Date: Thu 20th June
Temperature: Hot
Mood: Relaxed
Highlight: Authentic Italian Cooking Class

Today we had arranged an authentic Italian cooking class at the villa’s Restaurant. The class commenced around 11am and finished over a 4 course meal prepared during our session.

There was a lot of fun and participation during the session and we got to appreciate first hand traditional Italian cooking. It does help if you have industrial cooking equipment! We finished off enjoying our spoils dining outside with more than enough food and wine and of course, good company.

The remainder of the afternoon was spent relaxing by the pool! We might add that much frivolity was enjoyed under the Tuscan sun!

No dinner tonight! But Gelato withdrawal symptoms beckoned us to a nearby village of Carmignano to seek out a local Gelato shop. Arriving at 8:00pm we discovered the shop closed, we suspected that it was due to open later so we strolled around the village and enjoyed the sunset from the hilltop. True to Italian form, the village sprung to life with the shops opening up at 9:00pm and all the local village people out and about enjoying the summer evening and a yummy Gelato. Delicious!

Cooking under the Tuscan Sun……….. Moon?

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Date: Wed 19th June
Temperature: Hot
Mood: Relaxed
Highlight: San Gimignano

A sleep-in was mandatory after an exhausting hot day in Florence. Breakfast was at a nice leisurely pace and no one was in any rush to head off sightseeing as the day got progressively warmer.

It became evident that everyone was on the same page and most of the day was spent relaxing around the pool reading, catching up on Blogs and just chilling out.

By late afternoon we all headed off in our cars to San Gimignano (a small walled medieval village in Tuscany). Whilst the more interesting tourist attractions where closed by the time we arrived, luckily for the girls (well 2 of them anyway!), the shops weren’t, so shopping they went!

We enjoyed the sun setting and a pleasant dinner outdoors, then in true Italian style, we topped the evening off with Gelato for deserts! Oh and we forgot to mention that we had already had a Gelato on arrival, but it was well within the 2 Gelato daily limit. Our guide book also states that this Gelato store is the best in Italy!

It was time to jump back in the cars and head back to our Tuscan Villas. We are starting to get used to our Black beast, mastering the 6 speed gearbox and not wiping out the right hand side of the car (or gouging out the lovely alloy wheels on the curbs). In fact as we only need to follow the car in front (as they have the GPS in their car) we have been enjoying the driving of a pure bred Italian car. The Alpha Romeo Giulietta! (Anne, did you have something to do with this?) – Nice Car!

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Date: Tue 18th June
Temperature: Very very Hot
Mood: Hot!!!
Highlight: Private tour of Florence

If only you could have seen us attempting to purchase 6 tickets with less than 5 minutes before our train departure with a ticket machine that kept on freezing (must have been running Windows Vista). Quick thinking Jethro, tickets were purchased from a Tobacco shop 20 meters away, we then had to validate all 6 of them in the machine (one at a time) after the train had pulled in, and what’s more, we were down the wrong end and had to run along the platform to get onto the train in time!

It was do or die as we had pre arranged to meet our private tour guide at Firenze Train Station and the next train would have been an hour later!

Roberto our tour guide was all things knowledgable about Florence. First stop was the Cappelle Medicee where we got the full run down on the Medicee family tree and the influence this family had over 300 years on shaping Florence. This Chapel also housed Michelangelo’s Day, Night, Dawn and Dusk marble sculptures that sat atop the tombs of some of the Medicee family members. Not bad for a head stone!

A tour of some of Florence’s landmarks and a visit of the Cathedral were also explained in expert detail. All were very impressed with Roberto and he is highly recommended for anyone visiting Florence.

We then finished our tour with Roberto on the doorstep of the Vasari Corridor for our next organised tour. This is a must for lovers of art. Most of us thought the tour was more about the history and the actual corridors. Whilst this was covered, it was more about the explanation of the hundreds of art work that adorn the corridor walls. Whilst interesting in its on right, we probably overdosed on tours in a single morning.

On our return we didn’t get past the Ponte Vecchio bridge, famous for all the gold jewellery shops without a few purchases made (by others in the group thankfully!)

After a sit down for lunch and an attempt to rehydrate it was then declared time for hitting the markets, this didn’t last too long due to the heat, so we headed off to seek out Michelangelo’s David!

After about an hour or so in a queue that didn’t move to fast and in 37 deg heat, we were finally fleeced of 11€ each to see the famous David, only to discover that you cannot take photos! They even had security guards enforcing it! But you cannot go all the way to Florence and not see David!

