Speechaway

 

Under the Tuscan rain, clouds, wind and storms ...

31st October 2008

Unfortunately the weather has not been brilliant but we have seen some brilliant things here in Tuscany when the sun has peeped through occasionally. We arrived in our elegant Italian apartment in San Casciano Val di Pesa (a village 20 kms south of Florence) on Saturday  25th October following a full day of tiring driving. We left Dauphin at 8.00 am on Saturday in the midst of fog so, unfortunately, there were no last glimpses of our village on the hill. We arrived in San Casciano Val di Pesa at 6.30pm on Saturday evening having made one small side trip to see Monaco and Monte Carlo’s striking coastline. We were impressed by the tidiness of the Principality and were very amused to note that, as we crossed the border back into France, the streets were immediately dirty and generally untidy in comparison. The numerous tunnels along the coastal motorway in Italy slowed our progress somewhat and Dominic found the driving demanding. We have also been amazed at the audacity of the Italian drivers. They consistently break the speed limit and ignore such things as stop signs and no overtaking lines!

Sunday was a day of rest. We were all exhausted, Dominic especially, and so we just walked around the village and familiarized ourselves with things Italian. On Monday we wandered around the weekly market and then did our week’s shop at the supermarket. In the afternoon we visited San Gimignano, a remarkable medieval village with imposing towers rising high into the sky. The views of the surrounding Tuscan hills were picture postcard perfect.

On Tuesday the rain poured down- no Tuscan sun in sight. We persevered with our plan to drive to Pisa and would you believe the rain stopped for the hour that we walked around the Leaning tower, Cathedral and Baptistery-lots of great photo opportunities. We didn’t climb the tower as we didn’t want to part with 15 euro per person for the privilege. With the state of our dollar that would have been over $90AUD for the three of us!

On Wednesday we took the bus to Florence (as advised by the landlord) and we were grateful for that advice when we saw the traffic and small streets that we would have had to contend with. Despite being the end of October, Florence was extremely busy with tourists and also quite dirty. We were also troubled by the number of people smoking in such a confined place. And to top it off prices were once again very high. Natalie and I went to see Michaelangelo’s “David” and were taken with the size and beauty of the sculpture but the rest of the museum was a bit repetitive with lots of religious icons and paintings.  We didn’t venture into any other museums because of costs but did marvel at the beautiful architecture of the churches and the famous ‘Ponte Vecchio’ (covered bridge).

Our last couple of days have been spent visiting the stunning, historic villages of Volterra (with ruins dating from the Etruscans 4th to 1 st Centuries B.C.) and Siena. Wandering around Siena was marvellous. The huge piazza and the spectacular architecture of the Cathedral and other buildings were wonderful sights. We have been struck by the neatness and cleanliness of the towns and villages in Tuscany, Florence being the one exception.

Tomorrow we are on the road again heading towards Venice. The weather forecasts continuing rain so we will have water from above and below!