Last Day in Tuscany

Today is our final day in Tuscany and we had a full schedule planned. We got up early and took the train to Florence. Some of our group were dead tired, having arisen at 3:00AM to watch the Presidential Candidates Debate from the U.S..

We toured the famous Duomo in the center of town, then picked up our tickets to visit the Uffizi Gallery. Lots of famous "bible art" from the 13th-15th centuries. Many artists seemed to get commisions to paint "Madonna Con Bambino".

This is one of the most famous art museums in Italy, but it is a pain to visit. They only allow a certain number of people thru every 15 minutes, you have to climb to the third floor where most of the art is located, and the lighting/air circulation systems are ancient. They are working on a new wing and renovations, but in Italy that could take another century.

We walked around a lot of Florence, shopping, eating, and of course, sampling the local gelato. Then we picked up our tickets for the Academmia where Michelangelo's famous statue of David is located. You know, the tall male nude with the big hands that little kids run up to and giggle at because the genitals are sculpted in such fine detail.

Back on the train to make our dinner reservation in Chiusi. Our last dinner in Tuscany. Ristorante Zaira was fantastic. They have an underground wine cellar with over 20,000 bottles. We chose a Morellino di Scansano and a Brunello to go with dinner. The wine list must have been 30 pages long.

Breaking News: Alitalia was saved!. The unions voted to agree with the bankruptcy, bailout, takeover plans, so the airline's operating license was not revoked. Looks like our flight back to the U.S. will take off. I hope they have enough cash/credit to pay for fuel the entire way back to LA.

An American Winery in Tuscany

Back to the Montalcino area to visit Castello Banfi today. It's located in a valley south of Montalcino and north of the Maremma region, separated by a range of tall hills, but still able to get coastal breezes. Kind of like the way the Alexander Valley and Sonoma Valley areas are separated from the coast plain in NoCal.

This is an enormous property - by Italian standards. It was created in the 1970s by the Mariani family from Long Island, New York. Today, it is a global wine company with multiple vineyards throughout Italy and relationships with wineries in Argentina, Chile, and New Zealand.

We booked the entire day here. First to visit their famous wine and glass museum. Then to have lunch in the La Taverna restaurant with their five course tasting menu. And we finished off the day with a winery tour.

OMG - what a meal! And a different wine with each course. I kept a copy of the menu, scanned it, and embedded it in this blog posting. Definitely going to eat a light dinner after this gastronomic feast.



















Breaking News: Today is Alitalia's last chance to be rescued. We'll see if there is a news release tonight. Otherwise, we may have to book the house for another week. My American Express Platinum Card should be able to pay our way a while longer.

Where Do You Park in Siena?

We drove to Siena today for a guided tour, some sightseeing, some shopping, and some wine and food. Caren and I have been there a couple of times before. A great place to visit and lots of photo ops.

I dropped everyone off a few hundred yards from the walled city and started to look for a parking space. I drove around the entire city. Nothing. Dozens of other cars wandering around like me looking for an empty space.

Finally, I gave up, parked in a lot near the highway, and took a cab into town. Come Friday, we are taking the train to Florence. No more of this B.S. trying to park in crowded Italian cities.

The Duomo in Siena is magnificent on the inside. This is the one month of the year they take the covering off the floow so people can view the mosaic artwork underneath.

The Piazza del Campo is a stunning public plaza. To think that they hold a huge horse race around this plaza twice a year, packing thousands of people into the center while the horses race around the inside perimeter. The 17 contradas (or districts) each race horses for bragging rights in the city. Bryan bought a piece of artwork of the Il Palio race.

Of course, we had to make a gelato stop. It has become a once a day tradition (sometimes twice a day).

Breaking News: Still no agreement on Alitalia's future. End of the road for them after tomorrow? A lot of people think it would be a good thing. I called Expedia today and told them to start looking for alternate flights back to the U.S..

Altesino Winery

Today, we drove to just outside of Montalcino (about an hour and a half northwest of our rental house) to visit Altesino Winery. I'm getting pretty good at driving around the windy roads of Italy in our Ford Transit van with its manual transmission.

This is the heart of Brunello country in Tuscany. We've arrived in the midst of harvest season.

