Hi All,
Yet another beautiful train trip through the rolling hills of the Tuscany.It truly is a postcard around every corner my only wish would be for less tunnels.
Thankfully there was a tourist information centre at the train station so we brought ourselves a map of Florence and sought details as to how to get to the camp grounds. Bloody arrogant queue jumpers, we must be wearing the cloak of invisibility again , as they tried to cut in front of us but thankfully the Tourist information officer could see us and was smart enough to dismisses the rude intruder and tells them to get back in line and wait.
All appeared to be going rather smoothly until we realized by looking at lonely planet that the overwhelmed tourist information officer was not only sending us in totally the wrong direction she was putting us on the wrong bus as well but there was no damage done. One problem we have with the lonely planet is that it tells of available services but doesn’t tell exactly where they are located so when we got to Florence bus station just outside the train station we had to find firstly how to purchase the ticket and secondly how to find the bus 13 stop. Luckily with all the English speaking tourists we had no problem finding the information and were soon on a bus to the camping ground. All seemed to be going we and we were looking for the bus stop which was according to lonely planet number 80 on the road which we were travelling in the bus. I traced an 80 in the air for Vanessa and she said that there was a sign to the camping ground but neither of us actually clicked that it was our stop and before we knew it we were on our way back to the train station and had to complete another lap in the bus before getting off at the right place. We got a nice tour of the area anyway.
The camp grounds weren’t quite as intimate as we had hoped but they are
certainly well situation 20 minutes easy walk from the chaotic
historical centre of Florence and perched high on a hill overlooking the
city. Our tent was pitched beneath olive trees and the gardens beside
the piazzale Michelangelo so we had our own bit of space that wasn’t
going to be blocked by other campers. It was quite late and we had the
choice of not eating or purchasing expensive food from the camping
ground and we opted for the latter and had cheese and ham sandwiches for
tea.’t really come as any great surprise as it is Easter weekend and we are camping need I say more. Not heavy rain just a persistent drizzle so not too bad.’t even peak season. Are there any Americans left in America? Must be horrible in summer.
We awoke early in the morning to the sound of the birds singing in the trees and the soft morning light as we looked over the river and cathedral that dominates the city centre.
Our first day was a logistical exercise. We needed to find a wifi point and then gather food for the easter break. We wandered around the city with our heads up and mouths open looking around at the amazing city buildings and statues stopping at plazas for checks for wifi access which we didn’t find. Eventually we found a cheap internet spot and looked up the wifi spots and found a fantastic one inside an old palace. We also found tourist information and they told us where a large supermarket was located out in the suburbs so we caught the bus 22 out there. The prices as usual were much cheaper than those in town and we filled the trolley but decided that we couldn’t carry that much so returned many of the goods. These activities ended up taking the majority of the day but was necessary.
We enjoyed a lazy afternoon and cooked up a nice spaghetti bolognaise for dinner and enjoyed a brie and plastic cup or three of our high quality Lombroso. Sitting in the camp we were amused by some young want to be circus performer campers walking a strap that they had set up between two olive trees. Later we watched one of their girlfriends attempting to break her ankles on the same strap while the boys were somewhere else.
Happy hour was just announced over the loud speaker of the camping grounds so must to be off but of course we had already started early so it wasn’t necessary.
Next day.
Stood in line for the art museum for 1hr in summer the wait is sometimes up to 5 hours. We thought we would get there early to beat the crowd and arrived with the choice of three queues and eventually worked out that the longest one was the no reservation line. There must have been over 100 people waiting to get into the art gallery in the queue. For some reason the concept of queuing is a mystery for some Europeans and they ignorantly jumped their way along taking advantage of other peoples polite behaviour. Luck only saved them from jumping in front of me.
