Lucca

We're now at Relais San Lorenzo in Lucca and already Florence seems soooooooo long ago.  Rome seems like a lifetime ago.  I have tried to add this episode several times without success on the laptop at our place (can't use my own laptop) and so very late last night, I finally redid it for the 4th time and saved it on my memory stick.  As 'luck' would have it, I can't cut and paste.  hmmmmm

On our morning in Florence (even now I can't remember what day it was) we had a hurried - but funny - breakfast and then headed down the road to the Duomo to climb to the top.  It was a good way to work off breakfast , and the panoramic views over the city from the top were amazing.  We spent ages up there - it was hard to break the spell to start the climb down.  Once back on ground level we certainly had a different perspective as we walked down some of the streets , having seen the 'rabbit warren' from above.

Our idea was to head straight to the Ponte Vecchio but as usual there was lots to sidetrack us on the way.  As it turned out, it took us so long that we even ended up having lunch before we reached the bridge!  We arranged for a time and place to meet , since we thought we may end up getting separated on the bridge.  I had decided that this time I was going to treat myself to something, and set off with a couple of items in mind to buy.  As it turned out, I came away empty handed but thankfully Leanne kept up her tradition and came away with an amazing Baltic amber piece.

An hour later and we were at the station ready to catch the train to Lucca - we were even in time to catch the earlier train and the journey was quite picturesque.  Once at Lucca our google earth instructions gave either the walking directions to our new abode or the bus numbers and instructions for those.  We soon discovered that even finding the bus stop was a challenge - even the locals didn't know where that number bus station was - there were no taxis and so we set off to walk.  Leanne had worked out how to manage her luggage but we must have looked quite a sight.  Julie, a Kiwi, came up to ask if we were Antipodean and she showed us the way as she was heading to her hostel, which is around the corner (so to speak).  It turned out she had her own travel business guiding women only tours in various parts of the world and she was in Lucca visiting a friend and also using the time to recce the area for future tour possibilities, so we had an interesting discussion.

Val had nipped out by the time we arrived at Relais San Lorenzo so the lady made us a coffee and we settled down in the 'living area' part.  It was good to see Val again (he wasn't long in arriving back) and then we met Leonie and Peter, the other couple who are also with us on this trip.  They are long standing friends of Val's.  We all met up on the balcony part of their room for nibbles and drinks before heading around the corner for our first dinner.

It seemed to me that Mimo's gastronomic delights in Rome were the perfect training for the meals to come in Tuscany.  Val said that he doesn't want us to leave without sampling the full benefits of Tuscan meals and so he ordered accordingly for everyone.  Unfortunately by this stage my appetite has completely disappeared and the idea of eating was the furthest from my mind.  I've even declined gelatos now for 4 days!  After dinner, the others went for a walk around town and off for a coffee and I retreated back to our room, thinking it was a first that I declined the opportunity for some night photography.

Yesterday morning, we all met for breakfast after which we left for a 'quick walk to the wall' as Val put it.  His worries that we may think he hadn't planned enough for the day soon disappeared as we took a couple of hours to 'wander down to the wall'.  We all relished the opportunity to be out with our cameras, the weather that morning was brilliant and after leaving the wall and heading back through the alleyways and streets towards the centre of town again we all had a ball nipping in and out of many of the interesting shops, even stopping for a coffee (no cake for me).  We then found a wonderful deli and decided we'd each buy something for lunch since they had some interesting breads, and a plethora of cold meats, cheeses, stuffed tomatoes and salads.  The rest of the shop had hanging salamis and hams, more olive oils than I'd seen in one place before and the usual mixture of pastas and relishes.

We all did our own thing for the afternoon and met up by 7pm so we could head out for another dinner.  Our meal last night was in Da Guilio which was a large restaurant that filled up quickly.  It seemed to serve good wholesome food at extremely reasonable prices and it didn't seem like there were many tourists there.  Items on the menu included marinated minced horse meat; roasted brick chicken; cornmeal porridge with meal or tomato sauce; grilled cuttle-fish; tripe; boiled veal head with onions; veal lung in sauce and veal cheek.  It's a tough area for veal survival methinks ...  I played it safe with vegetable soup (chunky and delicious) and then pork ribs with olives.  By the time the main meal arrived, my appetite again had left .  It looked lovely but it was the first time I'd seen pork ribs without bones.  I gave most of it away to the others, but the bit I ate was delicious.    Thankfully there was a long gap between courses because Leonie and I had ordered creme brulee for desert and it was delicious, appetite or not.

