Blogs from Siena, Tuscany, Italy, Europe - page 4

Florence was a feast for the senses, a treasure trove of delights with small alley ways, cascades of rich red geraniums hanging from balconies, colourful markets, Tuscan Gothic churches and museums full of paintings and sculptures from antiquity. Michelango's David is there, so are paintings by Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Rubens, and the Great Masters. This place hits your senses visually. A walk down any road, or Via, really a lane way, brings you Medieval doorways, arches, cobblestone paving and lastly cars that shouldn't be there. Our apartment was in Via Dei Pepi, just metres from Santa Croce. The position was great and it was interesting how an unimposing exterior can reveal a cosy and contemporary interior. We had a great set up with a modern kitchen and bathroom and all the basics provided. Shopping was ... read more

Star log, Captain Kirk.... it was another early 'stupid o'clock' start - strapped my toes together and caught cabs into the stationale for a regionale treno to Empoli and onto a regionale veloce (fast) train to Pisa Centrale. After caffe and pastries (cost enough to feel like we had purchased the entire town!!) we began our walking tour to the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The town was quite different than Siena (my favourite so far) as it was very flat. The river which runs through the area was swollen, muddy and full of debris after yesterday's storm. We headed through the streets with all the other thousands of tourists to view the Tower, the main attraction but not the only thing worth seeing in Pisa. Oh for more time (but we say that in almost every ... read more

A leisurely start to THE day and then we were picked up at our accom and off we went to start our Vespa tour with a vino-tasting lunch in Chianti. It was everything and more! A definite highlight and I would recommend it to anyone. We all loved it. Travelling through the countryside was like being in the middle of a pastel painting! Didn't take long to master the bike and confidently avoid traffic and round the corners. We stopped in beautiful Castellina in Chianti and in Monteriggioni, where Irene said "if I lived here, I would be a princess":)) Greg tried to wheel stand his Vespa at the end of the tour. Luckily not too much damage to the bike but he was pretty battered. The day was so magical (and we enjoyed the company ... read more

We were one of the last Sharks to leave, everyone has gone off to continue their adventures. We headed off towards Rome with the intent to get as close as we could before stopping. We followed the freeway most of the way, but it was pretty countryside, some of which we had seen on the way up. Decided to stop for lunch at Carrera, home of the marble mountains. Couldn't find anything open except a supermarket so bought some rolls and salad and then drove up into the marble mountains looking for somewhere to stop. The mountains were amazing. You can understand why marble is so expensive when you see where and how they get it! Drove on and stayed in a little B and B just out of Siena. It was very quiet, everything closed ... read more

Greg: After a particularly average bus ride from Rome, we were very glad to exit the bus and meet our next AirBnB host and check out our room. This was a city we were told it would be harder to find accommodation for given its another small walled city, and there aren't any new flashy hostels or cheap motels around unless you are quite far outside the city limits. However, i think we hit the money with AirBnB as we ended up with a separated apartment within 5 minutes walk of the main Piazza del Campo, for a reasonable price - and it came with one of the most gracious hosts to date - a lovely Filipino lady who already had our fridge stocked with cheese, bread, meat - and even a bottle of wine! After ... read more