Tuscany Trip - Wednesday to Sunday

---

---

Not anywhere near a daily email. Using Elinor's email because my Shaw account doesn't know how to report meaningful error messages.

OK, a five-day report. I'll try not to ramble too much, but one of the reasons I haven't been writing is I've been touristy busy. Who knew Italy had so much history!

The flight here was OK. We went Saskatoon to Calgary to Frankfurt, Germany to Florence, Italy. We also left extra time for our transfer in Calgary to make sure we would get out of the country. We didn't leave too much time in Frankfurt. Our flight loaded in Calgary, moved out on the tarmac, and then .... stopped. And stopped some more. Or stayed stopped. Or both. And as we sat in suspense, they didn't tell us why right away. It turned out that the extreme winds that were blowing through Calgary were keeping flights grounded. We waited close to an hour for takeoff, knowing that we didn't have too much time in Frankfurt. The only comfort was it was booked all the way through with Air Canada, so the six of us were confident that we could get to Italy eventually. I've been on flights when they've made up time before, so I was hopeful they could do that.

So how do they make up time? Every flight this has happened, I've been told "We picked up a tail wind". I think that is too much coincidence. I think they just step on the gas and put it in overdrive and boogie to the airport using up their fuel reserve, and don't want to explain it that way. And this flight they made it to Frankfurt early! Too bad we all struggled trying to sleep on the flight. At least we didn't have to make new flight decisions on no sleep.

It's now Thursday.

And we land in Florence. It's sunny. It's warm. It's Italy. It's good. Uhm, bella? Maybe that's the word. The plans to learn Italian before the trip fell through. That's good, because Italy is full of tourists and none of them learned Italian either.

Taxis to the hotel, check in, hour to clean up, And ..... we're off to the races! Job one, get a phone sim. Elinor and I each got an Italy plan, and Wayne, and Mireille. And we're basically able to keep in touch and able to adapt our touristy plans. Yay, us! Waitaminute. I thought we came to Italy to be tourists. Lets get touristing.

What is there to see in Florence? Everything! If I lived in Florence, I think I could live my life just exploring something new every day. That isn't how I want to live my life, but there is just too much to do here. Elinor and I wanted to see some of the buildings, so the three couples split up to look at different things, and we agreed to meet for supper.

The old core of Florence is set up for walking. There is limited vehicle traffic. There are zillions of shops. There are street vendors selling touristy junk. Elinor found some Venetian glass that she liked. Wait, the vendor has a real store? Elinor starts asking about stuff, and the vendor runs off to get someone who speaks more English. OK, so maybe Italian would have been good to learn. Except Elinor would have had to learn all about jewelry and currency and instead of "Vino, per favore".

We walk over to the Duomo (Cathederal). This is a huge domed structure in downtown Firenze (what Italians call Florence, and I didn't have the heart to tell them they're wrong). We didn't go in, but we did walk around and take pictures. Lots of vendors!

Supper was at a restaurant recommended by the Hotel concierge. A bit pricier than what we expected, and we're all still too tired to enjoy it. Or too tired to be able to make our order clear. Elinor and I ordered one more dish than the others did, so we ended up staying longer than they did, as they headed back to the hotel to finally try and sleep. Elinor thinks that the waiter messed up the order, because our table got cleared, and then reset totally, and there was a lot of animated discussion between the waiter and the host. And our food took a long time to show up. But it did eventually, and we managed to stay awake enough to eat.

Last thing for Thursday, was to take a last walk around the Duomo before heading back to the hotel. The crowds had thinned, the temperature was perfect, and walking with Elinor was one of the moments that makes the trip worthwhile.

Friday: Florence

Friday we get up early for a tour of the Uffuzi. This is an incredible art gallery with Italian paintings and sculptures through the ages. The rooms are set up with themes and time periods to help understand the progression of art. They say to take a few hours, but you still only see a part of the display. One of the many places where you can visit repeatedly and discover new things each time. We spent about three hours there, and I think everyone had something in mind of what they wanted to see.

