MONTEMERANO, TUSCANY - 19-25 June 2011

SUNDAY 19 JUNE – MONTEMERANO, TUSCANY, ITALY

How lovely it was to sleep in as long as we wanted this morning and we certainly made the most of it.  We enjoyed the morning sorting through our things, doing washing, the kids did some school work and we generally relaxed.  Corky went to the bakery to get some breakfast.  A true Sunday.

Corky felt better today but I instead started to get a sore throat.  We went down to the bar and had some lunch.  Corky and I had a tuna salad with the taste of lovely olive oil.  After lunch we headed back to our house and spent more time relaxing.  My throat was quite sore.

About 5.30pm we took the kids down to the playground for a play and I went for a walk for an hour.  I walked on the road out of Montemerano towards Saturnia and then found a dirt road off that which I walked along for a kilometre admiring the vineyards and Montemerano on the hillside in the distance.  By the time I got back, I was red in the face and very hot, the setting evening sun was quite extreme.

Tonight there was another concert in the Piazza below us so Francesco came by to show us how to blow the bubbles out of our windows which were to be a surprise to the crowd at about 11pm.  The kids got a small bottle each and Corky and I had large ones to blow.  All the houses surrounding the Piazza were to do it together.  First though, we had to have dinner.  We went down to a restaurant nearby for dinner and Corky and I both had a lovely piece of beef with mushroom sauce and as usual, the kids had Spaghetti Bolognese.  There were stray cats that were unpleasantly wandering around the restaurant looking for food and we could now understand why they had a collection going in the bakery to get the stray cats of Montemerano desexed.

By the time we had finished dinner and headed back up to the Piazza, the concert had already started and the Piazza was packed with people.  Tonight the performance was by Concerto Musicale con la Filarmonica.  We resumed our positions in our windows overlooking everyone and the performance.

MONDAY 20 JUNE – MONTEMERANO, TUSCANY, ITALY

Last night I went to bed with a cold and this morning woke up feeling terrible with it.  We were going to go to the coast today but Corky was recovering from his cold and I was feeling shocking with my cold so we decided to stay at home another day and have an easy day.  We lay around most of the morning, the kids playing and I reading/snoozing, Corky playing on the computer.  It was nice to relax again but I really didn’t have the energy to do anything.  Corky and Harry drove to Manciano to the Pharmacy to get some medicine and Paracetamol and also some groceries. 

By late afternoon we decided we had to get out for a little while so we went down to the children’s playground for about an hour.  Jack saw the kids he had met the day prior and played some soccer with them.  If we see them around the village, they call out ‘Ciao Jack’.

For dinner I mustered up the strength to go out.  We headed over to the village of Saturnia for dinner.  On the way there the sun was setting over the countryside.  I have to say, it is one of the most glorious sites you could see.  Because Montemerano is quite high (290m above sea level) on a hilltop, as we head down and across the countryside, the landscape seems to splay out in front of you as you descend on it and with the sun setting across the fields and other smaller hills, the site is breathtaking.  You can see for miles and miles and the sun is in its hazy final stages of descent and makes everything seem soft and dreamlike.  Either that or I have had too many Paracetemols.

Montemerano - we stayed in the tower on the right

The drive only takes less than 10 minutes but it winds around past the 5000 year old natural thermal springs and then back up again to the hilltop village.  Driving around these areas really makes you pinch yourself and realise that you are in Tuscany living the Tuscan life and dream.  Maybe once again too many Paracetemols but we all feel the same and often say to each other ‘gee, look where we are …’.

We wandered around for a bit looking for a restaurant for dinner though I didn’t have the strength to wander too much and the kids were quite hungry.  We found a lovely little restaurant and had a fabulous dinner though I held back on the red wine tonight, I think it would conflict with too many things in my system at the moment.  Of course ice-cream was had on the way to the car and then home to bed.  Thankfully.

TUESDAY 21 JUNE – MONTEMERANO, TUSCANY, ITALY

First day of the European summer today (and longest day of the year) and it was only appropriate that we headed to the coast and beach for the day.  I was feeling a bit better today but was still a bit hazy in the head, all the more reason to get out and head to the sea.

It isn’t terribly far, about 45 minutes to the coast and an easy drive too (more straight than windy roads as we got out of the hills).

As we hit the coast, there was an ‘island’ just off the main land.  ‘Island’ in inverted commas because it is exactly like an island off the coast but joined but three separate narrow strips of land, two of which you can drive along.  The narrow strip we drove along went for about 5kms and between us and the road were beautiful houses which obviously looked directly onto the ocean and had a beach in front of them and also holiday resorts and camping grounds.  The kids all thought it reminded them of Noosa.

You can see the 'island' on the Sat Nav

Once we were on the ‘island’ we drove around the edge of it by the sea for a while admiring all the little communities and beachside areas.  Once we had got as far as we could (I think beyond where we had to turn around it became cliffs), we turned around and headed back till we found a nice little beach area called Pozzarello which is secluded and you pay for the lounge chairs and umbrella.  It was worth it because as usual the beach was made up of little tiny pebbles so it was nice to lounge under the umbrella and watch the kids play and swim.

