Tuscany - 2001

We began our planning about six weeks in advance using the Internet to make airline reservations, car reservations and to select a place to stay.  With the benefit of this modern technology, we were able to use search tools to find the cheapest rental car and used the cut-rate, no-frills Ryan Airlines, which flies directly from the small airport in Charleroi, Belgium, just a few miles south of Brussels.  Ryan Airlines uses the Internet almost exclusively for booking their flights.  Rita and I both flew round-trip from Brussels to Pisa, Italy for about $45 each.  We even found advice on the Internet on how to avoid long lines at the museums in Florence by getting your ticket in advance online.



Our journey to Pisa began early Wednesday morning, August 29.  Our flight was at 9:10 so we had to rise early to drive to Charleroi, park in the airport parking lot and be at check-in two hours before the flight.  Ryan Airlines serves no snacks or drinks and has no headphones or music.  There is no assigned seating and we were at the front of the lines far enough in advance to get front row seats.  The flight took us over the Swiss Alps and, since it was a clear day, we had great views of Lake Constance and the Matterhorn.  We had no problems picking up our rental car, a Renault Clio with manual transmission, something I haven’t driven in over a year.  We headed into downtown Pisa and Rita did a super job of navigation here and the entire trip.  We found the Piazza di Miracoli where the Duomo (cathedral), Baptistery and bell tower (Leaning Tower of Pisa) are located. 



There were many more tourists here now than the last time we visited in April 1977.  We toured the beautiful cathedral, which was begun in 1063, and the circular Baptistery, which was started in 1153 and took 250 years to complete.  By then it was time for lunch and we opted for a touristy, outdoor café called Manfredo.  Rita had pizza and I had calzone, which did the job of stopping our hunger nicely.  It was quite hot in Tuscany and we were glad the car had air conditioning. 



We headed to our farm B&B that is called an agrotourism B&B in Italy.  After about an hour we arrived at Casanova di Pescille, which is about 1 or 2 kilometers from San Gimignano, a pretty walled city with fourteen towers and Medieval city walls still standing.  In the Middle Ages it had seventy towers.  Our B&B was set among olive trees and vineyards with scenic views of San Gimignano.  We settled in and were pleasantly surprised to find our room had air conditioning.  We unpacked and took a short nap since it had been a long day by that time.  In the evening we drove to San Gimignano, parked the car outside the city walls, and walked around this beautiful town. 



All of Tuscany is much more touristy then when we visited in 1977 with numerous shops selling Tuscan pottery, wines, cheeses, pasta and T-shirts.  And there were hordes of tourists, especially Germans.  But what can you expect in August?  Even with every little farm turned into a B&B or restaurant, there is still much to see and experience in Tuscany.



We walked down the main street that goes from one end of town to the other.  We passed through the Piazza della Cisterna and Piazza del Duomo where we toured the Collegiate church of Santa Maria Assunta.  Tuscan churches and cathedrals have interiors covered with frescoes and mosaics.  They don’t usually charge to go into these churches but we noticed they keep them dark and there are machines with coin slots that light up the painting or fresco when one deposits the right amount of money.  Clever!



We had an early dinner at a restaurant called Griglia.  I started with gnocchi in cheese sauce while Rita had prosciutto ham with melon.  For mains I had osso buco (veal shank) and Rita had rissotto with mushrooms.  We had a very nice local white wine called Vernaccia di San Gimignano.  It was a nice meal with views overlooking the valley.  We went back to our lodgings and sat outside a while watching the stars.



Thursday was another warm, sunny day with scattered thunderstorms in the afternoon.  We slept in and had our breakfast in the little building where Roberto, our host, met us each morning and served breakfast.  We started the day off with cappuccino as we would every morning here.  Then we drove to San Gimignano and walked around more back streets and visited the fortress. 



Next we drove to Volterra, another scenic, old town up high on a hilltop.  We toured the cathedral and baptistery, saw the Etruscan gate, Porta all’Arco, dating from the 4^th century BC, saw remains of the Roman theatre and walked the pretty streets of Via dei Sarti and Via Buomparenti.  We stopped long enough to have sandwiches on panini bread at a bar and then walked in the archeological park where Etruscan remains are still being unearthed.



From here we drove south to the small town of Massa Marittima.  This town has a pretty Piazza Garibaldi with the cathedral extending into the Piazza.  We climbed up steep, narrow streets to the city walls and the Fortezza dei Senesi e Torre del Candeliere (fortress and tower).  While on the city wall by this tower, lightning started to strike nearby so we headed back into the piazza and visited the first of many gelaterias or ice cream shops.



We headed east towards our next stop of the Abbey di San Galgano.  We drove through heavy rain and upon arriving there noticed that the main abbey church was without a roof.  We decided to skip this attraction and headed back to our B&B where we read our books while waiting for our dinner reservations. 



We had dinner at a restaurant called Le Vecchie Mura and were seated on their terrace overlooking the valley.  We watched as the sun dipped and the lights of the houses came on.  It was also near a full moon.  Dinner was okay but not as good as the setting.  I started with spaghetti carbonara and grilled veal fillet.  Rita had a local dish, a Tuscan soup called ribollita, a bean and cabbage stew.  For her main course she had pork chops in saffron sauce.  We did have a good Chianti classico reserva with the meal.



