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Published: September 11th 2006
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This is the 5th trip I have done with Denise and friends. Starting the year of her 50th birthday we have been to Spain three times, Portugal once and now Tuscany. It was a James Villas holiday with two hire cars. The Ryannair flight to Pisa was very quick and efficient, the Hertz rental less so as they were servicing half the flight and the queue was round the airport. Luckily we were fourth in the queue but then there was a 30 minute wait for a bus that took you a walking distance to get your car.
The villa was situated four kilometres up a dirt track on a hugh estate between Cecina and Volterra on the edge of Chianti country. The accommodation was all upstairs with stunning views over the rolling mountains (or are they hills?). We had constant sunshine but a very pleasant temperature. The main farm/mansion was a kilometre up the dirt track and was a hotel where we should have been able to get a meal but the only time Denise and I went up there we wandered around and found noone at all. Very trusting.
Sunday: We visited Montecatina, the local hilltop village
the Ladies
Rosie, me, Jackie, Lynne, Denise and Lesley which I really liked as it was unpretentious with stunning views and several interesting architectural features including the war memorial, an exterior well on the Belforti villa, the old recently renovated cemetery and some lovely barrel vaulting. We then went on to Volterra the nearest hilltop tourist town which is famed for its alabaster carving and the fact its main piazza is said to be the prototype for the Piazza del Signora in Florence. There was a national flag throwing festival in progress and some of the others who stayed longer saw some of the action (though they may have been focusing on the 'fit' males in medieval costume rather than the contest!).
Monday: Having checked out the train station in Cecina and bought the tickets for our day in Florence on Tuesday, Denise and I after several abortive attempts at finding it spent a couple of hours on the 'White Beach' which was very pleasant with warm sea, but had a backdrop of the industrial factories of Livorno. People-watching in Italy is very entertaining but none of the 'fit' males from Volterra seemed to have made it to the beach. Sunbathing was interupted by black guys constantly selling
bags and jewellery. I did buy my only souvenir here. The recent security restrictions and Ryannair weight allowance meant anything heavy (no alabaster David) was definitely out. I bought Dori the dog three frisbees which seem to have recently disappeared from the British supermarkets!!
Tuesday: We caught the 7.30 train to Florence. It took two hours but meant we were at the top of the Campanile in the Duomo square by 10 - all 414 steps of it. Fabulous views over Florence. There must be some money around for renovation as many of the buildings were swathed in scaffolding and plastic. The facade of Santa Maria Novella was in the same covered state as it was in 1999 when I was last in Florence with Anne Townshend. There were mega queues for all the major sites like the Duomo, Michelangelo's David and the Uffizi. Having seen the main covered food market and San Lorenzo which has Brunellesci's Old Bapistry, a lovely fresco by Fillippo Lippi and my favourite, the cloisters, we split up for the rest of the day. I went to the Ponti Vecchio, looked at the queue for the Uffizi and decided to go to the Bobili
Montecantini
Barrel vaulting, the exterior fist floor well, war ememorial and view of campanile bell tower Gardens next to the Pitti Palace, home to the Medici family. The gardens are vast, full of statues and vistas. I think I saw about 60%, but you could be lost in there for months. Very lovely with surprisingly stunning rural views at the rear away from the Arno river as if Florence is a small city. Unfortunately the Brannacci Chapel with my favourite Masaccio frescoes was shut on tuesdays (wish I had found that out before I walked all the way there) so I finished up in Santa Maria Novella and was so glad I did as the Giotto crucifix was just beautiful and the whole church with its arches decorated in black and white is lovely. The others had enjoyed themselves and Rosie and Lynne had managed to see David.
Having exhausted ourselves with one long city visit the rest of the holiday was spent more locally, enjoying the pool and stuffing our faces with local produce cooked by Denise on the very elaborate barbecue. We did one more major tourist visit to San Gimignano which is in the main wine growing area. It is a lovely place, small but perfectly formed as they say. The vineyards
Florence 1
Me at top of campanile, view of Duomo, Campanile and view from the top made the countryside look very different from where we were staying. The fields looked very green with the grapes ready for harvesting. Close to our villa it was very wooded and the fields were either full of dead sunflowers, stubble or ploughed brown earth (how they managed to plough the earth when it looked so hard heavens knows). I probably took more pictures here than the rest of the holiday put together, but just the architecture and views were compelling whichever way you looked.
So a very pleasant break. I like Italy. There is a very relaxed feeling to the way of life and one didn't feel hassled even in the most tourist areas. I hope the British Buying Abroad don't ruin it like they have the coast of mainland Spain. Fles back early Saturday moring and collected Tonga (in honour of where Tamsin is on her journey), the new kitten.
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Rosie
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How Great It Was!
I Sooo enjoyed this holiday, even though I was told I had Giant Hands by a shop owner!!! Thanks Ladies for a great time, and some even greater memories!