One unfortunate common factor we couldn’t help but notice was the obesity in the children.  It was quite shocking.  We saw one little girl who was younger than Harry and twice the size.  All the children seemed to have a weight problem and they all seemed to visit the ice cream and chip shop quite regularly.  Clearly too much pizza and pasta (thankfully we were only in Italy for a short time!)

We stayed here for a few hours and then went to the nearby village of Monte Argentario where we had dinner with a lovely view over the port and sea beyond.  The land curved around so it seemed as though we were in a bay rather than on an island.  The kids were entertained by the open fish market and were enthralled watching the men cut up marlin (still a scary site with the huge heads and spear noses), eels and an array of fish.  I was glad to hit the pillow tonight.

WEDNESDAY 22 JUNE – MONTEMERANO, TUSCANY, ITALY

I was feeling so much better this morning but unfortunately Jack and Harry now had a cold too, more a cough than anything though.

The mornings here are lovely.  You can hear the swallows outside chirping endlessly as they sore up and down around the buildings.  Together with the swallows soaring and the town bell tolling every half an hour, it makes you realise you are tucked away in the countryside.  We love to throw open our shutters to welcome each morning.

Above our living room window is an inscription on the stone.  It reads in Latin that the Knight Grassi and his friends lived in this house.  This was about 600 years ago.  Outside in the Piazza still in the stones are some rings cemented in.  These were the original rings that the Knights use to tie their horses up on.  There use to be some on the walls but they have gone.

Another perfect day today however we decided to head back to the Outlet Village – Corky had yet another problem with his new pair of shorts he bought there a few days ago.  We underestimated the distance to get there and it took us just over 1.5 hours but we didn’t mind, the drive there is so beautiful and there are 2 particularly incredible villages that we love to look at.  The first one is called Civita and it seems the only way to get there is by a narrow bridge for people only and the second town is called Oliveto which overlooks the A1 freeway and with views of the countryside for miles and miles.

We spent a few hours at the Outlet Village, Corky rectifying his shorts problem.  The temperature was up in the mid 30’s and unbearably hot.  On the way back from the Outlet Village, we decided to go up for a look at the village of Oliveto.  Despite it being incredible to look at from below, like a fortress in the sky almost, it wasn’t so attractive once you got into the village.  There seemed no order to it, it didn’t feel as old as it looked and it clearly catered for the tourists.  There were certainly no ‘wow’ factors to it which we had expected as we climbed the windy road leading up to it. 

View from Oliveto

We drove straight out again and off to dinner in Bolsena which is a lovely town by the lake.  We found the most perfect restaurant along the water’s edge overlooking the boats bobbing at the pier and enjoyed a nice meal watching the sun set over the lake.  Corky had a beautiful ravioli that we had to order another plate of to share and the boys had beautiful prawns and calamari lightly fried.  I had some red wine with my dinner but it tasted more like Port, very heavy.

On the trip home which took an hour along small, dark and windy roads, we encountered a small hedgehog doing his best to get out of our way and also a wild boar scurrying off into the bushes by the side of the road.  Quite commonly on the menu wild boar is served in stews or as meat and ragu etc but we just cannot fathom eating one of these creatures.  Eel was also a specialty on the menu tonight, straight from the lake in front of us, another we couldn’t face ordering.  I had the veal masala which was highly preferred.

THURSDAY 23 JUNE – MONTEMERANO, TUSCANY, ITALY

The mozzies have been eating us alive at night.  Harry seems to be the one most affected and has bumps up and down both arms and some on his face and of course his legs.  These mozzies are different to our ones because they are smaller and make no noise at all so you can’t hear them coming.  We will have to buy repellant today.

Off to the coast again to enjoy the sea.  We had a drive around for a bit exploring the island we went to on Tuesday.  We took the Panoramic drive up to the top of the island where we had incredible views out to the ocean.  It reminded me of the Greek Islands.  There were boats nestled in the inlets as we drove around the cliff face.  The water is an incredible shade of aqua, it is also a lovely temperature to swim in.

We went to the same beach that we went to on Tuesday at Pozzarello because the ‘sand’ was nice and not too rocky and we had the private beach which we enjoyed.  It cost 6 Euro for each sun lounge and 7 Euro for the umbrella, so for a total of 20 Euro we were very comfortable.  There was a trattoria which we could eat at if we wanted, changing sheds and also a toilet.  We could hire paddle boats from here too.  Like a little beachside resort without the accommodation.  A middle aged couple and their 20-something son owned it and also doubled as the life guards.  Clearly a family business they have been running for many years now.  If anyone came down and decided to lay their towel within their private beach area without paying, they were sent off.

The water was incredible to swim in and we stayed for several hours.  We headed back to Monte Argentario for a drink at the portside café and more importantly because it had free WiFi before we headed back to Montemerano. 