Val and I went for a walk after dinner to try some night photography.  Val wanted to try out his tripod and get to know his camera better.  The time flew as it always does.

Today we all set off early this morning in our Fiat hire van and drove out to the countryside.  We had our first stop at Ponte della Madelena which is a foot only bridge built around 1300.  The reflections in the water as we pulled up to stop were perfect, but it seemed that as if on cue, a few ducks saw some people with cameras heading to take photos and they made sure the water was soon full of ripples.  It's amazing how quickly a few ducks going around and around and around and around can stir it all up!  We just had to laugh about it all.  As we were leaving, 2 couples on bikes - yep, BMWs of course (1150s but 2 different models) pulled up and we imagined the ducks having to go around in circles again.

Val next took us to Lucignana, the small village on top of one of the hills where his father came from.  We spent more time there than we should but it was really interesting - he was related to quite a few of the people still living there and we all ended up at his aunt's place.  She is 89 and would pass for 65 and I think was quite chuffed that he bought an extra 4 Aussies to her place.  The views were stunning but then the village is quite isolated, and while the views are stunning the realities of actually living there are not as idyllic as the views suggest.

Our lunch stop was Il Vecchio Mulino at Castel Nuova.  A totally different type of 'restaurant'.  We had an Tuscan version of a ploughman's pub lunch.  The owner is a huge guy, and I mean HUGE.  But you should see his hand made mortadellas - they are 2 metres long, weigh 200kg and are the size of a small car tyre round.  Quite something!  Actually the lunch was delicious, and was accompanied by a couple of bottles of red wine (as most meals here seem to be) but again I just had to watch the others drink most of it.  Then the owner offered G&Ts with blood oranges (instead of limes or lemon) and Leanne and Leonie said they were delicious.  I settled for a coffee.

We had a quick stop in Barga before heading back to Lucca.  The others now have all gone to listen to an operatic student performance in one of the town's churches, and as soon as I finish this I am heading out with my camera and tripod.  There was an amazing downpour this afternoon as we arrived back into Lucca, and so the streets should have glistening cobbles and maybe even some reflections.  It's twilight, and after a tiny dinner - maybe a pizza after the others come back from their opera bit - we may head out again for some night photography.

It's strange for me adding these photos taken in Florence, as it seems so long ago already.  Leanne and I on top of the Duomo and the two below are some of Florence 

One of the piazzas in Florence -Leanne was amazed at the number and size of the statues just seemingly dotted around the town, as well as the age of the buildings, piazzas and some of the 'ruins'.  This piazza has special memories for me and it was great to be there again

No, these were not our breakfast eggs arriving.  They are part of the window display for a chocolate shop!  And no, we didn't buy any to taste  ...  gotta leave that for next time!

Dinner on our fist night here in Lucca

Tomorrow we leave Lucca as this is already our 3rd night here.  I am hoping that our next stop will have easier internet access and I can update the blog from my laptop, so it will be easier to add photos.  This has taken quite a while and I need to be out rather than sitting with this PC!!!!!  It's a busy life being 'on holidays' as Lisa and Betty seem to remind me ....  yes ladies, I know you are happy where you are!

caio for now

How much leather (bags, wallets, jackets, belts) can a girl look at???

It was time this morning for Leanne to prove once again that she is the Queen Packer - how she manages to get so much into so little space is amazing.  Granted, she has added to her luggage but then she now has some absolutely stunning outfits - at bargain prices.

Pat drove us to the Central Termini after our goodbyes to Mimo, Sue and Roger.  I always find it hard with the good byes, especially when you don't know how long it will be until the next hello.  We'd had such a fantastic week, that it was hard to believe we were now heading off to Florence.

At the station we thought we had plenty of time, but it passed quickly.  It's such a busy station, with trains heading all over Europe.  We did get a shock when ours didn't seem to appear but then realised Florence was just the first stop on the Venice train.

Our hotel in Florence is in a great location - literally 5 minutes walk from the main train station, and just around the corner from the Duomo.  Perfect.  So we dumped our bags and started walking and 12 hours later, we're back again!  Granted, most of the walking at first seemed to be in and out of shops and around the markets.  I think that Leanne thinks she's in heaven - how much leather in the form of bags, wallets, coats and shoes can a girl look at?  Without buying?  I am not telling, so you'll have to ask her when she returns!

