October 27, Wednesday

"I must look a mess I must admit, but I have been travelin' quite a bit"--Tampico Trauma, Jimmy Buffet

Drafting this from our cozy seats on our US-bound flight. 9 hours in the sky allows you to accomplish tasks like this.

As promised here is our list of memorable things and events from this incredible trip.No certain order. And resemblance to real persons is coincidental....or not.

--GPS, We loved the GPS and can't sing her praises highly enough. So glad we rented it because the streets and signage in Italy are challenging. She was always there for us...except when she wasn't. She did seem to have some challenges counting the number of exits on the roundabouts, which got us in trouble more than once. But the real problem was sending us up a steep hill on a narrow lane that turned out to be a one way street THE OTHER WAY. Her little joke I guess. Watching Farley back down this narrow windy street with 3 cars in front coming down the right way, not so funny.

--speaking of cars, we loved our Doblo, or the white "bread truck" as we dubbed it. Not sure how we ended up with the equivalent of the Italian SUV, but Farley did a GREAT job with the driving responsibilities, including masterfully handling the manual transmission. The only glitch was the stall out in the middle of pulling out into an intersection with a car headed toward us at 3,000 kmh. My life flashed before me as the crazy Italian drivers came bearing down on us....

--stumbling on the ring-necked pheasant farm on the way to Cortona. "Look, what's all that netting over there? Turn around please. I'm sure it's fine to pull into his driveway."The owner was not as sure, as he came flying up in his truck as we came to a stop,relieved to see we were only in search of photographs. There were literally hundreds of birds in football field length pens, with rubber protectors on their beaks to keep them from arguing with one another. An amazing sight!!

--walking into a small paper store (Il Paparo) in Florence to find Johnny Cash's Greatest Hits blaring on the radio and to have the proprietor exhibit the handiwork necessary to make marbled paper while we listened to "A Boy named Sue". He remarked that he likes country in the morning, opera at midday, and rock later in the afternoon, so he can get energized for after work. Those wild and crazy paper guys!!

--stumbling upon the entry to a craftsman's shop in Montepulciano, this coppersmith we find has exhibited his work for many including the pope. In explaining his craft in Italian(not that we understood much), he showed off wine buckets and fish trays and a cheese/pizza plate with a copper dome. He proceeds to gong the copper dome and place it on each of our heads -- sort of like the Harry Potter sorting hat. Nancy commented "I'm not sure, but I think you two may be married now" which simply cracked us up. We went back two days later so Farley could purchase a copper pot and the gentleman performed the EXACT same ritual clearly not recognizing we were return customers. As I told Farley,"I guess we've renewed our vows now".

--we had some incredible meals -- the absolute best was the meal for 10 prepared by a local at our villa. Other memorable culinary experiences -- Il Sasso de Dante right by the Duomo in Florence, the Trattoria Blu in Montalcino,the Muro restaurant our first night in Venice, the tiramisu at Osteria Al Porte our last night in Venice. And of course, theworld's best hot chocolate at the top of the hill in Montepulciano. I was crushed when they were closed on our return visit. There were also several subpar meals -- see our previous post for the dinner that rated a "smelt tip" from both of us. Also one lunch pizza in Florence was abysmal. Finally, a stop on the way back to the villa for dinner, where we were the only one's in the osteria (it was Monday night) and the owner left the television on loudly throughout the so-so meal.

--daily wrap up with friends at the villa in front of a fire with full (actually bottomless) wine glasses

--Lynne drank red wine! Regularly! And even asked for it at dinner!

--the tropical depression that seemed to hit Venice when we arrived and lasted thru the next day. Rain, wind, cold. Not what we expected but the city was still striking.

--Sheep, shepherds and herding dogs in Tuscany

--driving by donkeys procreating in the field in Tuscany and the tourists who had stopped to photograph this tender moment. Kodak moment?????

--Nancy being a good sport and riding "behind the dog cage" barrier in the bread van. You rock Dunder!!! Woof, woof! --riding with Rob to the Coop grocery store in Buonconvento on our arrival night at the villa. I was dead tired and Rob "Andretti" was a demon on those windy roads. I was quite green at the end, although not so bad that I was "talking to God on the white phone" as one of our new Aussie friends put it.

