Arrivederci Italia

The Villa Ambrosia has turned out to be such a pleasant find in the Tuscan hills just south of Florence that we have decided to stay here through Monday night. The places in Tuscany that we want to explore are all easily reached from here. Today, Sunday, we were again reminded of how beautiful the hills of the Chianti region of Italy are. We have been blessed on this trip with incredible weather and today we think Gerry and Cathy also realized the magic of traveling in this region. We are located just a few miles from our first stop, the American Cemetery of Florence. Compared to Arlington or Normandy this is a small cemetery but a beautiful one. There is a Memorial at the back of the cemetery, behind all of the markers as you enter, that lists hundreds of names of American GI’s who died during the assault from Sicily through Italy who’s graves are unknown. We also saw many markers that indicated a died soldier whose name was unknown. The Memorial also had a narrative that discussed the fierce battles that occurred in the liberation of Italy from the Germans. It was very moving indeed.

We left the cemetery and drove through the hills to the town of Tavernalle Val Pesa. The Osteria al Gramala is located in Tavernalle. This is the restaurant where we took a cooking class eight years ago when we spent 6 weeks in Tuscany. Good fortune was with us as the restaurant was open. We re-introduced ourselves to Cecelia and Massimo and enjoyed a lovely lunch of pasta and wine. We are not sure if Cecelia and Massimo remembered us but they were gracious enough to act like it. After lunch we drove on to Certaldo where our apartment was located. Among other things we wanted Gerry and Cathy to see the wine coop in Certaldo where we bought our wine in 5 liter boxes. The wine coop is where farmers who do not grow enough grapes to bottle their own wine sell their grapes and the coop produces a wonderful table wine. When we first went in the coop we were shocked to see gasoline style pumps and watched as people brought in very large plastic containers that were filled with wine from these pumps. We tried a box of the wine and loved it. Unfortunately, because it is Sunday, the coop was not open. We also had great difficulty in driving by our apartment because all of the traffic patterns have been changed. The apartment was located just a couple of blocks from the train station and all the streets in the area have been closed to through vehicular traffic with pedestrian tunnels now in place that go under the tracks. We left Certaldo and drove to San Gigimnano. This is a beauty full town that sits atop a hill with these wonderful towers that rise high above the town. We were able to see these towers from miles away. Because of these towers San Gigimnano is sometimes called the Manhattan of Tuscany. We thoroughly enjoyed strolling through the town, looking in the shops and occasionally buying a souvenir. After all of this walking about we were tired so we returned to Villa Ambrosia for naps before going out for dinner. Dinner was at a restaurant next to our hotel and was a delight. We arrived at 8:00 and were the only people in the restaurant. After we were seated, the chef came out and greeted us and spent much time going over the menu with us. After ordering, the waiter brought out a book that our chef had just had published that contained many recipes as well as some historical perspective. At least we think it was historical perspective as it was in Italian and the waiter said that was what was in the book. The chef came back later to ask about our first course and Tim asked him several questions about both recipes and the risotto that Tim had just eaten. It was all very fun and enlightening.

Monday turned out to be a very special day. It began rather benignly with a drive to Montalchino, a hill town south of Siena. Montalchino is famous for its Brunello wine. The average person thinks of chianti immediately when thinking of Tuscan wines, but connoisseurs know that Brunello’s are excellent, robust red wines that can be considerably more expensive then chianti. Other then an old fort that Gerry enjoyed, there was not much to see other then wine shops so we drove on to Pienza which is pretty much due east of Montalchino. Lynda and Tim had been to Pienza before and remembered it as a nice little town but something about it today made it exceptional. There is a cathedral in Pienza celebrating its 550 anniversary which really isn’t all that old in terms of Italian history and it is not really a cathedral like Notre Dame or St. Peter’s. However, about a block away was a small church that was beautiful in its simplicity. The crucifix hanging over the alter was very contemporary and striking as was the pulpit next to the alter. We also enjoyed going into several neat little shops just before they all closed for lunch. We also happened upon a wonderful little piazza and then walk to the rampart behind the cathedral where we were met with a spectacular panoramic view of the southern Tuscan hills. On leaving Pienza we continued to enjoy spectacular scenery. We are sure Joni and Bill will to attest to this as they spent their honeymoon here several years ago. Our last stop of the day was in Greve, another of the picturesque villages in Tuscany. We particularly wanted Gerry and Cathy to see the butcher shop here that has been open since 1729. Along with the usual assortment of meats, this shop specializes in chingaili, wild boar. There also were multiple hams hanging from the ceiling throughout the shop. Cathy enjoyed it, We are not sure about Gerry. From Greve we returned to our hotel to prepare for going out for dinner. Think naps. We had planned on returning to the restaurant next to the hotel that we enjoyed so much last night but it was closed. The hotel, however, suggested a trattoria just down the hill that turned out to be a good choice. It was more of a local trattoria, no frills, but good food and wine.