We started with the usual tour of the winemaking facilities and the cellars. Then we went to the tasting room. Our guide was very liberal pouring every wine they offered (and large glasses of each one). Sitting atop a hill overlooking the vineyards surrounding the hillside town of Montalcino, this was a hard place not to fall in love with. Erin and Bryan started to really enjoy the practice of wine tasting.

We stocked up on wine for the house to drink during the week. And I bought a bottle of their best Brunello to bring home to the U.S..

Breaking News: Alitalia to cease operations and start liquidation if no agreement on their financial bailout is reached by end of day Thursday. Looks like we are going to be swimming home.

Small Towns, Big Traffic

The house we rented is in the hamlet of Camporsevoli. The nearest town is Piazze, then Cetona, and the "big city" nearby is Chiusi. The house has five bedrooms, a huge kitchen, dining room, living room, swimming pool (too cold right now), and DSL internet service (hooray). This is especially critical for the political "junkies" in our group who need their fix of U.S. political news every waking minute.

We put our toe in the water (so to speak) and explored some of southern Tuscany. We visited the hill towns of Montepulciano and Pienza. I can't figure out why the Italians always built their towns on top of hills. It must have been to protect themselves from invaders or because their sewer systems would work well flowing downhill all the time.

Montepulciano is the heart of a wine area known for its Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, a red wine that is a blend of several varietals, with the Sangiovese grape dominant. We tried two bottles at lunch and a couple more at dinner. The verdict - "good juice".

Driving our Ford Transit is an experience. I am becoming very adept at shifting its manual transmission. It actually has good pickup for a lightweight, squarish vehicle.

Winding roads are no problem for me, the driver, but I can sense that some of the passengers are getting a bit car sick at times on all the winding roads.

Traffic in and around the towns is busy. I suppose that it is still the high season for tourism. Even though a lot of Americans may be staying home, there seem to be a lot of European tourists.

We encountered a bicycle tour group when we arrived in Pienza. They were with Trek Tours on a six day trip throughout Tuscany. Some of the bicyclists looked like they could handle any of the hills, but a few people looked like they would be riding a lot in the support vehicle.

A Wet Start to our Trip

Ah, Rome, the eternal city. Oh, rain, and lots of it. We arrived in Rome on a wet Friday afternoon. Driving in from the airport, we passed lots of fender benders and one Smart Car rolled on its side. Looks like Italian drivers have as many problems with wet pavements as we do in LA.

Spending the night at Hotel Forty Seven. Really nice, small, modern boutique hotel. It's near Trastavere, the Colisseum, and the Jewish Ghetto. Caren, Barry, and Laurie quickly found the bar and started sampling Italian wines.

We trudged around in the rain, getting soaked, until we came to our senses and bought umbrellas (imported from China) from the street vendors that appeared out of nowhere. We made it to the Pantheon and the Spanish Steps before calling off our sightseeing due to rain.

Along the way, we had to stop for our first of what will be many gelato breaks. The stuff can become addictive. It is SOoooo much better than ice cream in the U.S..

Later on, the rain stopped and we had a fantastic dinner at Trattoria Giggetto al Portico d'Ottavia. The fried Jewish artichokes were a big hit - can't get them in the U.S..

Heading Off To Tuscany

Today, we take off from LAX on the new Alitalia nonstop flight to Rome. We are spending a week in Tuscany in a house we rented along with Barry and Laurie. Another Luxury Link auction deal. We may have a problem getting home as Alitalia may stop flying and enter liquidation proceedings. There are worse places to be stranded. And there is an unlimited supply of wine to drink.

Our two kids and one of their sons are coming along. This should be a fun time - sightseeing, wine tasting, wine drinking, and lots of great Italian meals.

I reserved a large minivan to carry us around. I guess that I am the designated bus driver. I'm prepared with my EuroAtlas of Italy and my Touring Club Italiano maps of Tuscany and Lazio. Add in Barry's iPhone with its GPS feature and we shouldn't get lost too many times.

Jordan Hits the Big One

Today, Jordan had his 60th birthday. No big hoopla. No presents. No "old guy" gag gifts. Just another day, except for.....

Bryan (with his sometimes goofy sense of humor) gave me the following birthday card. Very appropriate. Says it all. I know I am violating Hallmark's copyrights by posting this, but so what.