--stepping inside a beautiful upper end glass store in Murano. The first thing I admired,and called Farley over to admire, was an amazing tree/bird centerpiece. Now it was quite expensive so I think the proprietor thought we were going to drop a bundle of $$ in his shop. Next thing you know he is whisking us back to the private showroom where we are dazzled by incredible creations in glass and chandeliers that cost 50k euros. It was room after room of glass pieces that just made us ooh and aah. Sadly, Farley only wanted to spend40k euros so we didn't get the chandelier. Just kidding!!!! No sale.

--the climb to the room the second night in Florence was advertised as third floor, but seemed to be much more as the "ground floor" counts as zero in Europe. But the reward was a rooftop deck from which you could see the Palazzo Vecchio and the top of the Duomo (green courtesy of a laser light overhead) and surrounding areas of Florence. We sipped wine and planned the next day's adventures ...

--Lynne created an outdoor breakfast spot at the villa under a portico where the bees buzzed and the sun shone brightly a couple of mornings. We enjoyed the views and the breakfast, but not as much as Harry, a black Labrador that hung out around the villa, especially whenever food might be available. He was well mannered, and politely took the scraps the we offered after he sat patiently next to the table and nipped at the bees that got close.

--Our adventures with public transportation always seemed to start with arriving at the station just after our desired vehicle had left the station. We also did our part to extend the length of each trip, as we often stayed too long on the public transportation,given the Italian maps were not easy to decipher. Once we even intentionally stayed on the bus, thinking it would bring us around to our stop, but instead headed further into the hills before finally returning us to the correct stop. All part of a European adventure!

--Most restaurants have taken their cue from foreign movies, and offer English subtitles on the menu for the many "no speak Italiano" tourists. However, we did go to one that was written up in Rick Steves', had a line to wait for a table, and seemed to have a more homey feeling, with a handwritten menu only in Italian. The hominess left quickly, though, as the waitress tried to rush us through our menu selection as we tried to translate key words of gastronomical delights. The waitress on her fourth trip over had little ability to translate into English, so we decided on Caprese and Branzino (sea bass we had learned) for Lynne, and pasta Carbonara and seafood platter for Big Far. The Caprese was the worst of our trip, but possibly the best part of the meal, as the sea bass, head, tail, fins, bones and all, accompanied a large plate of fried squid, some whole fried smelts, and a few shrimp. We decided English subtitles are a must.

--Speaking of Rick Steves, he did a wonderful job of wandering us around and through cities(but less wonderfully selecting restaurants). He did have a scary afternoon, as we ducked into a pizzeria to grab a slice before our tour of the David, only to leave him on the counter as we headed off for our tour. He was able to get up with the manager somehow, and hang out in a cabinet behind the counter until later that evening, when Farley came searching for him. It was a beautiful moment.

--There is an apparent shortage of ceramic in Italy, despite all the beautiful mosaics we saw.Seems the particular need is toilet seats (WTF), as most loo's had the holes drilled, but no seat attached. Does make life a little more interesting as you are touring about.

--We will put this blog to sleep with the memory of sleeping late at the villa many mornings,as the shutters on the small window seemed to block out all light and most sound. You could not tell day from night without consulting a clock, which always threw you off since they were all still on east coast time. I only hope our bodies are on east coast time when we arrive home!

We are posting this last blog as we sit in the Charlotte airport awaiting our last flight to Richmond. Three flights in one day is exhausting. We are so sad to see the end of our wonderful vacation, but very happy to be back in the U.S. and to see family and friends shortly.

We happily raised a glass last night to Liz Shiner and hope that she rests in peace. We thought about her often on this trip and wish we could share all these Italian adventures with her in person. She will remain in our hearts always.

And now as we sign off on our last blog, here is the quote I have been saving for this occassion:"No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow." -- Lin Yutang

Pillow, here I come!!!

Tuesday, October 26

Another grey day, but the weather forecast promised "partly to scarcely cloudy" by late afternoon.

We enjoyed another tasty breakfast at the B&B where I shot this unique pic. The actualfront door of the hotel is on a canal. You can see the water right at the door, and the second glass door reflects the charming lobby -- mable floors, glass sconces, woodtrim.

We set out for the Rialto Bridge produce and fish market. It was impressive to see thestalls of fresh fruits and vegetables, but it was the fish market that truly awed us.There were many types of seafood that we simply couldn't identify,

but in these picsyou can clearly see the octopus and eels -- yum, yum.