Friday afternoon, we split up again. We went with Wayne and Wendy to check out the Ponte Vecchio bridge. Hmmm, redundant. Ponte Vecchio translates as "Old Bridge". Makes me wonder, why do we get so concerned with the names of our bridges in Saskatoon. We could just call them "Old Bridge", "Not as Old Bridge", "Newer than Old Bridge", and "Latest until we build Another Bridge". Then both Italian tourists that visit Saskatoon could think, "Wow, these are neat names. I wonder what they are translated into Italian?"

And the bridge is a huge tourist attraction filled with ... jewelry stores? Yup, it seems that only jewely stores can pay the rent to have their store on this bridge. Wayne and Wendy went and explored one of the palaces - I don't remember whose, but I think the Medicis lived there at one time, and Napoleon lived there at one time (Pallazzo Pitti). Wey and Mireille went on a pedal-powered tour of Florence. I haven't heard much about that, but that may have to wait until the trip is over. Elinor and I explored the garden behind the palace - Giardino de Boboli. Garden? I mean huge park. Major areas are terraced into the side of the hill, each one a small park in itself. A gridwork of paths run through the trees and shrubs, and every intersection has statuary. The hilltop has a museum filled with porcelain, mostly dishware. And it has an incredible view. Elinor talked to a woman from Florence who comes to the park regularly and enjoys taking her young son exploring.

We had a later evening meal at a "Self Service" restaurant. Elinor wanted to take the walk back to Ponte Vecchio to take night photos. After 19 years with Elinor, I still mistranslate what she says. The words she used were, "let's walk to the Ponte Vecchio to take night photos." What I didn't understand that to mean was "Let's go and explore a number of places that we've looked at recently and see what's different at night and take lots of photos of these things because we can and oh! look that's a nice fan! Can I get it? We should pose with that brass boar and rub its nose again because it's nighttime." I blame that on me being tired because I missed all that, and was suprised at each stop along the way. The journey, not the destination, right?

And the journey continued. Mireille phoned to say that there was good music for us to dance to outside the duomo. When we got there, it was two accordion players doing mostly religious music. Mireille convinced them to play a waltz, which was a fast Viennese waltz with pauses and extra tempo at the end. And probably 5 minutes long. We danced on the cobblestones on Firenze, and enjoyed ourselves very much. And I was exhausted and ready to drop. It was around 10 PM Italy time. Actually, I was exhausted and ready to drop hours before that, but just too stupid to admit it. Especially since it wasn't back to the hotel to sleep. No, it was back to the hotel to pack because the next day we were leaving Florence and traveling to Monterchi (we pronounce it "Mon Turkey". Nobody has corrected us).

Saturday - Florence to "and then we got lost" to Arezzo to Monterchi

Early morning alarm, breakfast, get checked out and .... off to the Accademia to see the statue of David. Wait, what about Monterchi travel? That's the afternoon. Wait for it.

Florence is a major player in the art scene through the ages. The Accademia is a well known school that displays more the study of art rather than all the art. Elinor had downloaded Rick Steve's podcasts of Italy, and one of them had a lot of background on the statue and on Michelangelo's unfinished sculptures. They had a music room with a lot of 16th and 17th century instruments. One of the violincellos was an Amati. It was interesting to see it behind glass, when Saskatoon has four Amati instruments that get used regularly. I wanted to brag that we actually played ours, but I didn't want to get into an argument with some angry Italian museum curator.

And now, it was time for fun! Was what we'd been doing enjoyable? Yes, but it was planned. The next phase only had a high level "rent cars and leave Florence and arrive in Monterchi". Expected hiccups? Fitting six people and enough luggage to open a shop into two European compact cars. Four people in one car with three pieces of luggage (one small), and two people in the other car with all the rest of the luggage. Yay, it works! Now we ask about route with the travel agent. I'd already looked, and had planned major roads which unfortunately went through Florence. So when the agent recommended traveling a different way out of the city, I decided that was a good idea. Besides, I had a GPS, what could go wrong?