Tuesday began in the tiny village of Monsanto, just outside Poggibonsi, about half way between Florence and Siena. There is an exceptional winery in Monsanto that we had visited back in 2004. Back then we saw wines in the underground cellars that were 40 years old. We also had the opportunity to taste their wonderful wine. Unfortunately, today they were unable to give us a tour so we spent a few minutes looking around the grounds and then drove on to Siena. The main square in Siena, Il Campo, is actually sort of shell shaped and is huge. It is famous because twice a year a horse race called “Il Pallio” is held in Il Campo. There are approximately 16 different political sections to Siena and each enters a horse in the race. The horses race around the outer ring of the piazza and the crowd stands in the middle. There is much pageantry surrounding this event. We planned on visiting the Duomo,the main cathedral in Siena, but there was a charge to get in so we didn’t. The Duomo in Siena is similar to the one in Florence in that it is strikingly beautiful on the outside but rather dark and dreary on the inside. For lunch we had planned to return to a little restaurant we had discovered previously but when we got there it was closed, maybe permanently. Fortunately, just a block or two away we found another place that had, all together now, excellent food and wine! After our fine lunch we finished some last minute souvenir shopping and had one last gelato before heading to Fuimicino where we are staying tonight before flying home tomorrow.

Sadly this is the end of our trip. It has been wonderful. While most places were sites that Tim and Lynda had seen before, we enjoyed watching Gerry and Cathy experience them for the first time. All indications are that the Browns have had a fabulous first trip to Europe. They have had a hard time deciding which place was there favorite of all the places we visited. And the good news is that Gerry and Lynda are still speaking to each other! We hope you have enjoyed following along on another of our trips and we look forward to seeing you all soon.

Arrivederci.

Rome, Venice, Florence - Benne

Tuesday night in Rome we took a bus to Trastavere, a neighborhood that use to be a Jewish area, was also a working man neighborhood, and now features many wonderful shops and restaurants. It was another of the string of beautiful nights we have had on the trip and the trattoria we dined at was also excellent. After dinner we took the bus back towards Piazza Navona. The Piazza Navona holds special significance for us because on our first trip to Rome when we stayed in a hostel run by Dutch nuns just off of the Piazza and the Piazza was the focal point of our first trip. It was a relatively quiet night in the Piazza but we still enjoyed the memories of previous trips.

On Wednesday morning, Lynda slept in so Tim accompanied Gerry and Cathy to the Coliseum and The Roman Forum. Each time we go to the Coliseum it is a marvel both architecturally and construction-wise. Unfortunately, it is a testament to what can be built if you have enough slaves. Tim did learn something new. He was always under the impression that the Coliseum is round when, in fact, it is oval shaped. In terms of history, the Roman Forum is without a doubt of considerable significance. However, seeing the ruins of it is less then moving. The rest of the day was spent either doing laundry (Cathy and Gerry) or lounging in our hotel room. Wednesday evening we were able to get to the Pantheon shortly before it closed for the day. Of all of the tourist sites in Rome, the Pantheon seems to fly under the radar. It should not. Gerry and Cathy were suitably impressed with the building, just as we are every time we see it. The tomb of Victor Emmanuelle, the first King of Italy is located in the Pantheon. From the Pantheon it was a short walk to Trevi Fountain. We, of course, took the required pictures of Gerry and Cathy throwing coins over their shoulders into the fountain. By doing this it assured them of returning to Rome. Don’t laugh. It worked for Lynda and Tim! Just a few steps from Trevi Fountain is L’Achetto Restaurant. We discovered this restaurant a couple of years ago on our trip here with Madison. The spaghetti was every bit as good as we remembered (and we sat at “our” table, Madi). As we prepared to leave Rome the four of us discovered that we were all a bit ambivalent in our feelings about the Eternal City. On one hand Rome is a wonderful place for a leisurely evening stroll; the food and wine are exceptional; and at least one of us becomes rapturous when discussing Gelato. On the other hand, Rome is a dirty city, and the people are very aggressive and pushy when in line for buses, tickets, etc. We all agreed that we enjoyed London and Paris more. But still, there is the Gelato!

Thursday morning we took a taxi to the airport where we rented a car. Tim went through quite an ordeal in attempting to rent the already confirmed car. It is too long a tale of woe to publish here but be sure to ask him about it when you see him. Once the car was procured we were on the road, the first stop being Assisi, of St. Francis fame. Assisi has a rather commanding location on the side of a hill. One can see the town from a great distance away. When we were last here it had been right after a devastating earthquake which did considerable damage to both the church and the village. Today there was little sign of damage and we were able to visit both the upper and lower basilicas, which we had been unable to do previously. The only problem with visiting Assisi is that, because of its location on the side of a hill, everything is either up hill or down hill which makes for tough walking. A stop for wine certainly made the climb easier. The drive from the airport to Assisi was about two hours and it was another four hour drive to Venice. We arrived in Venice about 8:00, parked the car in a car park just on the island, took a vaparetto, water bus, to the Rialto bridge and had about a 5 minute walk to our hotel. Nothing to it. Our rooms in Venice are downright sumptuous compared to all of our previous lodgings and the hotel was able to recommend a very good restaurant just a block and a half from the hotel. After the long drive we were all ready for the delicious wine that we had. The meal was also excellent: ravioli stuffed with smoked ricotta in a butter sauce, veal scaloppini, insalada misto, and sea bass.

