below) with a line of about twenty people, and thought right, that's the one. The owner, Sergio, came up to us for a chat, we had to take a snap.....
San Gimignano is known for its medieval towers. There were originally 70 of them in the town. Powerful, wealthy families would build them as a sign of their might. Due to wars and reconstruction there is now only 14 towers left. The photo below shows the Salvucci Twin Towers. After a height limit was installed by the rulers of the day, this family decided to build two of them!
I had previously heard about these Twin Towers and was happy to find out you could climb one of them. This is the view from the top....
And below shows the view out the other side, showing the top of its twin. Interestingly the towers have been converted to stylish rental properties. As I climbed the many, many stairs, it was fascinating to see on one floor a tiny bedroom, the next a tiny kitchen, the next a tiny TV room and so on. You can see below the outside patio chairs and table for the tower house next door, what a view, I'd stay there for sure....
We visited Arezzo earlier this week, one of the larger towns in the area, very picturesque. Here is Sophie picking flowers with the cathedral bell tower in distance...
Arezzo has one of the most charming, gorgeous piazzas you will ever see, it's called "Piazza Grande". Here is Jane and I in the middle of it, so happy just to be there, in such magnificent surrounds.
That building you can see over my shoulder in the photo above, is the same one above the bike cart in the photo below, a scene from the movie "Life Is Beautiful". This film, if you remember, won a host of awards at the 1998 Academy Awards, including best actor by Roberto Benigni ( the guy on the left below). A lot of the movie was shot in Arezzo.
And speaking of town squares, below shows the Piazza del Campo in Siena, just as we entered it, Sophie and Connor hand in hand, wow, what an impressive sight....
In the back streets of Siena we came across this very cool little delicatessen that specialized in wild boar meat, people sipping red wine and nibbling some of the shop's delights just out the front. You can see a wild boar's head above the entrance.
Sophie's been watching me taking photos for quite a while now, so she decided she wanted one of her own, well, a pretend one. Here she is with the new purchase outside of Siena's main cathedral, the Duomo.
And here is a photo I took of the Cathedral's ceiling, the Italians really know how to do churches as you can see......
Here is another view of the magnificent Piazza del Campo with the Palazzo Pubblico (town hall) and the Torre (tower) del Magia, which I was lucky enough to climb that day. The view from up there over the surrounding countryside was spectacular.
It's in this square that the famous bareback horse race, the Palio di Siena, happens twice a year. I took this photo of a picture of the race which was hanging on a street wall nearby. I've thought to myself, we should come back one day and see this race, when the kids are older......
Here is Sophie and Connor, hand in hand again, enjoying a tree swing out the back of the house here....
In the same way Peter Mayle's "A Year in Provence" did so much for Provence, Frances Mayes' "Under The Tuscan Sun" has done a lot for Tuscany. Both great reads by the way. We were able to see her house just outside of a town called Cortona (the tourist office gives directions). There were about five workmen tending her garden, she's obviously doing very well.
Here is a view from one of Cortona's streets. That valley below you can see in the distance was where Hannibal successfully ambushed the Roman army in 217BC.
Cortona was an ancient Etruscan town. The Etruscans inhabited this area for many years before the Romans took over in the late 4th century BC. This mysterious civilization produced some impressive art, such the one shown below, dated 430-400 BC .
On Easter Friday night we went to mass (mum would be so happy with me) which included a traditional march through the village, just as you would imagine, statues of Jesus and Mary being carried by the men, hymns being sung, a special experience that I had hoped for, being in Italy for Easter and all. You can just see the statue of Mary at the front of the crowd below.
That night a guy called Enzo (shown below with Connor and I a few days later) came up to us for a chat. He was so friendly, and basically wanted to show us around. The town here, San Pancrazio, has a very tragic story in its past. Just before the end of the war, in 1944, the Nazis assassinated all the men in the village, about fifty of them, including Enzo's brother, father and uncles. The main house (shown below) where they were all shot and which Enzo showed us through, is a permanent memorial to those men. The woman of San Pancrazio remarkably over the years brought the village back to life.
Below shows where we stayed in Pitelli, near Cinque Terre. Talk about convenience, we had a man with a fruit and veg truck sell his goods just out the front of where we stayed (shown below), the town butcher across the road, and a few houses down a playground . We were in the heart of this friendly village up in the hills. You can see our apartment just behind the silver car, more rustic then what we have been used to, an authentic, enjoyable experience.
Seeing the leaning tower of Pisa had been on the wish for a long, long time. Below was the view you see as you enter the gates, incredible.....
The Leaning Tower of Pisa is actually the bell tower for the Pisa Cathedral you can see above. Below shoes the base of it. Apparently, the original architect skipped town back in the 12th century, he knew he had done a bad job.....
Here is our attempt at a "holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa" photo... It was fun watching people everywhere having a go at their own version of a "holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa" photo, very entertaining.
Here is the ceiling of the Pisa Cathedral, remarkable. I didn't think I'd be taking photos of the inside of churches, but they're just so impressive as feats of art and engineering accomplished so long ago. Construction on this one started in 1064.
This nice family photo was taken at another of the gorgeous Cinque Terre villages, Manarola......
The Italians love their strikes. There was the ferry strike at Lake Como. And here we are below stranded on one of the Cinque Terre train stations, Corniglia, due to some other industrial action. But what a place to be stranded! The couple behind Sophie didn't seem to mind either.
We finally caught a train back to Maranola to watch the sun set and this was the view we were met with......
Now for the bad news, the Vegemite has run out! This is serious, I've been looking for substitutes with no luck, I'm going to try and not think about it.
Arrivederci for now and best wishes from
Jane, Sophie, Connor and me.
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