Our WiFi cafe

This experience of living in a small hilltop village has made Corky realise that he could never live this life.  Unfortunately Corky can’t really cope with the fact that we have no internet access, no television, no telephone and no dishwasher.  He is lost.  I am happy because I love to read and the kids seem to be able to play anywhere with anything, but Corky can’t cope, you should see how many spreadsheets about nothing there are on this hard drive.  He craves the excitement of the coast and big towns but I also love the small villages and the history and quaint village life, but I too couldn’t spend a long period of time here.

Once we got back to Montemerano, we showered and changed and went down to Sabina’s place.  She also lives on the Piazza in the house just outside ours.  Sabina is German, originally from Munich and use to holiday here with her husband and 2 daughters.  About 12 years ago they moved permanently to Montemerano but she is only here now with one of her daughters.  Not sure what happened to her husband and her other daughter is now living in London.  Sabina speaks Italian with a German accent and also English with a German accent.  Below her house which opens onto the Piazza, she owns an art gallery, mainly pottery.  She use to be a set designer and is very talented.  She is a quiet woman and seems to keep to herself but she is lovely to spend time with.

Tonight Sabina was throwing a party.  It was in aid of a friend of hers who makes Japanese clothing.  Her friend grew up in New York but now lives in Berlin.  There was a mix of people there; Germans, Americans, English and Italians.  First we were invited to eat and drink.  All the food was homemade and we ate helpings of an olive ragu, cheese pastries, zucchini frittata, tomato soup, oven baked bread with a ground meat on it and rockmelon.  All the food was delicious and for dessert we had Panna Cotta with raspberry coulis. To drink, red and white wine from large bottles.  We ate on throw away plates out in the laneway off the Piazza and then had a demonstration of the clothes.  We got chatting to one lady who was from Atlanta, Georgia in the USA and who owned a place in Manciano the town nearby and another in a different town elsewhere.  She and her husband come over each June.  Hard life!

The Japanese clothing didn’t take our fancy but we enjoyed the little soiree, our first in our little village.  Francesco was out in the Piazza trying to perfect his bubble blowing technique for another concert this Saturday night though he was disappointed because the bubbles weren’t working out, perhaps because the water from the ancient tap in the Piazza was too hard compared to the softer water in his house.  He vowed to find a solution to his problem.

About 9.30pm Francesco told us that in about 5 minutes there was going to be a religious parade through the town if we would like to watch it.  We wandered down to the church and along the way we could see laid out a path of flower petals leading to the church entrance.  We had to stop the temptation of Harry wanting to stomp on them all and Sophie to gather them in a little basket.

Soon enough the procession came out of the church with someone leading holding a large cross.  People followed and also the Catholic Priest of the town in his robes surrounded by 4 men carrying a tent-like structure over his head.  The procession followed the path of flower petals up through the arch and down through town and out past the bar.  We followed but stopped at the bar and watched them continue down and around the corner out of sight.   

Outside the bar and entrance to the village

This procession happens every 3^rd Thursday of the month.  Francesco told us that there use to be three times the number of people however this current Priest (commissioned from the Vatican to this village), is not popular at all and that is why the numbers have dwindled so rapidly.  Apparently he is quite a nasty man with strong opinions who refuses to say hello to many of the village people if he doesn’t like them or believes they don’t deserve a greeting and also openly berates people in sermons during his service.  Clearly those who still attend are such staunch Catholics that even he can’t frighten them away from their beliefs, but he certainly has frightened many others.  Francesco is one of the villagers with whom the Priest has decided to ignore.  He won’t acknowledge Francesco’s presence with a greeting and Francesco believes it is purely because he is not a Catholic.  Francesco says all this with a smile on his face because he really doesn’t care much for the situation.  Corky and I just loved hearing about this little village controversy.  We can’t wait to take Francesco out for dinner one night to hear more village goss.

Since we had left the procession at the bar, we couldn’t resist an ice cream (and latte for me) before bed.

Corky in the village bar

Village Bar

FRIDAY 24 JUNE – MONTEMERANO, TUSCANY, ITALY

Another perfect day and another slow start.  I am worried that we will never get use to early mornings again.  We managed to log onto Francesco’s computer and finally book our flights home via Singapore, we leave 4 weeks today.

Again to the beach but this time we decided to go to a different beach.  We stopped on the road out to the island and went to another private beach, this one called Florida.  This beach was kilometres long but the private beach only went for a secluded 200m of it.  All the deckchairs were under lovely straw umbrellas and we felt like we were in the Caribbean.  There was true sand rather than rocks and some waves.  We had found a gem.  There was a lovely restaurant and bar area and also other ‘chill out’ areas where we could lie on lovely white lounges with pillows or in a private cabana.  Everything was decorated Balinese style with lovely dark brown timbers and white cushions and pillows.  It was slightly dearer at this private beach but you got what you paid for.

  

What we loved the best though was that we could shop from our deck chair!  Continuously up and down the beach the whole time we were there, were men from India, Africa or Bangladesh selling their ‘wares’.  At one stage even a trolley was wheeled down the beach by 2 men selling clothes hanging off it – like a mobile clothes shop.  We managed to over the course of the afternoon, buy 3 pairs of sunglasses, a cossie for Madi and for Sophie and 3 beach towels.  All from our deck chair.

