Italia, pt. III

DAY 5

This afternoon, most of the Mooring ladies decided to sun themselves by the pool, so Fi & I stole away in the Benz for a tour through a couple of nearby towns.  The first we visited was a sleepy little hamlet called Pienza.

Pienza's a very pretty place, emblematic of that small-town charm I'd soon encounter in nearly every succeeding village we'd visit.  Now, the Moorings claimed that Perugian ice-cream was by far the best, but I thought I'd conduct a little research of my own.

I tried different flavors in each town, though, so in the end there wasn't much usable data for comparison.  & yet another beautiful Tuscan church.

Notice that Fi's shoulders are covered with a shawl.  This is a custom required of women in order to enter churches in Italy.  Lady visitors in the hot season, be sure to pack your pashminas, because straps alone -- bruta figura.  A few pix from inside:

A dragon?

Nearly every urban building-side in Tuscany is studded with wrought-iron loops.  Anyone care to educate me on what they're for?  I reckon they're for hitching.  I mean, a man's gotta tie up his horse somewhere when he stops for gelato.

They love the dragon hitching-rings in Pienza.  After I noticed these, I tried to photograph as many of the interesting ones as possible in other towns.  Speaking of, from Pienza, Fi & I toured toward another little'un called Trequanda (3 whens?).

Many of these Tuscan towns are built in & around medieval & renaissance fortifications.  The history of this region is rife with bloody conflicts.  If one clan wasn't attacking another, it was the Medicis, or even the Pope.  Nobody was safe, except in their gigantic stone tower.  On a more peaceful note, Trequanda has an iconic church of its own.  This one was built in 1327.

After snapping some 10 pix in here, Fi & I realized photography was verboten inside.  Hopefully Jesus will forgive me.

A few more pictures from around town. 

DAY 6

Almost every morning during our week in Torrita started with my wakening around 630.  Yes, that's a bit on the early side for a vacation, but the house was un-air-conditioned, so things warmed up pretty fast after sunrise, making the prospect of sleeping markedly unattractive.  In order to make use of the early hours, Fi & I took daily bike-rides around the area.  When I finally remembered to bring my camera along, I was able to snap a few shots of what we saw on those rides.

Our house was situated next to a farm, which itself was couched among a number of vineyards.

The grapes were gorgeous.  Seeing this was the first time I've been able to look at them so close-up.

Photogenic, aren't they?  We also came across the occasional sunflower field interspersed among the grapes.

On one nearby property, I spotted an Ape, (that's the Italian ah-pay, not the English simian).  These little trucks are made by Piaggio, the same company famous for the Vespa scooter, & Italy is full of them.  Tania's in the market for one to use as an allotment truck. 

Yours truly, rocking my very best 7 a.m. squint & coif.

No bugling, capisce?

Italia, pt. II

DAY 2

We welcomed Saturday morning with another stroll through the Straßen of Freiburg.

After stopping by the neighborhood Bäckerei for some delicious pastries, it was our good fortune to come across a food market in the town piazza.  With rows upon rows of vendors offering fresh, local produce, baked goods, & meats, we came away with our hands full of delicious goodies.

By lunchtime, the Mooring ladies & I were back on the road.  The second half of our drive took us from Germany into Switzerland, passing along a series of scenic lakes & hillside towns, eventually continuing into the Gotthard Tunnel on the Swiss-Italian border

The third-longest tunnel in the world, Gotthard extends some 11 miles straight through the side of a mountain.  It's quite a feat, really, but can make for something of a claustrophobic ride.

Eventually, we'd made our way through most of northern Italy, bypassing Milan, Bologna, Florence, & then eventually reaching Tuscany, where our rental house waited, just off the A1 beyond Bettole & Torrita di Siena.  Our little Tuscan villa sat peacefully atop a gradually sloping hillside, adjacent to a working farm.

 The vista from the back porch overlooked our swimming pool immediately below & rolling hectares of farmland, vineyards, & traditional Tuscan houses in the distance.  It was absolutely perfect.

DAY 3

Our first full day in Tuscany we spent in leisure, relaxing & driving around a bit to get accustomed to the area.  The highlight of the day was our visit to what would become our favorite local restaurant, the Osteria delle Grotte in Sinalunga.  More about that later.

DAY 4

Tania arrived around midday on Monday, having flown from Stanstead into Perugia, so we drove down there to pick her up & explore the town a bit.  Fi actually lived in Perugia back in 2001, studying Italian at the Universita per Stranieri, so it was quite a treat to have her as a tour-guide.