First thing that went wrong, was the GPS insisted that we should use the route that I had originally thought we should follow. I stubbornly insisted that we listen to the travel agent. I played with the GPS. I finally tried setting a waypoint of the intermediate road before the major highway to Arrezo (the turnoff point for Monterchi). Wayne's going to follow in the second car. I know he doesn't have GPS. I don't realize he doesn't have a map. And he has way too much trust in me to get us to Arezzo.

First thing: as I drive past Wayne and expect him to pull in behind me, two Italian drivers squeeze in between our two vehicles - more about this topic Sunday. Two blocks later, I take the third exit from a roundabout. Wayne takes a different exit. Bye, Wayne! Hopefully we can now guide you by phone!

Second thing - I find how much I dislike the Magellan GPS. There is lots of warning at 100 meter intervals, but a simple "bing" when you're actually supposed to turn. Driving in Italy can't use a wimp GPS notification. You need a rally driver navigator - "Hard left turn in 5 .... 4.... 3.... 2.... 1....NOW!" and damn the oncoming traffic. And you would need to blindly follow the instructions to have any hope of hitting the correct turn. So after a few missed turns, the GPS cleverly saw that it was possible to get us back on track, but not on roads that live up to my expectations. Like they should be wide enough for two vehicles, they should have signs, and they should have been designed by someone sober. So we're on one vehicle wide streets with twists and turns and ups and downs and more missed turns. Most exciting? Making a left turn onto a major street with poor visibility left and worse visibility right. Nobody died. Close from both directions, but that just made me feel like a native Italian driver.

And Elinor is pulling double duty. She's trying to add some interpretation to what the GPS is showing and translating it for me. She's also calling Wendy to try and help them get out of Florence. My fallback instructions to Wayne had been "Find signs to Sienna, get on the A1, and get to Arezzo." He finds signs for Sienna. He doesn't find signs for the A1. He's on his way to Sienna.

After a tour of the area around Florence that eventually got us onto the A1 - which has at least two different names, which is why Wayne didn't see any signs! - we're on our way to Arezzo. Wayne? He's at least driving away from Florence in generally the right direction.

We pull in to a road-side stop just outside of Arezzo to get a late lunch (don't get lost on an empty stomach) and to buy yet another map. We have google maps on my phone. We have a paper map of Italy. We have the GPS. We have instructions on how to get to Monterchi. And it still takes an hour of planning for how to set things up to get to Monterchi, which is about a twenty minute drive from Arezzo. Not having a 'real' address to put in the GPS - the villa is outside of town - I just selected a random entry.

While we're doing this, Wayne has stopped and got a map and instructions for how to get to Arezzo. This was useful, because the road signs didn't tell them much of anything. Before we get back on the road, they feel comfortable that they're at least traveling the right direction.

The GPS gets us through Arezzo, and although these roads are much better than the ones we took through Florence, we're still not convinced they're the way any sane person would travel. We get to a highway number that I recognize - yay! - and I know that this joins up with the major freeway to Monterchi. Except when we get to where it joins, and the GPS says "take the second exit from the roundabout", the second exit is closed for construction. Thanks, GPS! We take the first exit, and that takes us along a highway with crosswalks and house doors that probably have scrape marks from car mirrors. But we get around the construction without too much argument from the GPS, and get to Monterchi.

And we go past my random address. The GPS starts nagging "make a legal U-turn as soon as possible". And Elinor can't turn it off. I'm certain that we need to keep going, and do. I see signs for a major tourist exhibit that we're supposed to go past, and I follow those. And it gets us on the right road. I stop at a pullover, shut off the GPS, and hand Elinor my phone with google maps. I know what turn I want on paper, I have no idea how it is marked with signs. I tell Elinor, when the blue dot gets to this road, we want to turn. She watches the map, tells me when we're approaching the turn, and gives me my rally-car navigation system. The map has a mark where the villa is, so she can keep us on the right road. No problems (other than dodging Italian drivers racing along roads too narrow for two vehicles with twists and turns and ups and downs, but you'd be suprised how fast you get used to that. And then start doing that.) getting to the villa.