There were trickles of signs telling us what we could not take into the gallery. The first was no water so we emptied our water container in the bin then second was no knives which we had for our lunch and then after finally getting to the entrance of the gallery no bags but of course there was no sign. I exploded with frustration as this was the final straw for me with the disorganisation. It could have been signed and I had no intention of losing my spot in the queue. Vanessa stayed in the line and I went back to the cloak room which had the sign that said it was ‘illegal to have any valuables in the bags’ which we had in both bags but at that point I just gave them to them, said nothing and went to the front of the line where the gallery attendant let me enter. Later when we walked around the gallery there were people with half full water bottles and backpacks which irritated me even more. You would think that after all this time that the Italians would get it right but no.
We rushed over to the botticelli rooms and quickly admired among other the amazing paintings Birth of venus and Allegory of spring. The next room had some Leonardo da vinci paintings which were less than impressive so I am expecting some better works in Paris. Them it was a matter of starting from one end of the extensive gallery and going to the other. Quite difficult as it is the worlds largest collection of renaissance art and holds so many great works. We left saturated again and unable to really give the paintings and sculptures the time that they deserve.
Our good friday lunch was smoked salmon and brie on crusty Italian bread while sitting around in our wifi spot inside the palace. A quiet spot well away from the maddening tourist crowds.
Next day.
We wandered around Florence during the morning then decided to go to pisa to straighten that tower. It was raining when we arrived and I got to use my chinese milano unbrella for the first time but it didn’t last long. Vanessa found a department store while walking to the tower and bought a nice black hat which will need some decoration to get the Italian nod of style approval.
We were a little surprised to see no line of people waiting to climbing the leaning tower and then we discovered why. They were extorting 15 bloody euros to climb it No way that is 7.5 litres of wine or more and there are some things in life that need to be prioritized.
We looked inside the impressive cathedral before sitting down in a sheltered area of one of the most beautiful squares in the world for our dinner of cold spaghetti. The pigeons seemed a little cautious and didn’t eat the stale bread that we threw out on the grass and later when the black cat materialised in the same area we found the reason. The grass area around us seemed to have a positive effect on the young couples who were ignoring the wet ground as they rolled around in embraces. We were careful not to walk on the grass in case we got our clothes wet as well.
The rain has started to fall again but this doesn
The Euro still retains the 1, 2 and 5 cent coins in the set and we have been building up quite a collection so decided to redistribute them when buying a bus ticket to the camping ground. The ticket vendor gave a look of disgust when the handful of coins were dumped in his tray. I am sure he miscounted it as I had to give him 10c more for the ticket but at least I had lost the weight out of my pocket. No wonder we got rid of the coins in Australia.
Visited Florence cathedral which is one of the largest in the world. Very large and ornate on the outside but disappointingly plain on the inside.
Still trying to find some excellent Italian gelato. Went to the supermarket and bought another tub of ice-cream which was rapidly consumed before it melted down by the river. It was a disappointment and didn’t meet our expectations. There are gelato shops all over the place in Florence and the ice-cream is presented in a far to appealing manner but it is simply far too expensive to consume on a regular basis . We have resorted to leaving nose and fingerprints on the windows as punishment for the owners sinners …damn.
It has been surprisingly cool in the mornings and evening but warm during the day.
Florence is overrun by tour groups and it isn’t quite as intimate as we had hoped but they are
certainly well situation 20 minutes easy walk from the chaotic
historical centre of Florence and perched high on a hill overlooking the
city. Our tent was pitched beneath olive trees and the gardens beside
the piazzale Michelangelo so we had our own bit of space that wasn’t
going to be blocked by other campers. It was quite late and we had the
choice of not eating or purchasing expensive food from the camping
ground and we opted for the latter and had cheese and ham sandwiches for
tea.’t really come as any great surprise as it is Easter weekend and we are camping need I say more. Not heavy rain just a persistent drizzle so not too bad.’t even peak season. Are there any Americans left in America? Must be horrible in summer.
Our tent zipper is still being a pain. The zip was damaged a while back ,due to sand we think, and we need to get it fixed but have the problem of no fixed address while travelling so it is difficult to send it away for repair and then get it returned. We have contacted the helpful manufacturer but aren’t brave enough to follow their repair instructions at the moment. It is better to have a partially working zip than a completely wrecked one.
Next day.
Easter Sunday.
