Blogs from Tuscany, Italy, Europe - page 4

No I don't feature in one of Agatha Christie's books as one of the famous murderers who kills victims by poisoning them with Atropa Belladonna, a poisonous plant more commonly known as Deadly Nightshade. Nor have I become the third gardener to accompany the two gardeners / detectives Rosemary Boxer and Laura Thyme in the British TV series Rosemary & Thyme. I have however become quite the detective when it comes to Medicinal Plants, but through a less scandalous and more simplistic way than by carrying out a murder. I simply visited the Botanical Gardens in Palermo, those of Naples and those of Pisa, instead. I've become fascinated by the medicinal properties of plants, especially those from the Asteracea family.This has inspired me to write four short articles on 4 plants from the Asteracea family, with ... read more

Wednesday Eric and I took off on Air France with a brief stop in Paris on our way to Florence, Italy. Five minutes into the drive to the airport, I got an alert on my phone saying our flight was delayed 4 hours, so we went back home. We were going to miss the second leg of our trip, so I nervously waited for everything to be rearranged and rebooked, and fortunately it was all smoothed out in time. The flight and stop were uneventful, though Paris CDG airport was under construction and we felt very rushed going through security a second time and making our way to the other concourse. The Thursday midday landing in Florence was extremely abrupt, and I overheard the flight attendant mention to a mother with small children that the runway ... read more

Bonjour à tous, Hier au soir j'ai enfin trouvé le restaurant conseillé par Denis. Lui m'avait indiqué via????mais c'était vialle ???. Excellente adresse, pour manger, mais 45 minutes pour garer le voiture, j'étais sur le bord de renoncer, quand enfin une place. Au resto, le patron me dit en français, c'est samedi, on refuse en permanence, oui, mais c'est Denis qui m'envoie chez vous, alors patienté 2 minutes, qui se sont transformées en 20-25. J'ai patienté car je voyais défilé des plats qui me tentaient beaucoup, et ma nectarine du midi était loin. Enfin assis, j'attendais qu'on prenne la commande, lorsqu'il est revenu, avec un gars, un vieux, peut être plus jeune que moi, c'est un ami, je le mets avec toi. Ce gars connaissait la table d'à côté. Finalité, comme j'étais français, j'ai eu 6 ... read more

Bonjour à tous, Vous savez que vous pouvez communiquer avec moi, me donner votre avis, des conseils, des critiques, surtout négatives, au moins elles sont constructives, au travers des sections message ou commentaire. Sachez que moi je ne peux pas répondre, sauf dans mon texte, donc aux yeux de tous. Vous l'avez constaté dans le titre, aujourd'hui je ne suis pas allé aux 5 Terres, je me suis adapté aux conditions climatiques. Parait il que pour visiter les 5 terres il faut beaucoup marcher. Ce matin à 6h30, il tombait des cordes et ce jusqu'à 8h. En prenant le petit dej, j'ai eu l'idée d'inverser mon programme, et d'aller à Carrare aujourd'hui. J'ai soumis mon idée, à Super Boy réponse "good idea". Entre nos deux maigres vocabulaire anglais on se comprend plutôt bien. Je me suis ... read more

I had a 4 day break in Pisa which I did because I had an appointment with the Questura in Florence, to pick up my biometric Italian residency card. In the beginning, it seemed like an arduous duty. In the end, I did far more pleasurable things than visiting the Questura to pick up my residency card, and without expecting it, is was as enjoyable as my second to last break, which I took in Venice. This trip was a mixture of enjoying new activities, cherishing the old ones and making the most of friendships which I'd already made during my past trips here. ... read more