Friday morning we walked to San Marco Square, fascinated by all the wonderful shops along the way. San Marco square is where the church of San Marco is located as well as the Doge Palace. Doges were the political leaders of Venice for over 800 years and the Doge Palace is where they lived as well as the seat of government for Venice. In its prime Venice was one of the most important cities in all of Europe which, in turn, made the Doge a very important political figure. From San Marco square, we took the vaparetto to Murano which is another of a group of small islands that makes up Venice. Murano is famous for its glass furnaces. We found the glass gallery where we have bought two pieces of murano glass on previous trips. We were again impressed with the quality of work done by the glass artist, Simone Celenese. We especially looked longingly at a spectacular chandelier that would look perfect over our dinning table. With great difficulty we decided not to buy it. We were also taken by our salesperson back to the furnace to watch the artisans working on the glass. Gerry and Cathy were very intrigued with this. After lunch (and wine) we took the boat to Burano, another of the islands. This island specializes in making lace. Cathy was particularly interested in this and bought several pieces as gifts for relatives. Tim and Gerry were not so impressed. In the evening we went to a restaurant that Lynda and Tim discovered on their first trip to Venice and have returned to on each subsequent trip. It may have been the best meal of the trip to this point. Lynda had an excellent Spaghetti Carbonara, Cathy and Tim had porcini stuffed ravioli in a truffle oil sauce, Gerry had a T-Bone steak, and Tim had slices of beef in a Balsamic Vinegar reduction. The highlight of dessert was Tim’s chocolate covered cream puffs. Cathy had an excellent Tiramisu but after one taste of Tim’s cream puffs was extremely jealous and may have even pouted a bit. We enjoyed a lovely stroll back to our hotel.

With a tear in Tim’s eye (Venice is his favorite city in the whole world), Saturday morning we left Venice and drove to Florence. We went directly to our hotel south of Florence as the website from which we booked the hotel had comments about how difficult a location it was to find and we did not want to try and find it after dark. This was in fact true but the hotel turned out to be very nice. Unfortunately, it was very quickly back in the car to drive into Florence. There have been many instances, we are sure, where Cathy and Gerry were convinced that we were crazy and the drive into Florence may have been one of them. We successfully found a parking garage next to the train station and set off on foot for the Duomo, the cathedral in Florence. We did not go inside as there was a long line but that was not a problem as the Duomo is one of the few cathedrals in Europe we have visited that is more spectacular on the outside than on the inside. The highlight of the day was visiting the Accademia Gallery where Michelangelo’s statue of David is located. A 16th century artist described David as “the most perfect sculpture of a man ever done”. We could not agree more. We sat for sometime mesmerized by the beauty and magnificence of this incredible work of art. There are many other statues in the gallery but they all pale by comparison. When we were finally able to pull ourselves away from David we walked to the central market. Upon arrival at the market we discovered to our dismay that the food and vegetable portion of the market was already closed. We managed to get over our dismay with a limoncello, an Italian liquor that tastes like real strong lemonade but will knock you on your bottom if you drink it too fast. Also around the Central Market is the leather market. There are hundreds of stalls with leather goods where the merchant has you try something on and then takes you back to his main shop where there are more goods on display. We were able to refrain from major purchases, think leather coats, but did buy some small items, Tim a new wallet and Lynda a wool cape. We went back to the Duomo where we did go inside the Baptistery located next to the church. This beautiful building has a dome that on the inside is covered in gold mosaics depicting many of the stories from the Bible. Again, we sat for some time taking in the beauty of the structure. We continued are walk about Florence by going to the Pont Vecchio. The Pont Vecchio is a bridge over the Arno River where for years all of the goldsmiths of Florence had their shops. This bridge still contains numerous gold and jewelry stores. You may also be interested in knowing that the Pont Vecchio was the only bridge across the Arno that the Nazi’s did not destroy during WW II. After all of this walking we were tired and hungry. We returned to the car and drove to Bagno a Ripoli, a little town just outside of Florence where there is another of our favorite restaurants. We won’t bore you with the details. Suffice to say the food and wine was excellent.

We have decided to stay a second night here in Florence, actually Impurnata, in the Villa Ambrosia. Sunday we will drive around Tuscany.

Buon Giorgno.