We did manage to sit down for a lunch pizza, and after more forays into the markets and an amazing experience while Leanne was in the process of buying her jacket, we decided we'd definitely earnt our daily Gelato.  We had all been rather remiss yesterday by missing out.

Fortified again with the gelato, we headed off towards the Ponte Vecchio and up the hill to the Michelagelo lookout for the twilight and sunset.  We were sandwiched between some London Brits - a young couple who were here for a few days and a young guy who was into videos and some photography.  I know Alex will be interested to learn that I was quite restrained with my photography by comparison.  This guy had his camera plugged directly into his laptop as he was taking timed exposures of a single scene - a photo every 5 seconds, and he was spending about 1.5 hours up there!  So you can work out how many images he's going to have on his laptop of this single scene  ....  His girlfriend and her friend stayed for about 50 minutes with him, then wandered off to get a drink and have a chat on a nearby seat while he finished.  He reckons he'll owe them dinner tonight!

We stayed until just before the sun actually went down, and headed back down the hill again and across the river.  We had a few stops for photos (both of us) and I was quite surprised when Leanne said it was 9pm and how about finding somewhere to eat - I had no idea of the time.  Probably due to the twilights and the fact I was out with my camera ...  We found an outdoor cafe for dinner and shared meals - more variety.  Leanne thought she was tired and had planned on heading straight back to the hotel.  I thought that with only one night in Florence, our hotel was the last place I was heading straight for so we ended up wandering around looking at everything that was still going on, and then came back.

Since it's now way past midnight, and we have an early-ish morning tomorrow and a heaps to do, I'm going to sign off for now and I'll add just a few snippets from today.  I hope everyone has enjoyed their time away from the office there, and no doubt you're excited and relieved to be back in that secure, safe office routine again!!!

Definitely not the best light - but hopefully tomorrow (or actually later this morning) I'll have a chance to catch the light on the correct side of it and I may even actually look at the displays in the shops as well, since quite a few of them have silver as well as yukky gold

When in Rome ... our last full day already!

It feels like we arrived yesterday but in another sense, we have done so much and we both feel extremely comfortable here in Rome.  Leanne put it really well this morning when she said she and Rome have an awful lot in common - both waking up early(ish) for a busy morning, then a long siesta over the lunch hours and then the shops open again for another 4 hours shopping and then there is always a great meal at the end of the day. 

The city seems vibrant, easy to get around (fortunately the high summer crowds are not here yet) and the weather has been brilliant (except for late this afternoon).  We've loved every second we've been here and our apartment has been wonderful.  Having new friends nearby also makes it totally different for us - if we'd been staying in the middle of town in a hotel we would not have the same impressions - or information about - this city.

This morning we had breakfast downstairs in our local cafe.  Finding a bottle of red wine (on display for the evening menu - not imbibed at breakfast thank you) called 'Vertigo' was interesting, and the one next to it was 'Sosso' (we took to mean 'so, so').  We had planned to spend the day following our nose through the alleyways of Trestevere, one of the older sections of the city.  Mimo drove us first though to the Capuchin church.  This is one I remembered from NAT and Contiki days, or more specifically, the Crypt I remembered.  Passengers always seemed to remember it, because the rooms of the crypt look like they are fancily decorated and then you realise that they are decorated with human skeletons.  Interesting history which I won't go into here.

Mimo was then going to drop us off near Trestevere, but today in Rome is also a major public holiday.  Their version of ANZAC day too, and so there was a lot on in town, lots of roads closed for ceremonies, rallies, and also a major cycling race was on too.  Busy, busy.  It took nearly an hour to drive via all the detours to Trestevere and we were dropped off and started our wanders.  We had a very looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong lunch at a great little place in a quiet back street and then realised we need to move quite quickly as we were supposed to meet Pat at Villa Borghese by 4pm.  We decided it was quicker to try to walk there than find the right bus stop and then wait for a bus, and there were no nearby metro stations, so we set off.  In the end, we were going to run out of time so Pat came to collect us from where we were and we made it in time to be admitted to the art collection, which was well worth it.

And as it was our last night, you guessed it - dinner was at Pat & Mimos.  Pat took us for a drive after dinner - there was minimal traffic out as it was a public holiday, and seeing Rome by night was just magical and an amazing way to end such a fantastic week here.

When in Rome ... Easter Sunday & the Vatican

The weather forecasts were for a drizzly overcast day.  Fortunately the weather got tired of this, and after sprinkling overnight and a cool morning, the sun did its bit and came out for the day.