On the way up to the shower block we heard a little boy say to his parents ‘how do they know?’ as he ran around retrieving easter eggs from the outside of their campervan. The easter bunny like santa claus knows where all girls and boys live. So do their parents.
Scoppio del carro festival. We didn’t know what to expect but decided to get up early and head to the cathedral in Florence. On the way we found a group of people in medieval dress some with drums and other with flags who we watched for a while before grabbing a prime position in the main square and waited….and waited….and two hours later with the place completely packed and us still in prime position the parade started. Unfortunately we had running commentary from some stupid american girls who were behind us and seemed to talk continuously for the whole event. Otherwise it was a spectacular event with representation from all types of upper class people who could be found in medieval times. The event was for the Sunday service but it was also entertaining theatre. The flag wavers performed with great skill while the ceremony was performed inside and the highlight was the fireworks cart which was brought in by oxen and lit at the end of the service by a white ’dove’ that flew out of the cathedral. Very spectacular and loud fireworks. One of the american girls wondered out aloud if the dove survived. Hmmm.
Getting out of the crowd was chaos. Italians have no sense of order in these matters so it was a rugby scrum with people trying to go in both directions at the same time. Eventually we were spat out of the scrum intact and with our bags still full and headed off for some lunch down by the river. Whilst walking there were lots of girls with short skirts walking beside the river then the big surprise was that we saw what we believed to be an italian ‘beaver’. Wet and furry and swimming freely around in the river. Kept us amused for a while then we walked up through an old roman portal to the caravan park a couple of km away along a beautiful flower lined road.
Next day.
We got up early for a trip to Sienna. Back calculated how long it would take to get to the train station and arrived with 5 minutes to get a ticket and find the platform. Managed with 2 minutes to spare after doing the cripple run with Vanessa and her broken back and myself with my worn out knees and at least the flag person took pity on us and didn‘t send the train off at the last minute before we reached it.
It was an delightful trip through the Tuscany region from Florence with old castles on hills and fortified towns separated by forests and fields. We even saw brightly coloured pheasants in the fields. It was only a short trip from Florence and we arrived with great expectations of the medieval town as it was written up as one of the most charming towns in the whole of italy. There was cream coloured confetti filling the street gutters and on inspection we could see that it was actually the petals from the flowering overhead trees. The old town sat inside fortified walls on the top of a hill with a portal guarded by statues of romulus and remus. After a look at the fortress we continued through the old narrow cobbled streets with rusty steel rings on the walls once used for tying up horses and onto the main square. We were disappointed that we didn’t find it charming at all and it seemed that half the Italian population and tour groups had also turned up on their holiday Monday so after a couple of hours wandering around and a quick snack we headed back to the train station and caught the next train to poggibonsi which is one station closer to Florence then onto a bus out to san gimigenano. We had low expectations after the morning but were pleasantly surprised when we wandered into a true medieval town which hadn’t been invaded by tour group tourist but still full of Italian tourists but it had an authentic feel about it and was surrounded by olive groves, vineyards and trees in blossom. The main claim was the medieval Manhattan with 13 of once 78 towers in the fortified village on the hill. We grabbed a pizza for lunch before climbed one of the towers for stunning views of the area then headed down to the forest area and some roman ruins before coming back for another pizza. There was a torture display in the city area but just walking around watching Italians eating the best gelatti in the region was enough modern torture for us. Well satisfied with our day we headed back to Florence. We think that we will have to return to Tuscany region for a longer stay one day.
It seems that Italy is a pet loving country as pets of all kinds seem to be permitted and tolerated on public transport ,in shops and under the tables at restaurants. The pets in restaurants is probably a little unhygienic but as long as they are not in the kitchen taste testing dishes prior to them being brought out to customers who cares. If you could see the pets in Italy there is little doubt that they are the pampered variety that probably goes to the doggy parlour once a week for a wash and blow-dry .Unlike the French the Italians collected their dogs poop so you are not required to tip toe through the potential hazards
Tomorrow we head for Rome.
Bye,
David and Vanessa