We stopped for lunch al fresco at an attractive little place called La Rosetta.  Though it was very hot (high 90s), our table was tucked back from the main streets in a shaded courtyard, so the ambient temp was quite comfortable.  Plus, it gave us an opportunity to eat with our sunglasses on.  Very Italian.

There are some nice views in Perugia.

Of course, no trip to the city is complete without gelato, which is actually something of a family decree in this bunch, esp in Perugia.

That just about sums up the first few days.  Here are a few more snaps I took before leaving the city. 

More to come from the second half of our week...

Italia!

Hello, hello.  Fi & I are back from our vacation & finally settling into our Oxford groove again.  Though we officially got back to town on Monday evening, it's taken a few days to sort through a long laundry list of chores.  This is actually the first chance I've gotten to sit down at the computer after work.  Anyhow, enough with the crotchets, I reckon you'd like to hear about Italy, eh?  Happy to oblige:

DAY 1

The Mooring ladies & I arose at 4 a.m. on Friday morning in order to make our reservation with Eurostar leaving St. Pancras at 650.  Luckily, Fi had arranged for a taxi to pick us up, so there was minimal schlepping of luggage en route to the train station--great news for yours truly (I am not a bellboy).  Upon arriving, I was reminded of just how nice St. Pancras is.  Notice the Olympics rings:

Fi's particularly fond of am enormous bronze sculpture at one end of the station.  I guess I can see why, with the romantic theme & all.  The subjects are snogging, as they say in the local parlance.  For my part, I was particularly fond of my ham & cheese croissant from Le Pain Quotidien; not all of us can be art-lovers.

Boarding the train was painless, as is usually the case with train travel, & in no time our journey was off to a start.  The overall trip on the rails was some 1-2 hours, but that seemed to pass in a moment, & before I knew it, we'd traversed the English channel, & I was officially on French soil, slowing to a halt in the seaside ville of Calais.  Bonjour.

As dedicated Sausage readers will recall, leading up to our trip, I experienced some concern about the make & model of our rental car, as we couldn't determine that in the booking & would only find out upon pick-up.  Well, much to my surprise, we landed a Mercedes:

Not exactly the BMW X1, but not a bad substitute either.  Billed by Mercedes as a Compact Sports Tourer, the B180's interior was certainly spacious enough for 4, & with a little art & elbow grease, I even managed to cram all of our baggage into the back too.  Under the hood, it was rocking a 2.0 liter in-line 4-banger, enabling us to push along the European highways & byways at a clean 54.3 mpg.  It's a good little car.  Anyway, in motoring from France to Germany, I didn't really take any photographs, save one.  The kodak moment arose in a Belgian gas station, when I stopped in front of a drinks cooler only to realize it was entirely filled with only one variety of beverage:

I'd never seen it before, but subsequent research reveals that JUPILER is the best-selling beer in Belgium.  Because the filling station kept such a large quantity in stock & the Belgians aren't exporting any of this to the UK or US, I can only assume that Jupiler must be the most delicious nectar in Europe's capital.  Why else would they be hoarding it all for themselves?

As I said, there are no pictures from Luxembourg.  To be honest, I don't really have anything worthwhile to say about France, Belgium, or Luxembourg from this part of the drive.  We only stopped for fuel & bathroom breaks in those places.  Eventually, though, after 7 or 8 hours of automotive transit, we reached our hotel for the evening, located in the charming town of Freiburg, in Germany.

I've been wanting to see Germany for a long, long time, & from all the research I've done, my anticipation couldn't have been greater.  Luckily, Freiburg was absolutely beautiful.  Resting beneath a giant hill on the eastern border of Schwarzwald, Freiburg has the feel of a mountain village, the sort of place that every small Rocky Moutain Town in Colorado has tried to recreate.  The cobblestone streets were quaint & immaculate, so the town seemed smaller than I suspect it actually is.  As soon as we arrived, I felt very happy to be there. 

The Mooring ladies & I arrived fairly early in the evening, so we had ample opportunity to stroll around, take in the sights, & sit down to a nice meal.  After dinner, Fi & I repaired to the town brewery to tipple some local lager & enjoy a bit of German hospitality. 

Let me tell you, Hausbrauerei Feierling was a pretty happening spot on Friday evening!  We eventually found a table, though, & (you will be proud to know) I honored my German heritage by ordering the largest beer on the list.