 

An ice cream man drove up the beach in his buggy but we didn’t dare buy from him because he got angry with the kids because they were building sandcastles and digging holes where he wanted to drive.  He got out of his buggy, filled in their hole they had dug and then drove on over it.  Sweet justice when he got bogged just after and the lifeguards had to push him out.

We spent all afternoon here enjoying the serenity, warmth and beach.  The wind however started to rise so around 6pm we decided to leave for dinner.  We drove around to the seaside village of Porto San Marco on the island which was full of restaurants all overlooking the port and sea.  Unbeknownst to us, we happened to find ‘the busiest’ restaurant it seemed in the whole village.  They quickly ushered us to a table and then left us for so long we could have cooked our own food.  When he finally took our order he seemed quite flustered and hurried off again.  The meals arrived and he was off in a flash again however the pizza for the boys didn’t arrive.  We could never get his attention because he wouldn’t stand still long enough and after one attempt asking and him replying ‘yes, yes’ and hurrying out again, we gave up and asked for the bill.  We had all shared our meals so no-one was hungry but the pizza had been added to the bill.  He seemed harried again when we asked if he could fix the bill.  We got out of there as quick as he got us to our table in the first place.

We settled in for our nighttime drive home on the alert for nocturnal wildlife.

SATURDAY 25 JUNE – MONTEMERANO, TUSCANY, ITALY

Big day for the village today so we thought we had better hang around and help Francesco out.  This afternoon and evening was a festival in the village that Francesco had organised.  He was very busy however he didn’t need our help so we hung around our house and the Piazza and at lunch time went to the bar for lunch.  By now we were eagerly greeted by the bar staff, Helena and Dario with ‘Ciao’s’ and ‘Bonjounos’ quite enthusiastically.  We were still stared at by some who couldn’t quite understand what we were doing in their village.  We took the kids to the playground for a play for a while and then back for the festivities to start at 4.30pm. 

Francesco was all organised with his loudspeaker and the festivities began.  The first game was one of rolling a wooden wheel through a track set up down the cobbled road.  There were contestants who had to roll the wheel as far as they could and then take   turns who could make it to the end.  This went on for some time with people getting knocked out of the competition and finally it came down to 2 finalists.  A guy in his 20’s was the winner with very loud cheers from the crowds.  I can’t really imagine this happening in a surburban street at home but somehow it fits in perfectly here.

Francesco the MC

Singers

Everyone seemed all excited and clearly it was time for a drink and a smoke, so off to the bar everyone went.  Of course we followed.  We sat and had a drink and bought a ticket for the Tombola to be done here at the bar at 8pm.  We decided to head back home for an hour and then come back later for the rest of the festivities.

Just before 8pm we went back to the bar ready for the Tombola.  We had confident feelings that we would become the new reigning champions!  Something wasn’t quite right.  The crowd that was gathered were slowly starting to disperse.  Were they afraid of competing with us?  Did we really exude that much confidence?  Unfortunately it dawned on us that the Tombola had been drawn earlier than 8pm and we had missed it.  We looked forlornly at the ticket in our hand and sighed at the loss of championship that no doubt would have been ours and headed off to dinner instead.

A Montemerano restaurant

Once again we struggled with understanding the menu and ordered what we comfortably knew was OK to eat.  The dinner once again, was just beautiful.  Baked cheese and spinach ricotta and porcini tagatelli.  We weren’t too original with our ordering most times however we enjoyed the variations of the regular meals we did order.

Once dinner was done, we hurriedly ascended the stairs and paths that took us up to our Piazza.  There the crowds were awaiting the night’s festivities.  We passed through the crowds and into our doorway and up into our house to resume our prime viewing positions at our windows overlooking the Piazza.

Soon enough, the Master of Ceremonies and Chief Organiser Francesco addressed the crowd with his microphone.  Of course we didn’t understand one single word but clearly he was informing the crowd as to what was coming and what to expect.  Out of the laneway next to Sabina’s house came the town band dressed in Medieval clothing.  Behind them were characters from the Medieval times; knights, a queen, king and other suitably attired medieval village folk.  They seated below us with grapes and water for their convenience. 

Next the Falconiers arrived.  These two men had a falcon each and performed a show with them.  The falcons flew up to the roof tops around the Piazza and then swooped down to take the meat from the men.  The crowd appropriately ooh’d and aah’d and it was amazing to see these birds in action.  One of the birds was quite stubborn and needed quite a bit of coaxing off the roof tops.  At one stage, one of the falcons flew up and sat on the window sill right in front of our faces.  It startled us at first because it literally landed right next to our hands which we quickly moved.  It wasn’t in a hurry to leave our window ledge but eventually did.  The other bird did the same in our other window.