We took the #1 valparetto (the slow boat) down to St. Marks Square. Every bend in theriver reveals another beautiful vista; really too stunning for words. The city is amazing, but we continue to read that it is dying -- structures are rotting from the bottom up and Venice is unable to retain young adults and families. The projection is that with the next generation, Venice will be maintained as sort of a "Disneyland" just for tourists. So sad to think that.

After touring the Basilica and the Doge's Palazzo in the Square and we made some final purchases, afternoon moved towards evening, and we settled in at a water side table for a final glass of wine and watched the incredible traffic on the Grand Canal. It's quite a syncronized ballet of navigation -- some of the boats cut things awfully close!

We took a quick ride to the southern side of this island and watched the sun set andcolored the Vencie sky into beautiful shades of pink and gold. Yes, the "scarcely cloudy"forecast was accurate and we finally saw sunshine in Venice.

A last meal at an intimate Trattoria, and we embarked on the boat & bus ride to our airporthotel where in a flurry of repacking and arranging we managed to stuff our possessions andpurchases into 1 checked and 2 carry ons each. Next trip resolution -- pack lighter andbring empty bag for purchases!!!

It's 5:30 a.m. in the Venice airport and we are shortly going to begin our air travel day.If only there were a magic spell to wisk us home so we can retain our rested, relaxed frameof mind. Alas, no avoiding the day long travel task.

Will post one more wrap up blog with our favorite memories and a quirky events listing.
Thank you all for reading and enjoying our trip along with us. We will see you soon!

Lynne & Farley

Monday, October 25

Beauty, charm, mystery, elegance -- Venice is all these things.

When we awoke in Venice it was beautiful and sunny ... somewhere, but not here!The day dawned gray and overcast but we ventured out after a scrumptious breakfast of apricot filled croissants and hot chocolate and fresh fruit and cappicino. The number 41 valparetto took us quickly over to Murano island where we spent most of the daybrowsing shops and watching a glass factory maker quickly whip out a cat and swan figurine.Just to make things intersting, it was high tide when we arrived on the island, so we spent a bit of time dodging water sloshed onto canal-side streets by strategically selectingwhich bridges to cross and tip-toeing thru some waves breaking over the canal side sidewalks.

Back on the Venice mainland by about 4, the weather had turned absolutely raw -- cold, biting wind and rain whipped around every corner and threatened to turn our umbrellasinside-out on each canal crossing bridge! It was still fun to explore the maze of alley ways and canal bridges that connect this amazing city and find a few more storesto stick our heads in and shop for a bit.
After a full day and a glass of wine in our B&B room (we brought from the villa!), we ventured out to a osteria recommened by our Rick Steves book and the B&B concierge. Alas, it was an extreme dissapointment. All courses were bland and as I told Farley, the only good things about the meal were the company and the Chianti! The attached pic shows our feelings -- we took one of the smelts from the entree and placed him where he would effectively show our feelings about the meal.....no, we didn't really pay our bill this way, but snapping the pic made us feel better!

We have had some amazing culinary experiences here in Italy but this was proably the low point.

We are happy that we have one more chance for a fabulous lunch tomorrow before we headout in late afternoon for our airport hotel. We have a 7 a.m. flight on Wednesdayto head back home. Will try to blog once more from the hotel tomorrow night.

Although we are cursing the weather gods for not giving us sunshine in Venice (and moonshine because it should be a full romantic moon over the beautiful canals), wealso feel it is a sign that we need to return again to explore this amazing city.

Miss you all; see you soon!

October 24, Sunday

Lynne and I send greetings from Venice through the rain and fog that greeted us during this afternoon’s journey. More about Venice in the next couple of days.

Saturday in Florence was a beautiful day which started for us in the Museo de Pietre Dure (maybe spelled wrong as trying to do from memory), aka the mosaic museum, where beautiful works from craftsman from centuries ago were displayed. The facility is still training new artists today. We then headed for the San Lorenzo market, only to sidetrack into a paper store just in time to see the owner design and create a piece of marble paper right before our eyes (we are bringing it home). Fascinating!! The market was full of leather and scarves mixed in with t-shirts and novelties, and went on for blocks and blocks, in the heart of what was the Medici stronghold. We were shopped out before the market ended, and headed to the Duomo (4th largest in the world) which was more impressive from the outside than from the inside (we only toured the free section though). A quick Panini on a bench outside the Duomo was lunch, and then (after switching B&Bs) we walked across the river to the Pitti Palazzo, but realized we did not have time to traverse the acres of gardens and palace floors before our appointment with David. What an amazing accomplishment David is!! The detail, the size … you have to see it, words do not do it justice.

