Siena, Steak & Wine Tasting
We were to meet up in the Campo (Siena’s city centre), but it was bucketing down as we drank our morning coffee and peered out at the gloomy weather. An hour later, things looked a little brighter, and by ten…
Perfect Execution!
Every April 25th Panzano celebrates National Liberation Day by putting on a Festa della Stagion Buona to beat all festivals. Several days beforehand, furious pockets of activity took place all over town … in the square … beside the church…
Panzano in Chianti
And we thought the scenery around Lucca had been beautiful, but here in Chianti it’s just magnified … tenfold. Steep hillsides covered in a blanket of fluffy green forests … patchworks of neatly-rowed vineyards … staggeringly lovely villas and old…
Locals & Locales
A trip up into the vineyards. This is the true Tuscany. Everywhere large, colourful mansions dot the hillsides, overlooking their expanses of neatly terraced vineyards or olive groves … almost overlapping with their neighbours. Tall, dark pencils of cypresses accentuating…
Viareggio
Well, we HAD planned to catch the Lucca Saturday market before we left. The website said it closed at one, but stalls were packed and gone before noon. So … onto plan B. Black thunder clouds were gathering behind us…
Pisa – The City
That’s the trouble with having a train station mere minutes away … it’s so easy to leave things to the last minute! “Did you feel like going to Pisa this morning?” asked Glen (it was 10:20, the train left at…
Bridges and Villages
Buses and trains are wonderfully efficient, but if you want to do more than one place in a day, a car is the answer. We have a little Fiat 500 in dark petrol blue … cute as a button ……
Firenze (Florence)
Since that first hiccup on Sicily, the public transit has been incomparable. Buses and trains have been on time, efficient, fast … and go EVERYWHERE … even tiny mountain villages of half a dozen houses. Canada please note!!! This was…
Cinque Terre
Rick Steeves probably has a lot to answer for! When he first wrote about this region decades ago, they were five, sleepy unknown villages perched on cliffs overlooking the ocean just north of Viareggia and La Spessia. Today, there are…
Pisa
A mere 20 minutes away by train. Figuring a weekday might be a little less crowded (we’d read all those horror reviews!) and with trains going every hour or so, we booked for 10:42 am, then casually strolled the four…