The main square in Lucca - oval as it is built around the site of an ancient Roman Amphitheatre
After a short drive we found ourselves in a new home (back in civilisation) inside the ancient walls of Lucca in the North of Tuscany. We set about exploring the labyrinth of narrow cobbled streets which twist through Lucca (like Venice, it felt like a great place to wander and get lost in - and we often did!). In an unexpected bonus the city's streets were lined with antique stalls - so we spent the afternoon multi-tasking - shopping for an antique champagne bucket while exploring the streets and piazzas. Exploring was successful, but unfortunately the search for the champagne bucket goes on (sorry Hannah/Jamie!).
Mosaic on Lucca church
Lucca is home to Puccini - one of Italy's most renowned opera composers. Having become ardent opera fans (recall Milan?) we of course embraced this cultural aspect of Lucca. This time we had front row seats, a marked contrast to our seats in the heavens in Milan. The setting was less grand, but equally dramatic - this time in 12th century reconsecrated church. Here we were treated to a number of short recitals of Puccini's works (and some Mozart). It was very raw - just a female soprano, a male baritone and a pianist at a grand piano (I like to think of it as Opera unplugged). While we enjoyed the experience in Milan, I think following it we were both dubious as to whether opera was for us - in contrast to this, we both loved the experience in Lucca - early days, but perhaps one of the Top 10 experiences of the trip.... time will tell.
Lucca is of course a walled city. The walls of the city are metres thick, 12m high and roughly 4kms in circumference. Free to all and with a track that goes right around them they provide the city with a perfect promenade come exercise area. We started each of our days here with a walk around the city wall - basking in sun there is no better way to get a flavour for the city below.
Church of Saint Michelle - who knew there was one?
Speaking of flavour - Lucca dished up 2 fantastic restaurants. The first we stumbled upon and it seemed to be one of the few open on Sunday. When we did a reconnaissance trip here in the afternoon it seemed to be hosting an Italian family birthday (Sunday afternoon) - from experience we could determine this had been a fairly long affair - tell tale signs including numerous cigar smoking, wine drinking men in all directions. When we returned a few hours later to Restaurante Olivio the party had moved on and our food was great - my lamb rack being incredible and both our pastas (seafood) were also divine. With big shoes to fill Cantine Bernardini stepped up to the plate on night two here. They pride themselves on dishing up local ingredients/dishes but with a modern twist. The food (and wine) here was incredible value and very very nice. Michelle had a crumbed loin of pork - the pork was literally melt in your mouth and when we asked about it we learned the pork was a special type from a nearby village - reared on pear, chestnuts(?), milk and other good stuff. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!
Beer Garden - Lucca styles
There is plenty of sightseeing to be done in Lucca - lots of big (and in some ways run down) churches etc etc. A highlight for us was the Palazzo Pfanner - a privately owned home and garden. Having been owned by an Austrian who introduced beer production to the town (and converted the garden to a beer garden!) it had an interesting history and today the gardens provide a picturesque place to pass some time (sans beer).
Siena - a city of sights
The Duomo Sienna (pretty much the view from our terrace)
From Siena we had another short (but fairly scenic) drive past Florence and south into Tuscany. Our arrival to our accommodation here will (I hope) prove to be the hairiest of our Italian drives (although we leave Naples tomorrow, so it could yet be topped). We knew getting to our accommodation would require a short (and legal) foray into Siena's 'no drive zone', but TomTom had one of her less auspicious navigational episodes taking us right into the tourist packed and narrow cobbled streets of Siena before directing us in a circle (triangle if we are being precise) route ending back exactly where we had entered the city - and announcing in her normal triumphant tone 'you have reached your destination'. Not her most glorious moment and we live in fear of a hefty fine for our little detour into Siena.
View from the Bell Tower with sloping Piazza below
Siena is a city which is crawling with tourists (lots of American students) but rightfully so, as like Florence and Rome, it has a wealth of sights worth seeing. Among the ones which stood out for us were:
- Climbing the city's bell tower to look out at the beautiful Tuscan countryside or down to the Piazza del Campo below. The Piazza is the heart of Siena - a half circle in shape and downward sloping it resembles an amphitheatre (or sink from above). Twice each year it plays host to the Il Palio - a horse race dating from the middle ages in which riders from 17 local districts race around the Piazza 3 times in the hope of winning the coveted palio. There was none of this Il Palio action while we were there, but we did join in with everyone else in the square to give a standing ovation to a couple (English we think) celebrating their wedding at a restaurant bordering the Piazza. A feel good moment.
- The Duomo in Siena is spectacular. Dating to the 1200s, it is most famous not for its roof, but for its floors - which are decorated with inlaid marble art - some basic, others extremely elaborate.
- Santa Maria Della Scala - a former pilgrim's hospital featured large frescos each of which told a story about an aspect of the hospital's work and business - including depictions of the wet nurses being paid in cash or with grain - a nice break from the religious art work - which while impressive is a bit overwhelming in its volume!
- On the subject of religious art - the collection at Pinacoteca Nazionale was really interesting - although we had no audio guide so were left to guess about much of what we were seeing - it held our attention... I am even convinced there was a 12th century depiction featuring the fairy chimneys (i.e. phallic rocks) of Cappadocia in Turkey!
Washing day in Sienna - and more evidence they love to dress-up here - Respect.