Friday was a mix of weather starting out with sun then clouds then rain and then sun again.  It was a warm, humid day over all.  We did rise earlier than usual since we had to drive into Florence, the biggest city we would visit.  We were doing just fine and on time driving into the city when we discovered the bridge we were supposed to cross was closed for repairs and we had to take a deviation.  What fun!  What stress!  But we recovered okay, found a parking lot and made it to the Uffizi Gallery just in time for our 10:15 tickets that we had purchased over the Internet.  And it started to rain just as we entered the art gallery.  Inside the gallery we soaked up culture, oodles and oodles of culture!  Most of the museum is dedicated to renaissance Florentine schools of painting, which were religious in nature.  But we did enjoy the highlights such as paintings by Paolo Uccello, Fra Filippo Lippi, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Titian, Tintoretto, and the Botticelli room. 



After the Uffizi we walked the short distance to the Ponte Vecchio, the old bridge with gold jewelry shops along the distance of the bridge.  After visiting several jewelry shops, but buying nothing, we walked around Florence, especially the beautiful Piazza della Signoria and to the Piazza del Duomo where we toured the ornate cathedral and baptistery.  The baptistery is best known for its bronze doors and the mosaics on the interior ceiling.  The cathedral is one of the biggest in the world with only St. Peter’s in Rome being larger.  The Florence cathedral at 504 feet long and 293 feet wide is bigger than St. Paul in London and Notre Dame in Paris.  We walked to the Piazza della Republica and back to Piazza della Signoria where we had a light lunch at Rivoire, a noted outdoor café.  Then we toured the Palazzo Vecchio, a palace with a huge chamber known as the Hall of the Five Hundred.  We had an Italian chocolate ice cream treat called a tartufo then decided to head back to the car and San Gimignano.  Florence has so much to see, so many art galleries, palaces and churches, that one could spend a week just in Florence.  But we were filling up on culture and thought we would leave the rest of Florence for some other trip in the future.



We arrived late in San Gimignano but stopped at a restaurant and hotel on the outskirts of town that was recommended to us by Roberto.  The restaurant, Da Pode, had room on their terrace and we had an excellent meal along with a full moon rising in the evening sky.  I started with great bruschetta with lots of garlic and tomatoes while Rita had prosciutto with melon.  Then I had veal with pecorino cheese and porcini mushrooms along with baked potatoes rubbed in rosemary.  Rita had spinach filled ravioli.  We had another bottle of local Vernaccia wine.



Saturday we slept in late as the previous day had been so busy.  Today was planned for the other great Tuscan town, Siena.  In the Middle Ages, Florence, Siena and Pisa were forever battling each other for supremacy.  For periods one would dominate and then the tides would change.  But as it turned out, we think Siena was our favorite large Tuscan city.  We really enjoyed the small walled towns best and they usually weren’t so crowded with tourists.



We headed out on back roads through Colle di val d’Elsa and saw its city walls as we drove along the outskirts.  Then we came across another town perched on a hilltop with city walls.  We consulted our Michelin guidebook to discover that this was Monteriggione.  It turns out that this town, with its fourteen square towers, is a 13^th century town that Dante mentioned in his Divine Comedy.  We stopped and spent some time walking around the pretty town, which put us late to Siena, but we had no schedule for the day. 



Our highlights in Siena were walking down the pretty Via Banchi through the Piazza Salimbeni with three palaces surrounding it, through Piazza Tolomei with the Tolomei palace to the great Piazza del Campo.  The Piazza del Campo is one of the most famous squares in the world with the Palazzo Pubblico palace on one side and many brown and tan 14^th century buildings surrounding the fan shaped piazza.  Rita remembered that as kids, one of our Crayola crayons was either Siena or burnt Siena.  These are the colors of Tuscany.



We had a good lunch at Antica Trattoria Papei where Rita had gnocchi and I had spaghetti with tomatoes and bacon.  Then we toured the Palazzo Pubblico but the tower, Torre del Mangia, was closed.  The palace has many great wall paintings (frescoes) and the most famous one is the ‘Effects of Good and Bad Government’ painting in the Sala della Pace or Peace Room.  While we were on the loggia, or porch, a big thunderstorm struck with lightning striking nearby.  We stayed there and watched the storm for nearly an hour.  After the storm, the air was much cooler and most people had light jackets or sweatshirts.  I had a T-shirt and shorts but it was bearable.  Heavy rain had caused some local flooding and erosion but we could still walk around and admire the sights. 



We went to the cathedral, which was probably the most impressive cathedral on this trip.  That’s a hard choice among so many impressive cathedrals.  Siena’s cathedral is known for its floor and its densely alternating horizontal bands of light and dark marble on the columns.  The floor is composed of 56 marble panels depicting figures from mythology and scenes from the Old Testament.  The floor panels are usually 60% covered but during the month of September they are all uncovered for viewing.  Today was September 1!  Unfortunately we couldn’t take photos.