Along the way, Elinor had kept the communication going with Wayne and Wendy. For all they had a wilder tour of the country, they were only half an hour behind us. Pretty good, I think!

And we're here! A three-story hillside duplex. Ground level is the top floor in the front yard and the bottom floor in the back yard. Stone and timber construction, with the terra-cotta roof you see on most buildings in this area. And the rest of the day was boring for you, but exciting for us. Sucks to be you. Spaghetti dinner, a bit of grocery shopping, and then a night swim and hot tub (Mireille and I didn't swim, just to keep the record honest) before turning in for the night. Tomorrow's got to be better, right?

Sunday - Villa, Arrezo, "and then we got lost"
(Reminders for Glen: Breakfast, Market, Arezzo, Antiques, Jousting, backroads, quiet evening!)

We wanted to get to the market in Monterchi, so we set the alarm (on a Sunday while on holidays!) to get up and get moving. I learned how to use a Moka to make espresso, and I'm now wondering why I spend my time and money on an electric automatic espresso maker. Maybe for the crema and the foamer. OK, I still want my toy. We took our breakfast outside and sat overlooking the valley and hearing the church bells ringing in the distance. A quiet breakfast like this can make the trip worthwhile all on its own. Yes, that's an exaggeration. But not by much.

And then we go into Monterchi, not quite knowing what to expect. The market has a Farmer's Market meets Overstock.com feel to it. Lots of local fresh fruits and vegetables, some breads and candies, and lots of underwear and shirts and socks and purses and belts. I think this is a traveling thing, and it hits different towns on different days. Given that there doesn't seem to be 10 feet (sorry, 3 meters) separating two towns, we can probably find this every day somewhere. But, I don't think this is why any of us came to Italy. We do stock up on fruit and vegetables. But we should have looked - we bought plums, and there are plums in the garden where we're staying. Too many plums. Maybe next Sunday we'll open a plum booth at the market and see if we can pay for our trip.

I didn't talk much about our vehicle rental. We got two vehicles, but only Wayne and I are listed for driving by the rental company. And the cars are standard transmissions, and Elinor is the only other person comfortable with using a clutch. That makes us the designated drivers for everything. Elinor and Wey and I wanted to see Arezzo. We left our market purchases with Wayne and Wendy and Mireille. Elinor and Wey and I went to Arezzo.

Another GPS story. Still trying to get it to just take me to a city. Gave up on programming that, and just followed the road back that we'd taken earlier. Easy. Get to Arezzo, and I don't want to head downtown if there's a big antiques market event. Elinor suggests using the "find parking" feature of the GPS. We do. It does. We park. I look at google maps to see where we are. We're downtown. OK, if it was that easy, we should be able to head back easily too.

Elinor starts her interactions with .... everybody. Asking people for help. If they can't help, she tries to help them. Even Italians in Italy who speak passible English. We find out where to get a tourist map, and then tell other people where they can get a tourist map. Including one American couple that stops in the same fast food place. When the husband is in the washroom, the wife heads off to get a map. When the husband comes out of the washroom, Elinor tells him where his wife is and then, maybe a little emphatically, tells him to 'wait here'. He stops, and Elinor apologizes for being a bit direct. "That's OK", he says, "I'm used to being told what to do." I laugh.

We found out where the Market was located. Top of the hill. And where the jousting was going to be held. Top of the hill. And where we were supposed to buy tickets for the jousting match (standing room only), Top of the hill. So we start walking up the hill.

We eventually found where to get tickets. We had it marked on a map, and still needed to have a police officer and other people that had bought tickets direct us. We got tickets and head to the market.

The market was essentially a European flea market. A lot of stuff that I remember from my lifetime, so I'm reluctant to call that "antiques". And a lot of stuff that looks like it was salvaged from ruins. And some incredibly nice furniture. New rule: Elinor can't buy anything that she can't put in her carryon when heading home.