Next they brought out a white owl.  It was certainly a beautiful bird and after performing several flights across the Piazza for us, it had had enough and decided to fly out of the Piazza altogether, off into the night.  Woops, we are sure this was not part of the act.  Everyone in the crowd turned to watch it go and we felt concerned for the owners.  They stood and watched it go, not seeming terribly concerned because they brought out another bird, a larger falcon.  This bird clearly was a favourite and performed impeccably.  Once the show finished, we realised that it hadn’t properly finished because now we were entertained by the men trying to retrieve the wayward owl.  The owl had decided to perch itself on a roof in the laneway just off the Piazza and we were amused to see one of the Falconier men climbing a drain to try and retrieve it.  He eventually lured it with some meat and no doubt bird-talk that it would never survive in the wild without him and the owl returned to his master.

Next was the finale of the evening.  We watched as a large ladder was raised up from the Piazza and disappeared into our top window.  Soon enough the crowds were curiously gathering around and the ladder reappeared with a large white deflated air balloon on it.  The ladder and balloon were lowered to the ground where several men lit a large stick with fire and inflated the balloon with the hot air from the flames.  The balloon once inflated stood about 1.5 stories high.  Once it had enough air, they let it go and with many excited gasps from the crowd, it sailed off into the night.  In the past the flame us to be left in the balloon so you could see it glowing up into the sky and away however they weren’t allowed to do this anymore because the balloon with fire can go as high as a kilometre into the sky and therefore be a threat to planes and also due to it being summer, if the balloon and fire reached the ground, the dry crops and wheat could potentially be set on fire which would be disastrous.

During the balloon process, it was our responsibility again to blow bubbles out the window.  Francesco also had bubbles in the square and overall the Piazza was a festive arena.  The kids ran down and joined in with the bubbles in the Piazza and helping themselves to the shortbreads being handed out by the little ladies.  By this time it was 11pm and we were ready for bed.  Another exciting day in rural Tuscany and another night being eaten by mozzies whilst we slept.

Till next installment .... x

FLORENCE, Italy: 16-18 June 2011

THURSDAY 16 JUNE –FLORENCE, ITALY

Today we are leaving Venice but first we needed to buy another suitcase because we had accumulated some additions.  Once again we got lost trying to find the original shop we found the suitcase in but we were successful eventually. 

About 1pm we headed out of Venice and along the bridge that joins Venice to the mainland.  We had had an amazing time in this incredible city but were excited now to be heading to Florence.  However before we got to Florence, Corky was keen to visit the Ferrari factory which is about an hour south near Bologna.  For some odd reason, the Sat Nav couldn’t pick up the town of Modena so we had to navigate towards that area and find our own way, it was quite confusing because the Sat Nav had shut down for that area and wasn’t cooperating.  It was even harder when we got into Modena and couldn’t find any signs or directions to Ferrari.  We decided to pull over and ask someone.  We had the wrong city, we needed to go to Maranello which was about 16kms from Modena but the Sat Nav couldn’t pick up anything while we were in Modena.  It was very odd, as though the town and surrounding area just didn’t exist according to the Sat Nav.  We wound around many streets trying as best we could to find our way out and in a direction that took us to Maranello.  Finally after what seemed like eternity, we found a sign pointing us in the right direction and we finally found Maranello and the Ferrari factory.

We were relieved and psyched, ready to check out these incredible cars however our excitement was soon turned to dismay when we were told by the factory guard that there were no tours of the factory.  Instead we could find Dino Ferrari drive and go to the museum there he said.  Oh great, without the Sat Nav working, we had to find Dino Ferrari Drive.  Back to finding our way the old fashioned way and we did it!  We didn’t spend long there but it was fun to browse and we were a little disappointed we couldn’t see the factory.  Never mind, we came to the area, we saw and Corky can now tick that one off his list too.

Next stop, Florence but first we had to get out of this armpit area of Italy.  It truly wasn’t an appealing area at all, very working class and unappealing.  The whole area looked run down and industrial.  Not the beautiful olive field, wine making regions were have come to love.  There were a lot of factories and warehouses.  We finally managed to escape the area and ‘voila’ our Sat Nav came back to life.  Clearly it didn’t like the area either, she wouldn’t even acknowledge we were even there.

We got to Florence early evening and found our way into the centre, the old part, the most beautiful and exciting part.  Our Sat Nav directed us to our hotel but we ended up going around a large square with thousands of people milling about and we had to drive through pedestrians to try and get where we were going.  We couldn’t find our hotel and kept going in circles.  It was very difficult because there were so many pedestrians and some roads we couldn’t go down and some were narrow cobbled laneways we practically got stuck in.  We did finally find it and we realised we had been going in circles trying to find it because our Hotel Pendini was situated right on the main square and we hadn’t noticed.  I ran up to check with the concierge where to park our car and we just had to leave it out the front with our hazard lights on and bring everything upstairs.  Someone would park the car for us.