Walking along the Via di Citta, we stopped to buy some wine.  I bought a bottle of Russo di Montepulciano and a bottle of Brunello di Montalcino, the later being one of the better Italian red wines.  We headed back to the car by the Via Banchi di Sotto, Via di Beccheria and Via della Galluzza, all pretty, scenic streets.  We stopped to briefly look at the Basilica di San Domenico dedicated to St. Catherine of Siena who received the Stigmata and experienced ‘ecstasies’ at her house nearby. 


Back in San Gimignano we had dinner at another of Roberto’s suggestions, restaurant Il Rifugio.  It was not one of his better recommendations.  The food was okay but Rita’s veal was tough.  Her bruschetta was good and my starter of crostini with several different spreads was okay.  I had ravioli stuffed with duck and with truffles on top.  The bottle of Rosso de Montepulciano was great.  I had profiteroles, which looked as if they were rolled in chocolate pudding.  It was not as good as previous meals.



Sunday was much cooler after a front blew through but the sky was clear and sunny.  By afternoon the warmth was returning.  This day was scheduled for the Chianti region.  This is pretty countryside with rolling hills full of vineyards and occasional pine forests at the top of the hills.  We spent most of the day on little, curvy back roads and headed first to Poggibonsi, to Barberino Val d’Elsa to the Abbey at Badia a Passignano.  The setting was super but the church was having a service and the abbey was closed for reconstruction. 



So we headed off on a road not clearly marked on our maps.  It deteriorated into a gravel road full of huge potholes but took us to a pretty town not on our maps either.  The town was Montefioralle and it was so pretty we parked outside its walls and took a walk around the small town.  I guess the town’s main fault was that nobody famous was born there and no bits of history happened there.  Fortunate for the town because it looks unspoiled.  We drove into Greve in Chianti and headed north to Strada in Chianti and Impruneta before turning around and returning to Greve.  Here we stopped and had a good lunch in the pretty Piazza Matteotti at the Caffe le Logge.  I had good ravioli stuffed with potatoes and covered with ragu sauce.  Rita had penne with a pesto sauce.  The café had several good wines by the glass so we had one glass of Ruffino Ducal Riserva Oro and one glass of Ruffino Ducal Riserva, both very good Chianti wines.  After lunch Rita bought herself a handmade bowl and we found another ice cream shop.



We drove to Radda in Chianti and walked around this medieval village then set out for Castellina in Chianti where we stopped again.  Castellina is known for its unusual street, Via della Volte that is vaulted along almost its entire length.  It skirts the interior of the town walls and in the past, riders could go right around the fortress on horseback.  Next we drove back to our B&B and read our books for a while before dinner.



For dinner we went back to restaurant Da Pode, which we enjoyed so much before.  I had plans for ordering Tuscany’s most famous local dish, bistecca alla fiorentina or simply a grilled T-bone steak.  We had seen it advertised everywhere but saved it for today.  When I went to order it, we found out that it was not for one person but for two!  Rita was a good sport and said she would split it with me.  It was huge!  It was about two inches thick and, unfortunately, not cooked very well.  I can eat rare steak but Rita doesn’t like her steak rare.  But the steak was so large that we could both cut off what parts we wanted and still be filled up with some to spare for the dogs out back.  We had an excellent Morellino di Scansano red wine to wash it down.  No wine was left for the dogs.



Monday, Labor Day, we took back roads and autostrada to the town of Lucca.  Lucca is very old with much history.  It’s mainly noted for the legend of the True Cross and the Holy Face (Volto Santo), a crucifix that was supposed to have been washed up on the shores of Luni in the 8^th century.  We viewed this cross, which is in the Duomo San Martino, Lucca’s 11^th century cathedral.  Lucca is also known as the town where Caesar, Pompey and Crassus met to form the First Triumvirate.  We saw many churches such as Santi Giovanni e Reparata and San Michele in Foro which stands where the old Roman forum used to be located.  We walked to the Guinigi house with its tree-topped tower.  I walked up the tower and took photos while Rita rested.  From there we walked to the Citta Vecchia or old town.  We had a simple pasta lunch at a café in the Piazza dell’Anfiteatro, which used to be the location of the Roman amphitheatre.  Again we found great ice cream, walked around the town some more and along the ramparts back to the car park.



We drove back to San Gimignano and walked to the Piazza della Cisterna where we had a beer at a sidewalk café.  Then we went to Trattoria Chiribiri for dinner.  I don’t remember much of that dinner except we shared an antipasto platter that had prosciutto and salamis of wild boar.  I think we each had pasta of some sort but it wasn’t memorable.  Rita’s fairly sure she had cannelloni.  Even the half-liter of red wine was lack luster.  We went back to our room and packed bags for the return trip.



Tuesday we had an early breakfast, checked out and headed back to Pisa.  We made good time, turned in our rental car and checked in at Ryan Air.  The flight back was on time and we arrived in Brussels in a cold rain.  In fact, it’s been raining ever since we returned.  But we had a great time in Tuscany and won’t forget this trip soon.