Goodbye

Thanks to all of you who have followed along with us on our expedition. We are headed home with lots of pictures, a few souveniers, some gifts, and most of all, with fantastic memories. If you're headed to Italy, contact us for good ideas of where to go (and how to stay out of trouble.) Now we are discussing ideas for our next trip! We'll be in touch. Love to all: Liz, Janna, and Spring

Saving the best for last

Thanks to our B&B host, Mario, we got admission tickets to two of the museums we were really interested in seeing in Florence. In the morning, we walked the four blocks to the Uffizi, the huge warehouse of European art, mostly paintings, that is housed in 58 huge rooms. After lunch and a nap, we hiked the other direction and visited the real David by Michelangelo. You think you know what he looks like until you see the real sculpture. He is incredible. After seeing David, we walked back to the Bed&Breakfast, stopping at some stores on the way there. Janna went in for the night, while Liz and Spring went out and enjoyed their last, and best, gelato (featured here). After hanging out in the square a little longer, we also went in and packed up as we're leaving early tomorrow morning.

Market Monday in Firenze (Florence)

Sunday, we said goodbye to our friends and home in Cetona and took a train from Chuisi (just outside of Cetona) to Firenze. After an evening of exploring and getting a feel for the city, we retired to our bed and breakfast, which is right in the middle of the action. Monday, we headed towards the Central Market and did some souvenir shopping on the way there. This photo features Spring and Janna in a Florence crowd, buying paintings of Florence from a local artist. The market was the ideal grocery store, with fresh&local meats, cheeses, and produce. After enjoying lunch there, we went down to Piazzale Michelangelo to enjoy the view. We had a siesta at our B&B before walking down to the Duomo di Firenze, where Janna and Liz explored the outside and Spring ascended 463 stairs to see the view at the top, which was magnificent. Afterwards, the three of us continued on to enjoy dinner at a restaurant in the Piazza della Signoria, where we also enjoyed a dessert of Tiramisu and a cioccolato, before retiring once again to our bed and breakfast.

Recovering from the Roman Holiday

It was so great to get back to our sleepy little Tuscan village after our city experience. It indeed took us 24 hours to decompress again and be ready for more sight seeing. The next day, Liz and David and Spring went to Sienna to pay respects to St. Catherine. The town was filled with young Italian tourists and similar to Perugia (both college towns) but seemed warmer and more inviting than Perugia. Spring and David climbed the 400 steps to the top of the Hunger Tower.

Take a Day for the Vatican Museums

Our B&B was very close to the entrance to the Vatican Museums (there are many) and we indulged in a museum tour with earphones and a guide. She spoke excellent English, born and raised in Rome, and appeared to have an advanced art history education. The tour lasted all morning and we ate at the museum and went back for more. Finally in the late afternoon Liz, David and Spring hiked around the Vatican wall to attend mass at St Peter’s Basilica while Shan and Janna retired to an excellent gelateria. Then, to balance our collective cultures we took a cab to the Jewish Ghetto and indulged in our new favorite food (fried artichoke) before catching yet another cab to the train station and finally home to Cetona. What a great Roman holiday. Our deepest thanks and gratitude to Shan and David for helping us experience it so deeply.

Il Papa and the Pantheon

After what we went through to obtain "required" tickets to the Papal Audience, we were surprised by the lack of security and scrutiny at St. Peter’s Piazza. We arrived an hour early to get seats close to a barricade where he would pass close by. He came bareheaded through the crowd on a modified Mercedes landing craft – no barrier. The photo shows the back of Spring’s head. (He was that close!) He presented greetings and a teaching on St. Theresa of Lisieux in seven languages. The crowd was jubilant and at moments, downright rowdy. Some groups came with song offerings which were acknowledged. Like at any good demonstration, the banners of parishes from all over were propped up against the walls of the Basilica. They were blessed by Il Papa, as were any objects brought (Spring had Gran Grans’ rosary; David and I had St Anthony/Francis medals; Janna had her Donna Leon book), us, and our relations, which we suppose extends to most of you reading this blog. Afterwards, we shopped at the Vatican Post Office, sent off a few post cards, and took ourselves to a Taverna off the tourist track for lunch. (Click here for more photos of the day)

After lunch, David retired to our B&B to recuperate, and the three of us got on one of the ubiquitous tour buses. We were disappointed by the lack of interpretive information imparted over the uncomfortable earphones, and it was too hot a spring day to sit in Rome traffic. So we jumped off near the Piazza Venezia and happened onto a delightful demonstration for peace in Kurdistan which involved dancers and leafleters. Then we wended our way through back streets and Vespas to the very impressive Pantheon. By then all our feet had given out and we staggered back to where we had caught our neighborhood bus the day before...but then we made a BIG mistake: we got on the bus without tickets. We won’t bore you with the rationalizations, just suffice it to say we got off with a €50 bill to the bus police that busted us (and threatened us with €100 fines EACH). We hope this serves as a warning to anyone else who might be tempted. TAKE THE TIME TO BUY A TICKET.

Public Transportation to and Around Rome

This morning we continued our adventures into modern Italy by boarding the train in Chiusi with second class tickets to Rome. Ever since we began eating peccorino three times a day (or more) we've been wondering where the sheep that produced the cheese lived. Now we know: Italians appear to keep most of their sheep, goats, and chickens...down by the railroad tracks!