I played Easter bunny in the morning and then Roger and I went for a walk down to Ponte Milvio bridge.  This is a medieval bridge but recently it's become the focus of attention.  In Italy a couple of years ago, a movie came out where the lead hearthrob, at the end, went down to this bridge and placed a lock on it with the his character name and his 'girlfriend's' name on it.  Apparently, the next day, young couples all flocked to the bridge just to be there, and some did leave locks.  The craze continues, and we've also noticed these locks in other parts of Rome as well.

We had a wonderful family Easter lunch at Pat & Mimo's - 13 for lunch.  We have become accustomed this week to their feasts, and this was no exception.  A wonderful happy experience as by this time we knew all the family.

Then in the afternoon we went to the Vatican.  These days it seems you have to queue for everything, but it was the quickest moving queue and took about 10 minutes.  Once inside, the singing was amazing as there was a mass in progress.  Certainly added Easter atmosphere.  Leanne came out with a crook neck and her mouth still open - this is only her 5th European church she's been in, and she is completely overwhelmed.  After leaving the Vatican - we did spent quite a long time there - we did our usual and wandered back through some very picturesque alleyways, had our daily gelato, and caught a very late bus home.  We had all decided we were still too full from lunch to be wanting any dinner, and we'd had large gelatos each anyway.  Unfortunately, by the time we got back, I was in dire need of something.  So we went up to Pat & Mimo's apartment and Pat & Sue asked if I'd like a sandwich.  I thought they'd come out with something like a peanut butter sandwich.  You could tell I wasn't well because I'd obviously clearly forgotten their meals.  Pat said she had a "little smoked salmon" and so out came some wonderful crusty toasted bread piled high with smoked salmon.  The others looked at this and thought it would be rude not to join me.  Within minutes it seemed, Pat had whipped out another tablecloth from her collection and the table was covered with dishes of lasagne, sardines, mixed salad of carrots, tomato & fennel drizzled with olive oil (actually extremely tasty), a dish of mozarella & tomato that Mimo had just pulled out of the oven (talk about seriously good ....), a home made 'salami', plates of brie and gorgonzola, a home made chocolate & coffee gelato dish, fresh strawberries, liquer easter cake and easter eggs.  This was all at 10:30pm and while I did have my "sandwiches" the rest of us all tucked in with gusto.  Pat and Mimo are totally amazing - they enjoy all of this.  As we obviously do!

When in Rome ... parking

I've worked out the system.  Phew ... 

Let's suppose a small group of friends decide to meet up for a coffee, or maybe lunch.  We're living in Rome and one of us lives in Vigna Clara and knows a great corner cafe where we've all decided to meet.  We all live in different suburbs, so some of us are driving in, some coming by bus and of course I've got my Vespa.

So what happens here in Rome?  Well, as we're all trying to park nearby, we spot a side street that has quite a few cars parked already.  It's a narrow street, and is one way traffic.  There is a huge car parking area at the front of the cafe, but that's already full.  Hakuna matata you may say.  Well, you'd be right.  From what I saw the other day, this is what would happen ...

The first to arrive would squeeze into a spot.  The next, NOT in a tiny Fiat or a Smart car, would find a space that wasn't really big enough, and rather than continue to drive around to see if there was a spot to fit, would just angle in to the too-small space and half park on the footpath.  The next few would recognise their friends' cars, realise it was close to the cafe, decide not to drive around looking for parking spaces and just double park.  There is already an unknown vehicle double parked, but that's ok.  The obvious rule about double parking is that you just don't worry!  The vespa arrives and there's a choice:  yep, double park or park behind a vehicle, making sure NOT to leave any space for the vehicle to wiggle out of their parking space.  Mind you, if the large vehicle hadn't already parked half way onto the narrow footpath, it may have been possible just to leave it on the footpath ....

Then everyone just goes off to enjoy their coffee, or lunch or whatever.  May as well do a spot of shopping after meeting up, there's no rush.

You'd think there'd be a problem when the poor person who had previously arrived and parked properly returns to their car to find it completely boxed in.  So they just start honking the horn, thinking that the drivers who have double parked would come running to move their cars.  Well, think again.  In this instance, she gave up and went to get a coffee herself.  Then the next driver, who had half parked on the footpath, came back to her car, realised she couldn't get out either, and so went to buy a gelato.  I began to wonder if the cafe hires people to double park so the 'victims' get to spend money in the cafe.  Then I realised this wouldn't be necessary because the food is so good there they don't need to do anything like this.