I arrived upstairs before Corky because the lift wasn’t big enough for all of us and our bags.  The concierge asked me for our passports and I said we had left them safely in the house where we are staying in Tuscany.  That was not good enough, we were not allowed to stay there without having our passports.  I wasn’t really in the mood after a long day of travelling and difficulty in finding the hotel to be told that we were unable to stay there without having our passports.  By this time Corky had arrived and we both explained that we hadn’t needed our passports to stay at the hotel in Venice, but the concierge told us ‘No, it is impossible.  It is illegal to stay in a hotel in Italy without your passport (all this being said in a snobby Italian accent).  We will get fined.  We need to know you are not terriorists.”  We couldn’t believe it!  We were not going to find another hotel at this time of night nor drive back to our house 2.5 hours south.  He rang his Manager, of course we couldn’t understand the conversation but he said if we signed a document by the Police saying we are who we are then all may be alright (like that would stop a Terrorist doing anything!!)  Then I realised that I had scanned copies of our passports onto our laptop.  This brought a smile to his face.  We were able to email the copy of Corky’s passport to him to print out.  Problem solved (however the next day he still wanted Corky to sign a declaration to say that he was indeed he and that he knew all of us).  Ridiculous!

Once we had finally settled into our room and all problems behind us, we headed out for dinner.  We went into the square and found a lovely restaurant that looked out onto the square and had dinner there.  It was a balmy evening and there were people singing in the square.  Just perfect.  After dinner we had a wander and the kids went on the Merry-Go-Round and then finally home to bed, we were exhausted.

Our Hotel in the Arch and the building to the right off the Arch

FRIDAY 17 JUNE –FLORENCE, ITALY

Today we have been away for 10 weeks and we are starting to feel a bit tired.  The last few days we have done a lot of walking each day and each night we all go to bed very late.  It is the European way to eat late and we don’t have anything to get up for in the morning so it hasn’t been a problem going to bed late, we always sleep in to at least 9am each morning.  We enjoy the evenings.  After we have had dinner it is so lovely to walk around and watch the people and enjoy the music and atmosphere.  Venice and Florence both come so alive at night and it is fun being part of it.  During the day people are out sightseeing and shopping but at night everyone is out having fun, enjoying the bands and singers in the squares and we have enjoyed this too.

We managed to make it for breakfast just in time.  From the dining room window we had a beautiful view down into the street below because this part of the hotel sat high up in the arch that sat at one end of the square.  It is a beautiful hotel, very Italian and ‘posh’.  In the street directly below us were all the glamorous shops; Ferrari, Gucci, Louis Vuitton etc.  Location wise we couldn’t have picked a better position either.  We had 2 rooms across the hall from each other and they were very comfortable and thankfully with free internet access.

Breakfast consisted of lovely cheeses and meats, yoghurts, fruit, breads, cereals; all the usual things but in such a lovely surrounding and view.  It is cute the way the kids are growing up; they pair off and sit like married couples at their white table-clothed tables sipping hot chocolates and eating nutella-filled croissants and yoghurts.  Corky and I for just a brief moment can pretend we are alone having breakfast but that is so fleeting because before long there is a “can you butter my croissant” or “can you get me more juice”.

After breakfast we headed out for a look around the sites of Florence.  Top of our list was the Statue of David and the Ponte Vecchio.  We weaved amongst the people, wandered in and out of shops and eventually found the Rialto Bridge, not terribly far from where we are staying.  Of course it was very crowded so we had a walk up to the middle, admired the views from it and walked back again.  All the shops on the bridge were jewelry shops however when the bridge was built the shops were used for butcheries, fruit shops etc.  The Ponte Vecchio was the only bridge in Florence to survive being bombed during WW2 though either end were slightly damaged.

The next destination on our ‘tourist to do list’ today was a little more difficult; The Statue of David.  We went to the gallery where we believed it was held however they told us we had to walk up to the Duomo and see him there.  Fair enough.  We wandered through town for about 10 minutes till we found the building.  We realised we were at the right place because of the queue snaking along the building edge.  Before we decided to join the queue, Corky asked about the tickets.  He was told that the queue was 3 hours long because they only let 15 people in to see the statue at a time.  Nope, I have seen it before and we really didn’t want to wait in the hot sun for 3 hours.  We decided to give him a miss and besides there was an exact replica on show in the square outside the cathedral near the Ponte Vecchio.  We showed the kids that one instead.

We were hot and tired, feeling worn out after several days of walking in the heat so we went back to our rooms for a rest for a while.  It gave the kids a chance to play their iTouch’s and relax a bit.

Once we were feeling revived, we headed out for ‘lunch’ at 3pm.  In the square below our hotel, the Hard Rock Café had just opened 3 days prior, we just had to go there for a meal and now was the perfect time.  It was enormous and very new and the staff were excited when they heard we were from Sydney because the Hard Rock was just opening this week in Sydney too.  The poor guy serving us had only been on the job for 3 days and just couldn’t get anything right and our kids were the first children he had served.  We got there in the end.

A little more shopping then back to the hotel to change and rest a bit more before we headed out to dinner about 9pm.  We found a lovely Japanese restaurant (anything but pasta and pizza).   Once again the nightlife was booming and we enjoyed a slow leisurely walk back to our hotel.