Arriving in the big city we caught the Metro to our B&B near Vatican City. Janna, Spring, Liz and David then boarded a crosstown bus for a euro and rode in rush hour traffic over to the Trevi Fountain area to pick up tickets for the Papal Audience tomorrow. On the way we discovered two interesting women from Colorado who were also going. One of them was 86 years old and thought she was in Tucsan. Rome is VERY intense after our peaceful sojourn in the Tuscan countryside!

Perugina Chocolate and an Assisi Sunset

OMG Perugia and Assisi in one day! A late start got us to Perugia in time to join a tour group of Americans through the huge Perugina chocolate factory. There were people from Whidbey and Camano Islands in the tour. After consuming WAY too many free samples, we drove to the top of the historic center and joined the throngs of mostly students walking around streets that wizards could confuse with Diagon Alley.

We arrived at the Papal Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi at dusk, as the pigeons and hooded crows gathered to roost. This church is the Mother Church of the Franciscan Order, and Assisi is the birthplace of St. Francis. The Basilica, which was begun in 1228, is built into the side of a hill and contains the crypt where the remains of the saint are interred. The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recognized the Basilica as a World Heritage Site. We ate at a great trattoria in Assisi…if anyone is headed there anytime soon be sure to ask us for directions.

Tipico Bagno Toscano

We are delighted with our accommodations and especially the bathroom technology. This is actually David and Shan's (thanks to Silvia and Giancarlo) which we include here for the gorgeous watercolor...similar to ours, but without the art. Note the two levels of flush on the commode, the bidet, and the towel warmer!

Sunday was hot and gorgeous so we did laundry, drying it in the Tuscan sun. It came home smelling a bit smoked from the haze of olive tree clippings that every farmer seems to be burning right now. Then Janna, Shan, Liz and Spring headed to Fonteverde, a famous spa in the nearby town of San Casciano dei Bagni. We lounged around for hours then toured the town a bit, including one of the churches. Dinner was a simple affair at home: prociutto, salad, cheese bread, peccorino, pici pasta, artichokes and aqua frizzante.

Montepulciano and Pienza

Click here to view these pictures larger

Hitting the Sights

Yesterday we enjoyed the Cetona Saturday market and actually purchased a few things using our rudimentary Italian. We are getting pretty self-sufficient in getting our basic needs met with wild hand gestures and a few words. Note Janna sitting pretty with a cappucccino in the square at Montepulchiano. For those of you wanting to know, this is the town featured in the Twilight movie New Moon...you'll see both David and Spring in photos under the famous clock tower if you scroll through the photos (see above). The drive there and further to Pienza was through rapidly greening hills, spotted with tulips and daffodils. Spring (the season) is in full force here and everyday has been warm and delicious. Last night we joined David and Shan's friends at a Napolitano pizzaria for a wonderful evening of loud Italian and English conversation...oh, and delicious pizza. Spring (the graddaughter) wowed everyone with the Italian she's been rapidly learning from David, Shan and practically everyone we meet.

St. Francis slept here...

Today we explored Cetona and had a delicious lunch at the the best osteria! After a refreshing siesta and gelato Liz, Spring and Shan hiked the path below to the Santa Maria in Belverde. (Pictured at left - Shan, Spring and Janna outside the church) This site is actually three churches (the first established during the 13th century) that were built on the site where St Francis slept in the nearby travertine caves. We were guided through the churches by a young man who is a participant in a drug treatment program (Mondo X) which now occupies the grounds. Then we drove to San Casciano dei Bagni and strolled around the ancient castle and charming village.

Click here or cut and paste the address below for more pictures (even though the web address says "Yellowstone," it's Italy). http://grandyellowstonetrip2010.shutterfly.com/pictures/44

On our way to Cetona

Liz's friend David Schuldberg, whom she's known since preschool, picked us up at the Florence Airport. On our way to Cetona, we stopped at a rest stop known as an autogrill. There, Liz and Spring each had a glass of freshly made blood orange juice, featured here.

Beginning our adventure...

Spring joined us in Cincinnati. We then flew to Paris. Here's a photo of us in Paris in front of a poster honoring women scientists around the world. We checked out several terminals at the Charles de Gaulle Airport because of a long layover, and our favorite was G2. We also learned a good host gift for Americans in Tuscany is a baguette from France. And Tylenol.

This is Cetona. Our house will be somewhere off to the right. The path leads down to the caverns at Belverde. The town's name probably comes from the Latin "caedita" which literally means "deforestation" with reference to a cultivated place. In the 13th century, the village was fortified with the contruction of a city wall, gates and towers. Cosimo II de Medici granted the village to the Marquis Chiappino Vitilli who built the piazza known as Piazza Garibaldi.

As you can see on the map we will be south of Siena and just west of Perugia. Florence is farther north and west and Rome is due south. Cortona is the village made famous in Frances Mayes books ("Under the Tuscan Sun", etc)

First we will head to Kentucky to pick up Spring. Then we have time in Charles de Gaulle Airport to grab a bite before landing in Florence on Thursday. BTW, the time difference between Cetona and Pacific Daylight Time is eight hours; if it's 9am here it's 5pm in Cetona.

We leave for Italy in a week. Now we are busy packing. So many decisions - like how many books shall we bring?