With a busy agenda in Tuscany, we also used Sienna as a base for a day trip to two famous hilltop villages in the South - Montepulciano and Montalcino. These happen to be most famous for the reds they produce - and for us these were return visits. Shoe shopping (sandals to be specific) won over wine shopping in Montepulciano with the final score being 2 pairs to Michelle and 1 to Ross). In Montalcino it was more about the wine, with a great lunch at the historic Cafe Fishetteria (again) followed by some serious wine shopping - we can't resist the Brunello here - let's hope EasyJet are lenient on their baggage restrictions.
Montalcino - It's tough- but someone has to drink it
We did however pause between shopping to enjoy these beautiful towns - most memorably enjoying fresh strawberries while sitting on a dirt track looking out over vineyards and olive trees as dusk was falling. Montalcino is certainly a place which warrants a third visit - perhaps not for some time though.
Enjoying the Tuscan view from Montalcino
What about the food I hear you ask? Fresh Porcini mushrooms fried and served piping hot at L'Osteria (a small family run sort of place) were the highlight food wise in Siena. The price was quoted per kg, but this turned out to be per 100gs - fortunately these were sensational - we'd happily pay to have them again!
Greve in Chianti - living on a vineyard (again)
It is hard to believe that Michelle knew she was pregnant when we booked most of this trip, for we once again found ourselves living on a vineyard - this time Castello Verrazzano in the heart of the Chianti region. We had visited this estate for a tour and lunch 2 years earlier and were really looking forward to returning. Greve offered a perfect base for us to explore this part of Tuscany in a bit more detail - this time detouring off the beaten track a little to some of the smaller, but equally enchanting towns in the area.
Our home in Tuscany - bliss
Embracing the concept of exploring the region we took a fairly meandering route from Siena to Greve - stopping first in Radda in Chianti for a lite snack in the sun before continuing up (in altitude) to Volpaia. Volpaia was a really cute little hilltop town - seemingly largely owned by one family who operate a farm and vineyard on the surrounding land. It seemed popular with walkers, with plenty of tracks in the areas - perhaps a good spot to stay next time for a few days. From here we took a dirt road to Panzano (this time us giving TomTom a sense of aggravation as we set off along potholed roads she didn't know even existed!). Panzano was worth the trip - another cute hilltop town - featuring a designer leather store (more on that later) and a great terrace wine bar overlooking Greve and Tuscany on the plains below.
After unpacking at the winery we were quickly whisked off to a wine tasting dinner - think 5 or 6 courses and 5 or 6 wines to go with them - what better welcome could we (read: I) ask for. We were seated with 2 young American couples who had done the tour with Jillian (that we did last time) and really enjoyed the evening. Fortunately bed was just a short roll down the hill on the estate from dinner.
So now we know where Grandma's Bambina went
Although on our previous trip we felt like we had 'done' the sights in Florence, we (read: Michelle) felt there was some shopping which warranted a return visit there. So after exploring the weekend market in Greve I found myself navigating Florence's notorious roads once again... one or two beeps later we arrived safe and sound, ready to shop. First stop was the Santa Maria Novella shop - this historic 'pharmacy' was originally established by monks in the 1600s who grew herbs etc to create various creams and remedies. While retaining much of this tradition (old formulations and marketing) it has also moved with the times - now offering a 'cat and dog' range of products! We enjoyed our visit here and the credit card came out (not for the last time that day). Florence's markets are hard to top (I think perhaps Barcelona's are better) - but I could not resist returning to Mercato Di Sant'Ambrogio (near the apartment we stayed in last time) to fill up on some deep fried salted bread I had snacked on last time. Think doughnut - but salty. Michelle still doesn't quite agree it was worth the trek across town for - but for the afternoon of shopping we were about to embark on, it was the least she could do! Thankfully the damage was not as bad as it could have been - aside from some leather gloves and concoctions from SM Novella, we left relatively unscathed.
We had not had great luck with weather prior to Tuscany, but it marked a bit of a turning point for us weather wise (fingers crossed this continues!). We took advantage of the weather to walk up from Greve to the nearby town of Montefioralle - another hilltop fortified village. While getting out for the walk was the key objective, it was sweetened by the promise of a Sunday afternoon lunch in the sun enjoying meat fresh from the grill with the local Italian's doing the same. A nice little walk - although we had to forgo the second half of the loop track on account of us not having the foggiest as to where the track went...... (don't get me started on Italian signage....)Although we may have come through Florence better than expected, Michelle put Panzano back on the agenda and we had a quick return visit to a leather shop there. She had her eye on a handbag there (she can show you it next time you see her) and the shop was really interesting. Run by a German woman who worked in Florence to learn her trade in fashion, this small shop in a very small town had some amazing stuff. (Apart from Michelle's bag) the most interesting were products made with leather from Stingray..... judging by the price one can get for Stingray loafers, I will think twice before I cut a stingray off the end of my line in NZ to let it live another day!
Fresh Porcini -in Florence - not sure the dried stuff will ever match up
The exploration of Tuscany continued as we set off for Umbria (our next stop). En-route we visited two more hill top villages San Gimignano: nice, with lots of towers (although less than the 72 it once boasted) but very touristy and then Volterra: most recently made famous by the New Moon / Twilight phenomenon (which neither of us have embraced). Nice to see - but not really for us. The stops in these towns did however reinforce our view that the smaller towns dotted around Tuscany are the real gems in the crown of this region.
Baby Nelson update
More importantly - how's the baby you say? It has earned the nickname 'Little Kicker' (thanks Georgia) due to its regular habit of kicking Mum in the guts. Nice of it to remind us it is there - and to let us know when a Gelatti is overdue. Michelle's belly is growing by the day - now sufficiently pronounced to award special treatment by the Italian men that notice - even to the extent a couple of cars have slowed (or just swerved) as we navagate road crossings in Naples - but more on that later.
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