But the big event was the Jousting tournament. We happened upon a parade that we didn't know was part of the event. There were a number of teams wearing period costumes. There were crossbowmen and spearmen marching in formation. There were flagbearers. Each of the houses had lords and ladies proceeding (they didn't march) in a parade to the grounds. Knights on horseback with groomsmen attending the horses. And friars and monks carrying video cameras.

Eventually I figure out which of the direction signs means 'standing room only' for one of the houses. It turns out, people mixed so they could argue back and forth. We get in to the area, and it is crowded. And there are still more people coming. And more people. And more people. And what can we see? Almost nothing. I see the almost, and Elinor and Wey, being a bit shorter, see the nothing. To make it worse, there seems to be a tradition that people in the back get into a compact conga line (best comparison I can make) and force their way to the front where their friends are. What does this remind me of? Italian driving! If there isn't any room, go there anyway, and room will be created. We watch the flag throwing really, really impressive. At least the top part of it was. Couldn't actually see people throw or catch the flags. And then introductions of the jousters. And now we've been and hour and a half of being compressed in a crowd. Finally, they start the jousting. The idea is that there is a target set up on the shield of a target dummy, and the target is rated after the pass by a knight to see how close the lance hit was to center. Knights would ride. Judges would deliberate for many minutes. Then a score would be announced, and one group would cheer, and many more would jeer.

I tried taking pictures of the joust. Less than successful. We decide that this would have been much more fun if we were younger and drunk. It would have been great to watch, but we couldn't. So we left, and found out that the people that didn't get stand seating would watch on TV. Yes, this was televised. Arezzo seemed to come to a standstill with everyone out in public watching the televisions in every little shop. There was a big display in some of the parks. That's what we really should have done. Next time we're in Arezzo during their twice-annual Super-bowl jousting tournament, we'll watch it on TV.

My last fun story from Sunday: I'd set the location of the Villa into the GPS. Should be easy to get back, right? Mostly. I'm glad for the GPS getting us out of Arezzo. It gives us directions back to Monterchi. And then when it tells me to turn right, I turn right. Elinor says its the wrong turn. I'm not sure, and keep following the GPS. I start to agree with Elinor, this is a different route. My sense of adventure is up, and I say lets just see where it takes us. The quality of roads keeps deteriorating. Narrower. No longer paved. Steeper ups and downs. But the GPS is convinced. We turn a corner and are driving through someone's back yard. The woman in the yard shoos her cats out of the way and smiles and waves at us. We keep going. It is the right road! We drive through another yard. There's just enough room between buildings for the compact car we're driving. The GPS is happy, we're following its instructions. Up some more slopes that I need to keep the car in first gear. And there we are, on the road we know to the villa, about a kilometer away. The GPS didn't care about the suitability of the roads, it just knew that we might save some distance with this 'shortcut'. I really, really have to find out how to program waypoints.

And now I've spent Sunday evening and some of Monday typing this up. I'll let my editor go over it, and then it's time to catch up with Monday. That'll be the next email.

And you'd have expected a mess of photos. I don't have my software with me to reduce the resolution, so none this time. I'll see what I can find and send pictures later.

Arrivederci

Glen & Elinor

---

Photos

Waiting at Calgary Airport
Given a choice between waiting in an airport or a delay on the runway, I'll take waiting at an airport.

Duomo at Night - sept 3/15
After our evening meal, Elinor and I went for a walk and got to see how beautifully they lit up the Duomo at night. Not nearly as crowded as during the day.

Meal Time!
Sliced tomatoes and fresh mozzarella became a staple on this trip.

Leaving Florence
Wayne and Wendy wait patiently as I argue with the GPS.

Outside Arezzo
Lost or not, the scenery in Tuscany is beautiful.

Monterchi
It doesn't look that big, but try walking around there!

Villa
From the other side, it looks like a 3-story building!