SATURDAY 18 JUNE –FLORENCE, ITALY

After our late night out, we struggled to get out of bed but managed to do so in time to have breakfast before it finished.  Corky woke up with a cold this morning so he was a bit slow to start, coughing and spluttering.

We then left Florence around 12.30pm and headed south back to Montemerano.  We took the A1 autoroute south and along the way we found the Valdichiana Outlet Village that we had seen on the way up.  We just had to stop and have a shop.  The shops were fantastic and we managed to buy a few nice things.  We spent about 2 hours here and could have certainly stayed longer but we promised Francesco that we would be home before 9pm because of the concert in the Piazza below our windows.

We arrived back to the village at 8pm and dragged our straining suitcases up to our house.  As we approached the Piazza, we could see rows and rows of chairs set out and a ‘stage’ area which was a section of grass.  The 3 musicians were practicing their musical instruments and getting the lighting set up.  We were glad to be ‘home’ and we rushed up to say hello to Francesco.  You could clearly see he was very happy we were back in time for the concert.

We cooked dinner and unpacked our bags and settled back in.  Just outside our windows people were starting to gather and find seats for the concert, the musicians were still practicing.  The musicians were called Musica Di Terra Toscana – Lisetta Luchini with Luca Di Volo and Eleonora Tassinari.  Just after 9.30pm, the Piazza was full of people and the singers/musicians began.  Everything was in Italian but they certainly had great voices and played their various instruments very well.  There were many various instruments from the guitar, violin, flute, clarinet, saxophone to the piano accordion.   We leaned out our 2 windows that overlooked the Piazza to watch though the sound carried right into our living room.  The crowd seemed to enjoy it very much and there was a mixture of young and old and teenagers.  We definitely had the best seats in the house.

The concert finished about 11pm with a big applause and standing ovation.  The crowds quickly dispersed home however a group stayed behind and one man gathered the group around to tell a very vibrant and descriptive story.  Of course we couldn’t understand a thing but it was interesting to watch him enlighten the crowd with his storytelling.  He too got a rousing applause and roars of laughter when finished.  We then headed off to bed.

A few statistics for you as at the present date:

• Since 5 April, we have driven 12,155 kms
• We have between us bought 30 pairs of shoes
• Corky has grown and hence shaved off one beard
• One tooth has been lost by Jack
• We have taken 1243 Photos
• I have typed 61 pages and 33,955 no 33,957 words …..
• We have bought one extra suitcase
• We have been to 8 countries and 1 principality
• We have been away for 78 days.

And they are the stats we can clearly account for, not to mention how many pizzas we have had, how many kilometres we have walked or how many towns/villages we have seen.

Till next instalment ..... x

VENICE, Italy: 13-15 June 2011

MONDAY 13 JUNE –VENICE, ITALY

We headed off just after 9.30am this morning to drive to Venice.  It is a long trip of about 500kms but we had all day to do it and see a large part of Italy along the way.  The Tuscan countryside is just so beautiful and certainly lives up to all it is talked about and photographed.  We didn’t stop off anywhere on the way, we just wanted to get there and so we pulled into a roadside food stop for lunch and then continued.

We finally arrived in Venice about 4pm and parked our car in the secure long term parking then down to the water ‘buses’ to take us to the Rialto Bridge where we were getting off to then walk to our hotel.  I had been to Venice twice before but for the others it was their first trip and we were all wow’d by what we saw.  Venice truly is an amazing and unique city, it is also so busy and there are so many people despite having a population of about 60,000 but I reckon at any given time there are probably almost that many tourists too!

It took us a while to find our hotel because of all the lanes and the fact they hadn’t really given us a very detailed address or directions.  We asked someone in a shop and they called the hotel and then we were directed.  They had messed up our rooms and despite booking 2 rooms and letting them know that we had 4 children, they had arranged for our 2 rooms to be on different floors.  We messed around for a while sorting out the rooms and since our 2^nd room wasn’t really adequate, they promised to move us to another room tomorrow, however our main room was lovely, large and a nice view of the canal.

One of the many mask shops

Corky was like a school kid as we headed out to look around and find dinner.  All the laneways were crowded and busy and there are just so many shops you could never possibly see them all unless you were here for quite a while.  We found the Hard Rock Café for dinner and then continued walking through St Mark’s Square for a while after dinner.  Venice certainly is a visual feast for the eyes and Corky has now listed it as his most favourite city – hard to beat really.

TUESDAY 14 JUNE –VENICE, ITALY

We made sure we were up in time for breakfast in the hotel.  After breakfast we thought we would go on a gondola ride and commissioned the man out the front of our hotel.  We went for about ½ an hour around ‘the block’.  We saw where Marco Polo is buried and also where Casanova ‘the lucky lover’ as our Gondolier put it, lived.  Our Gondolier is a 3^rd generation gondolier and said that there are about 450 gondoliers in Venice.  Every 3 years Venice is sinking by 1cm and you can already see where it has started to go under.

