In Tuscany

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Day 11, Friday, May 23



(Before we start, in our last posting we misstated the date the house we are staying in was originally built. It was approximately 300 AD, not 700 AD.)



The weather was not very good today with expected thunderstorms so we decided to stay in and read a book, Dan Brown’s Inferno. The story takes place mostly in Florence so it should give us an idea of what we want to see when we visit.



It was a pajama / sweatpants day, as we did not get dressed to go out at all. Jim was quite disappointed that the thunderstorms called for in the forecast did not appear. Of course they may have and we just didn’t see or hear them.



Gianna dropped by with some gifts. She brought us a bottle of the olive oil produced on the farm. In addition, she brought us some ricotta made at the creamery she was telling us about last night. She talked to the owners and set it up for a visit on Monday. We also ordered some bread from her for Saturday delivery. If you tell her a day in advance, she will bake fresh bread for you.



For dinner Jim prepared breaded chicken cutlets with a mushroom cream sauce, for a veggie he cooked zucchini with rosemary picked from the garden, and Lisa made mashed potatoes, (she cannot go long without potatoes). Sometimes you have to improvise. There is nothing to mash potatoes with so Lisa makes do with a plastic serving fork. This all went well with a local Sangiovese.



Day 12, Saturday, May 24



Gianna bakes fresh bread for her customers and we asked for a loaf to be delivered on Saturday morning. Around 9:00 AM she arrived with a loaf of dark bread still warm from the oven. After enjoying a slice we headed out for Pisa and Lucca. Jim punched in the info into the GPS to get us to Pisa and off we go. You think we would have learned that we cannot completely trust the GPS but we did and found ourselves on a backroad but we knew we would get to a somewhat major road soon. However, just before we get to the “major” road we find that the road we are on is closed due to a wash out about 20 minutes into our excursion. There were signs warning of the road closure but because they were in Italian we had no idea the road was closed. Oh well, the drive took us through a small medieval village called Tatti. The locals looked at us with a strange look as we drove past the village, and then again as within a few minutes we came back through. They must have been thinking “stupid tourists!”



So Lisa took out our trusty road atlas and got us on a different path. Gianna mentioned that the roads on a map that are highlighted in green are scenic drives so we decided to travel along the Strada di Vino, Wine Road. Sounded promising but to be honest all we saw were olive trees, winding roads, small villages, and six nuclear generation facilities. What should have been a two-hour drive to Pisa became a driving adventure lasting over three hours.



Approaching Pisa we attempted to find a parking lot recommended from one of the guidebooks we had on our iPad. After driving what seemed in circles for about 15 minutes (interpretation – a few wrong turns) we finally found the parking lot and parked the car. There is a shuttle bus that goes from the parking lot to the walled city and costs $1 Euro for a round trip. After paying the bus driver we sat on the bus all by ourselves for 10 minutes before the whole bus was filled with German tourists that just got off a tour bus. As the bus took of Jim mentioned to Lisa the bus probable goes only three blocks, and he was right. After about a 2 minute trip the bus dropped us off at the edge of the walled city.



From the bus stop to the entrance of the Field of Miracles there are guys trying to sell sunglasses, watches, knock off purses, and stalls selling all kinds of cheap trinkets. It was about 1:30 PM so we decided to get a quick bite at one of the small restaurants just outside the walls. As we turned the corner into the walled city we could see the leaning tower, and it is impressive. With all the trouble getting here we decided to make our trip short to Pisa as the place is covered with tourists and we had gotten used to quiet back on the farm. Looking at the tower it was hard to believe it had not fallen down. Building on the tower began in 1173 and once the first three floors were built the tower started to lean. Around 1272 another architect tried to correct the lean by building the next three floors taller on the leaning side, which gives the tower almost a banana curve. In 1350 the tower was finished and the top was installed. Over the years the tower started leaning more and attempts to correct the lean were somewhat successful but did not last long. In the 1990’s a lot of work was done to secure the tower and it is now open again for tourists to climb. We opted to not go up, it still looks like it could fall over.



We decided to walk back to our car instead of taking the bus and headed off to the walled village of Lucca. After a 25-minute drive we easily found parking and walked into the city center. The entire city is walled and is one of the few remaining completely walled cities. There are over 90 churches in Lucca and we probably only saw 4 but saw hundreds of other types of shops. This tells you how large the area is that is walled. We saw a couple of young ladies (approximately 23 or so) carrying mattresses up the walkway to the walled city that is a spiral tunnel with stones as the floor. We thought getting a moving van was difficult.



Atop the wall there is a wide path where people can walk, ride bikes, sit on benches and relax. There are actually 2 separate layers of walls. Once cannons became a popular weapon, a second wall was built and the void between the two walls was filled with dirt to absorb the cannon blast. This is what people walk and bike on today and trees even grow there.



After our experience in Pisa this was a nice change. We walked on the wall for about a half mile then walked through the pedestrian only area in the middle. As we entered the lower part of the village we noticed a lot of old cars and motorcycles driving towards the top of the walls. It was an antique car road rally and everyone stopped to cheer them on. In the center of the village there are lots of shops and because it was Saturday in May crafts people were selling their products all over the city in stalls. As we walked towards the end of the main street Lisa noticed a small store selling Italian craft beer and homebrew products. Jim approached the young man at the counter and asked if he spoke English and he did so talked about the Italian beers for a while. Jim purchased a couple large bottles to take back to the farm and enjoy later. After spending a couple of hours in Lucca it was time to head back to the farm and this time we did not use the GPS, Lisa used our map to get us home.



We arrived back at the farm just as the sun was going down and quickly got into comfortable clothes and relaxed. For dinner we had a mixed salad with some of the olive oil produced on the farm, balsamic vinegar, and a toasted piece of the bread Gianna made for us. Tomorrow we are not going to drive much and stay local.



We have been lucky enough to have the entire farm to ourselves so far. But today some more guests arrive. There are only 3 units so it will never be too crowded. However, we had been very spoiled so we are going to have to adapt to the “crowd”.



According to Gianna this is one of the darkest areas in Italy and a great place to see stars. Jim had purchased a travel telescope before we left and even without the telescope, we have seen more stars here than anywhere we have been before. This is the quiet, relaxing part of the trip and we are enjoying it.

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Photos

Gianna's Fresh Bread
A dark brown bread, very tasty

Overlooking the Tuscan Country Side
During our "closed road" adventure we came across this view.

Tower Base
This shot give an idea of just how much the tower leans, about 13 feet to one side.

Jimmy trying to push over the tower
Jimmy, not a role model!

Lisa trying to hold up the tower
Just about everyone that visits this area had to take one of these shots. Jim took pictures of the crowd all with the hands in the air trying to get the same shot.