With the trip to Venice planned for the afternoon, we took a guided walking tour of Florence on Sunday morning. Today’s crossing of Ponte Vecchio coincided with a sculler’s schedule so Lynne happily snapped this photo knowing rowing-Karen is reading our blog and will enjoy! We weren’t quite as well rested as hoped as the sights and sounds of a Saturday night in Florence seemed to penetrate the walls of Gabriella’s bed and breakfast, keeping us from getting as good a night’s sleep as we had hoped after a long walking day on Saturday around Florence.

Statues, paintings, frescoes, piazzas, palazzos, bridges and floods, duomos, guilds, torch holders and horse tethers … this could go on for hours, but in three hours we came away with a starter lesson on the twenty century plus history of Florence with an emphasis on the Renaissance period. A quick marinara pizza for lunch (where the marinara seemed to run off the pizza rather than stay on the crust … a bit of a disaster) before heading for our bus. Our longer than expected bus wait and ride was rewarded with a gelato before we jumped in the car.

The drive to Venice reflected that Italy truly has many landscapes. Hilly and through the mountains and tunnels as we headed through Bologna, the remaining drive was flat as a pancake, with low visibility and some rain so we really couldn’t take in the countryside visually as we had hoped. We dropped our bags at the airport hotel planned for Tuesday night, and then a bus and a water taxi, and we arrived at Al Ponte Mocenigo B&B, our home for the next two nights. Our room is quite lovely; the best so far outside the villa. Very Venitian -- silk wall coverings, gilded headboard & mirrors -- we feel almost like royalty after the spartan decor of our last two rooms.

Venice and Murano adventures coming soon!!

Friday, October 22

We had a lovely last night with our villa mates -- we all went to the Gregorian Chant at a nearby abbey and it was a moving service. Afterwards we enjoyed a group meal in Buonconvento and were just sure the "city council" aka Mafia were eating next to us!

Currently we are in the midst of sorting and packing to depart the villa and head to Florence. You can’t drive into the city so we will park our car and head into Firenze with carry ons.

I’m so sad to leave Nancy and Rob and wish we had more time to spend with them. And we have so enjoyed making new friends; it’s been a lively bunch here at the villa and we hope to see them again in the future and raise a glass of wine (what, another?) in their company. More from Florence – and some pics!
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We had a lovely drive through the Chianti countryside and stopped at Panzanno to try out the restaurant that Farley read about in “Heat” The meal was excellent, Farley tried out the mixed meats lunch (some raw) and pronounced it well worth the extra drive time to stop by. I took his pic with the famous butcher/chef, Dario Cecchini.

We had a bit of confusion driving into Florence and sure hope we didn’t cross the line into the restricted zone and earn ourselves a 100 euro fine! We took the bus into town and found our guest house accommodations. The room is about 10 x 14 and very basic but what you get in the city. We are changing B&Bs tomorrow; couldn’t get two nights at the same. We walked around a bit today, saw a few sites including the Ponte Vecchio (and for any VBC members, check out this odd rowing contraption I found on the river), and then had a most fabulous dinner near the Duomo. One of our best meals yet! We walked off a few calories at the Palazzo Vecchio and admired the full moon (and managed to consume a final hot chocolate and port. Have I mentioned that the hot chocolate is AMAZING here?). We are stuffed!!!!

We are winding down for the night and planning to get an early start tomorrow. More later from this beautiful city!!

Tuesday 10/19/10

“…and the sun poured in like butterscotch and stuck to all my senses…” ---Chelsea Morning, Joni Mitchell

The day dawned bright and sunny and remained so all day which was refreshing after the overcast skies we have experienced the past few days. I shot this pic from our bedroom window, but a pic can’t convey how lovely the rolling hills, olive trees and vineyards are. Farley & I had breakfast outdoors in the sunshine, joined by Harry the dog who very politely waited for us to include him in the meal.