More market shopping and dinner before we caught the 8:28pm train back out and home!

We did manage to squeeze in another Gelato during the day! Roberto recommended us a Gelato place that apparently is the best in Florence. Now we have been recommended many, but it seems much easier to take the word of a local who claims that real fruit is used and it is made on site. To be honest, they all taste good, particularly when you are nearly going to die from heat exhaustion!

It was a big day. We spent close to 12 hours sight seeing and shopping, mostly on our feet and all of it in temperatures well over the mid 30’s! Hard work! Hopefully a sleep in and then time to catch up on our un-posted Blogs!

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Date: Mon 17th June
Temperature: Hot
Mood: Anxious
Highlight: Reunited with good friends

Not sure if we can really call this day one of Tuscany, but as we are spending the night here we might as well.

Today started off with a lovely relaxing breakfast as we didn’t need to catch the train to Pisa until 11:17am. The Monterosso train station was busy as usual, but we soon discovered that it was quicker queuing for the station staff than waiting for a ticket machine (and we had a nice chat with an Adelaide couple touring Italy). We decided on purchasing our Pisa to Florence leg in Pisa where we hoped it wouldn’t be as busy.

Once on the train we sat with two American ladies who were expecting to get off at the next Cinque Terre town only to discover that we were expressing passed all Cinque towns. Luckily the train stopped at the far end of the Cinque Terre so they could easily catch a train back, but at one stage it wasn’t looking too promising for them.

At Pisa, we made our way straight to the baggage minding service and then followed the signs to the information centre in town to find a map of how to get to the Leaning Tower of Pisa (our only true mission for this town). Whilst you needed a map to navigate to the tower, one could simply follow the crowds as everyone had the same idea.

The Leaning Tower is truly amazing in that it is still standing, just with a very noticeable lean. It is also so white in colour being built from limestone. What we’ve noticed since being in Italy, is the amount of marble and beautiful stone that is used everywhere as common as we would use brick pavers back home!

After a couple of photos of this famous iconic building it was time for a quick Gelato (forgot to take a photo) before purchasing our next set of train tickets and retrieving our luggage for the next leg to Florence. Express all the way (50min)!

Just needed to pick up the car rental and find our way from Florence to our Tuscan villa! This is where we hit a couple of hurdles.
1. We didn’t have our car rental voucher. Luckily there was literally an Internet Cafe next door where for 50c I got half an hour online to retrieve the voucher and print it out!
2. No SatNav, but can we hire a portable unit. Sorry none left. OK, what about a map? We get given a very basic map!
3. We ordered an Automatic. We get a 6 speed manual (More on the car in a future blog – Anne stay tuned!)
4. Our iPhone GPS is still upside down, so no turn by turn ability and battery about to die.

Now, trying to follow a map in Florence (probably anywhere in Italy) is like solving those mazes where you draw the line along the quickest path to the treasure. Well there are so many one way streets, that it is nearly impossible to find your way from point A to point B (well without a SatNav anyway).

This is where our first Italian miracle occurred. Somehow, we managed to arrive at our destination in one piece with the last 10km with no phone or maps or GPS! When we arrived, we looked at each other in shear amazement and then high 5’d.

At our Tuscan farm house and villa we were warmly re-united with our good friends from back home. It’s so nice to see familiar faces after travelling alone for over 6 weeks. It seemed so surreal to be sitting at an outside Restaurant in the middle of Tuscany 10,000km from home and to be sharing a great Italian meal with good friends!

What’s more, is along with these friends came a dress from home for Jenny. She now has 4 outfits to choose from! – I’m not sure if Jenny was more happy to see her friends, or see her dress! (Also bathers were delivered so a swim in the pool was enjoyed.)

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Date: Sun 16th June
Temperature: Warm/Hot
Mood: Chilled Out
Highlight: Portovener

Our B&B hosts suggested we take the ferry all the way down to Portovenere. So after some quick rescheduling we purchased our tickets and boarded the ferry for Portovenere. The weather was perfect and the waters calm so as not to unsettle tummies full of Gelato! Wow, what a beautiful port. We stuck to the old part of town with similar architecture to the Cinque Terre villages. A visit to the Castle was worth it just for the views over the harbour. After sampling the local Gelato it was time to board the ferry back to Monterosso, but not without another visit to Vernazza as yesterday we didn’t get to see this village with a blue sky!

It was a perfect day and the sights magnificent. As our last night in the Cinque Terre we dinned on Seafood and Pasta. What else would you eat at a seaside village in Italy?

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Cinque Terra – Day 2 (Back)