But if I move to Rome to live, I'll be getting a Vespa if I don't have FP, but I wouldn't be parking like the one below did!

Why?

here's why ...

When in Rome ... divine gelatos

OK, so the photos somehow ended up on top and I'm not going to fiddle and change them around.  Too tired.  But this is the entrance area for our apartments above, and below is the "sugar bowl" in a cafe today

There are some places around that have a heap of padlocks attached to them.  At first it looks kinda strange, and I still haven't got the full story, but it's something to do with LOVE - quite a few of them are either engraved, or have initials or names on them and it's not hard to guess the significance eh?

One for my 'letterbox' files!

More great back alleyways

We thought this was quite amusing.  Our gelato stop this afternoon was in a place that advertised it made its own ice creams and gelatos, and they used real fruit and they had something special.  Anyway, it was gelato time for us so we tried it, and we all agreed that they were extra special and would now be the yardstick for future gelatos.  Then we came out to the piazza and noticed the name of the street where the gelato place was .....  hmmmm  ???

The traffic here is of course wonderfully chaotic, busy, crazy, fast, courteous, noisy and I think if I lived here it would be crazy to have a car.  But then I figured, after this line up, you'd need a lime green bike/moped or it would be like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack!

We had quite a different sort of day today.  Not because for the first time it was overcast instead of sunny, nor because it's the start of a long weekend here.  It was my turn to go looking, if not shopping, this morning.  I was trying to get to a bike shop that sold accessories, not necessarily BMW ones but ones that would fit a BMW bike.

I won't go into too many details, but after speaking with several people, some phone calls being made, internet searches and the phone book all consulted, we ended up with one particular place.  Mimo had offered to drive me there, which was really nice of him.  Roger came too because it seemed an interesting way to spend an hour or so.  So we set off, and arrived at a different shop to the one we'd narrowed our search down to.  It wasn't what we were looking for so we headed off to the original choice but it still wasn't what I'd envisaged.  Note to self:  need to return to Rome to try to find what I think they must have!  It was good however to see a different Rome, and to see it from a vehicle as well as having Mimo's company.  On the way home he detoured and took us to a great vantage point so we could see Rome spread out below.

Lunch was back at Pat & Mimo's place, this time with Alex (their other son) and Pat had said it was "just a buffet lunch".  I should have known because all meals at their place seem to be spectacular, and this was no exception.

After lunch Pat drove us to the Vatican and dropped us off.  It didn't take long to drive there, and it felt quite strange to be dropped off at St. Peter's square.  It's been many years since I've been there, and of course there was a lot going on in preparation for tomorrow's Papal address and service.  We spent the rest of the afternoon just wandering down alleyways, and gradually making our way back to the start of the 224 bus route so we could catch our bus home.

A quiet night in for Leanne and I, but the time still goes way too quickly.

When in Rome ... evidence!

Now it seems I can add photos  ...  and I'm not going to work out why it wouldn't work at 1:15am this morning, so here are some ...

Saw this chair but it was too early for the shop to be open, otherwise it would have been interesting to go in and actually sit in it to see if it was as comfortable as it looked

some of the latest fashion  ...  I won't spoil the surprise and add photos of the fashion items we've bought because there'd be no reason to be invited over for that coffee then would there?

The far dom is the Vatican - this was taken from the balcony of the church above the Spanish Steps early in the morning

The Trevi Fountain after it was 'switched on'

I couldn't resist this photo

A lamp post, without the post but with the light ...

just one of the many scenes like this - I love these back alleys/lanes/roads whatever - I'd have a ball being dropped off anywhere in Rome and just wandering around following my nose, and then at the end of the day working out where I am so I'd be able to work out how to get home!

no caption needed for this one!

I saw this as we exited from the Colisseum

yep, when in Rome!  This is Leanne and I hard at work in Rome

lunch back at our apartment

after buying shoes yesterday we HAD TO have lunch at the Cafe.  We were lured into the cafe because of the wonderful array of cakes at first, then we looked at the gelatos and thought we'd buy a gelato to have while we walked back home  ...  and on the way to the till to pay for the gelato we got sidetracked by the lovely lunch meals on display. 

The system here is that you go into a cafe like this, decide what you are going to have, get a docket for it and then go to the till to pay for it.  You take this receipt back to the section of whatever you're having and then you get the meal/gelato/whatever

and to bring you back to earth after looking at the sweet section, I dubbed this 'Madona's brocoli' - Pat bought some and Mimo cooked this as part of our Good Friday feast at their place last night