Vacation is all about going with the flow, so today we decided to change up our plans and spend the day with others in our group visiting Montepulciano and Pienza. They were differing hill towns: The Montepulciano Piazza Grande can be seen in the attached pic, and is more of a mountaintop fortress; Pienza was a charming town with beautiful vistas.
Farley toured an impressive

wine cellar and was in his element. I’m on a quest to find some leather shoes for Farley (he neglected to mention that I bought 2 leather pocket books yesterday….) but no luck so far. There’s always tomorrow!

Tonight’s meal will be prepared by a local cook who comes to the villa to finalize the preparation and serve. We are salivating just thinking about it.

Ciao!

Day 2-3

Fantasticimmo (if there such a word)!! Sunday was highlighted by a leisurely lunch at Da Roberto in Montisi. Roberto walked us through the menu, bringing crostini with foie gras (or organs as he called them), lasagna and ribolitta (bread soup), meatloaf and leg of pork (called stinco, but it wasn’t), and finishing with tiramisu and panna cotta. All on a balcony where the sun gave way to clouds and rain, but the conversation and wine kept everyone warm.

A quick trip late in the afternoon to Montecino (known for wine (brunello) and its mountaintop fortress) led us to an open air market and enchanting streets. We plan to go back when we have a little more time, as we needed to head back to the villa to cook dinner and meet the new group of crazies coming in for the balance of the week.

Monday morning starts with a stroll through the streets of Montisi (see the pic) which is just 6 miles down the road. The expectation of a Monday market was dashed, but a bakery and a small grocery fit the bill for breakfast. Then we were off to Siena, a mountaintop town that once rivaled Florence, with a huge duomo and a central plaza large enough to race horses (which they do twice a year). Our tour of the duomo and surrounding museums left us thinking how young Williamsburg really is. The walled city has lots of shops, restaurants and, of course, GELATO (see pic). A leisurely drive home led us to a lonely restaurant with very good food, where Lynne broke the code and had red wine with her meal.

Tomorrow it is off to Civita and Orvieto, then Multipulciano and Montecino (again) later in the week, before we head to Florence and Venice. Miss all of you stateside!!!

10/15/10, Friday – 10/16/10 Saturday
“There is no moment of delight in any pilgrimage like the beginning of it.”—Charles Dudley Warner

Boungiorno from Italy!

A great day to leave for Italy! All flights on time, but gosh what a long day. Three flights –one 7 hours long --will wear you out. Knowing Tuscany & dear friends awaited us on the other end made it more bearable. Farley was snoozing before we even took off from Philly! He‘s been burning the candle at both ends (and in the middle) for the past couple of weeks. He deserves all the rest and the fun that he can cram in on this vacation!

As you can see from attached pics, our villa is wonderful. Old renovated stone house; our group has rented out both units so we have five bedrooms. An international group – US (Virginia & California), Canada (Vancouver) and Australia (Sydney). All connected via our hosts, Rob & Nancy (my college roommate). View from our room overlooks olive trees, sheep pasture and in ground pool. Apparently the weather has gone from warm end-of-summer temperatures last week to fall-is-here this week. That’s fine, we came prepared. The villa grounds are amazing – all the following trees are on property: peach, pear, pomegranate, fig, olive, crabapple…and also artichoke plants. The pics shows some villa interiors/exteriors & the view of the village of San Giovanni d’Asso from our living room.

Spent a quiet afternoon in town lunching at a lovely local restaurant, sampling our first Tuscany wines and then strolling around San Giovanni d’Asso. We are running on empty after the long travel day so planning to rest up tonight and begin serious adventures tomorrow.

As many of you already know, Farley’s mom passed away last Monday. She had recently been diagnosed with her third recurrence of melanoma. We had all accepted that this bout would have a sad ending to it, but in no way expected the end this quickly. Liz came down with pneumonia and sepsis, and with her systems in such a weakened state, just couldn’t fight all these foes at the same time.

She was a dear, gracious, lovely lady and will be so missed by her family – especially sons and grandchildren – and her wide circle of friends.

Thank you for checking in here to follow our Italy travels. We have rescheduled our departure for Friday, October 15. Our itinerary has changed up a bit, but we still plan to post info and pics as we are able to find internet access.

Please keep Farley and his family in your prayers. I’m sure there is much rejoicing as Liz is welcomed into heaven, but she will be greatly missed by the many lives she touched here on Earth.