After our gondola ride, we wandered back through the laneways looking at the shops, dodging dog poo and wee until we got to St Marks Square.  We decided we had walked quite a lot so we went to the wharf to get a ‘water bus’ to take us on a round trip along the canals.  Great way to see the city and rest our legs.  We ended up being on it for more than an hour because it stopped at every single stop and then we went out into the open water and back around to the Grand Canal.  By the time we got off again at St Marks Square, we were happy to be back on stable ground, legs were certainly rested.

Tonight we headed down to the waters edge to have dinner at a restaurant overlooking the expanse of water off Venice and also all the people walking by on the waters edge.  As we were approaching the restaurant, we came across men selling the copy handbags on the streets and it was a very proud moment when Corky negotiated a great price (about 15 Euros each) for Madi and Sophie’s first Prada handbags!  They proudly displayed them as we entered the restaurant and sat with them at dinner though there was a crushing moment when Madi asked what Prada meant!  A quick lesson made everything OK again.

Harry in the Ferrari shop

After dinner we wandered again and headed back up towards St Marks Square.  It was a full moon and therefore this created a higher tide than normal.  This in turn made St Marks Square start to flood.  The water was seeping up though porthole covers in the ground and flooding everywhere.  You could see the water bubbling and at the edges of the mini lakes, the water was slowly creeping further and further afield.  Where the ground was slightly higher, little islands were created here and people chose to sit on the ground here, marooned by the rising waters.  It was extremely fascinating and hundreds of people gathered around to watch the spectacle.  The glamorous outdoor cafes on the edges of St Marks Square where you were served by waiters in dinner suits and bow ties, continued to charm people with their string band as though nothing was wrong.  Almost seemed like a scene from the movie Titanic where the band were asked to keep playing whilst the water swirled around them and the ship went down.  Thankfully Venice wasn’t going to be submerged tonight, it was just another full moon and a temporary big water problem, by the morning all will be back to normal and gumboots could be packed away again.

We did consider earlier today having a drink prior to dinner at one of these outdoor cafes whilst being serenaded by the string band and the kids, to their little hearts delight, could chase the pigeons in the square, however when we enquired about a drink, firstly the price for a beer and glass of wine was exorbitant as we had expected, but it was the fact that you had to pay 6 Euro per head to have the privilege of listing to the band – that would be an extra 36 Euros on top of our bill just to hear the music if we all decided to have a little aperitif before dinner.  We laughed that off and decided that we could certainly hear the band without paying for it, we just didn’t need to sit at the café to do so.

St Marks Square

WEDNESDAY 15 JUNE –VENICE, ITALY

Today after breakfast, we decided to explore the area around the Rialto Bridge.  We meandered through the laneways admiring yet another area of shops that we hadn’t yet explored.  It would seriously take you weeks to explore and get to know all the myriads of lanes and shops in Venice.  We got lost a couple of times and wound around and around but that was OK, we weren’t on a mission to get anywhere at any particular time.  We found a shop that sold soccer paraphernalia and we bought Jack a pair of Italian soccer boots.  The temperature however was quite hot and the sun directly on us was becoming unbearable.  We sought shade as much as we could. 

On the Rialto Bridge

We finally reached the Rialto Bridge which was swarming with tourists and shoppers.  We just window shopped on the way up whilst dodging people coming down and trying to keep an eye on the kids.  Once at the top, we admired the view from both sides of the bridge up and down the Grand Canal.  We had a few photos taken and then headed off to have lunch on the edge of the canal looking up to the Rialto Bridge.  I have really taken to the delicious Olive Oil here in Italy.  I love the fresh bread that comes with each meal (as it did in France) and then I smother it in the delicious Olive Oil and a little salt.  It is truly delicious and I have vowed to buy great quality Olive Oil once back home.  A bit of Olive Oil a day is meant to be very good for you, so that’s how I justify it.

After our lunch, we continued our trek around the lanes heading back towards St Marks Square and our hotel however we managed to get extremely lost along the way and we ended up at the bus/car/train station where we arrived.  We had walked for a couple of hours by this stage and were very tired so we got one of the lovely water taxis back to St Marks Square.  The water taxis are a lovely way to travel the canals, standing up in the back of the boat admiring the views whilst we cruise along.  Once we docked at St Marks Square, we stumbled back to our hotel for a rest for a while.  It was great to put our feet up and enjoy the air conditioning.

St Mark's Square

For dinner we couldn’t face yet another plate of pizza or pasta, so once again we headed to the Hard Rock Café for dinner to have a variety in our cuisine.  Unfortunately there isn’t much choice in restaurant options other than pizza and pasta, we were really craving something like Thai or Japanese etc.  Anyway, we enjoyed the meal again at the Hard Rock (one of the smallest in the world) and then wandered to St Marks Square again hoping to catch a bit of flooding like last night due to the full moon.  We got to the square, there was no flooding and we couldn’t find the moon.  We had a bit of a wander amongst the crowds enjoying the balmy evening and we eventually found the moon which was an eclipse tonight and quite red and faint.

Next stop ... Florence.  xx