All good things must come to an end

Hello again. I'm in Florence now--at the end of our last week. Tomorrow we get up really, really early and catch our flights. (First to Frankfort and then to SF.) But first, some stories from our recent travels.
This week we didn't have a cook come in and cook for us so you can all stop feeling jealous! It's just been one fabulous restaurant after another. :)
But we have had a wonderful time, exploring and re-exploring this city. There's a wonderful feel to Firenze (as Florence is known in Italian). The old, winding streets, the ancient buildings, the people who live here. All contribute to the way this place will grab onto you.
We've done lots of things here this week. I'll just talk about some of the more memorable moments.
One happened yesterday, when Allen and I took a bus up to Fiesole, a town on top of the hill outside of Florence. Not only does it have wonderful views of the city, but there are ancient Roman and Etruscan ruins there that are easily accessible. We visted the Roman ampitheatre, which was built in 1 b.c. There were also ruins of an Etruscan temple built around 4 b.c. (The Etruscans were the peoples who lived in this area before the Romans came along.)
We also got a chance to visit the Uffizi Gallery this week. The Uffizi is Firenze's largest and most well-known museum. It is a treasure of Renaissance art, which of course was Florence's high point. There is a room filled with Bottecellis (including the Birth of Venus, which is his most famous painting) and plenty of other pieces. The nice thing about the Uffizi is that it is arranged chronologically thus you can get an appreciation for the changes in art and the way painting developed from the middle ages through the renaissance.
We visited the central market of Florence which is awash with fruits, vegetables, meats, oils and people. Even though we weren't in a buying frame of mind nor a position to do so, we did enjoy just walking through the market, enjoying the sights and sounds and smells of the place.
It has been a good, quick and very enjoyable 5 weeks. I can't believe the time is already up! It seems like it was just yesterday that I was driving along the freeway in the rain from Pisa to the villa. I am ready to come back, even now before I leave. We do have things left to do, including visiting one of my favorite museums in the city, which is the Duomo Museum. It has the artwork and statues that once stood in the Duomo (Cathedral) but now are in a museum for closer examination and protection. There are some beautiful peices there that I am looking forward to seeing again, including a Pieta by Michalangelo. (Not his famous Pieta, that's in Rome, but I like this one, so there.)
I've appreciated all your comments and notes. Thanks for reading.

The lost post

Greetings from Tavernelle, which is the small town nearest to where we live. They have one internet computer in town so it's hard to get onto it. But I have some time today so I'm able to make an entry. Thanks to everyone who's commented. It's great to hear from you.
We've had another change of guests this week. On Saturday, Todd & Marge Evans left and three women from Marin arrived...all friends of Marilyn. And on Tuesday, we picked up Jane Heckles & Kathleen Greider, who are good friends of ours but also friends of Marilyn. So it works out well.
The highlight of this week has been the trip to Assisi on Monday. Assisi is about 2.5 hours away but well worth the drive. Of all the ancient hill towns we've been in, Assisi is definitely the most beautiful. It sits on the side of a hill and you can see it as you approach on the superstrada (freeway). At the far end, the lowest end, is the basillica of San Francesco. Assisi is the town where Saint Francis lived and did his ministry. He's big there and his theme, and the town's motto, is Pax et bonum, or in Italian, Pace e bene--Peace and Goodwill. The town was less crowded than other places we have been which was nice. The streets run, like other hill towns, narrow and not in a straight line. Off to the sides are smaller streets or sometimes staircases with ancient homes right up the edge. Traffic is light--you need a special permit to drive in the city. Tourism is, of course, high, but in Assisi it seemed spread out and the shops seemd different from the other cities we had been. In the basillica are frescoes by Giotto, a famous Renaissance painter, who painted the life of St. Francis on the walls. My favorite painting was the one of St. Francis preaching to the birds. A charming painting.
We revisted San Gimignano again this week. This time we got down to the lovely church of San Agostino. It is out of the way and was very quiet and reverential. More frescoes (I can't remember the name of the artist) that were beautiful.
Along the way, of course, in all these places, we get gelato--the wonderful Italian version of ice cream. It's creamy and yummy. And it comes in such wonderful flavors. It's light and refreshing.
Last night, our cook came again. And again we had a spectacular meal. It's just amazing to watch her work. It's like watching an artist at work. And the results are quite edible.
I need to run, but hope I can get on again soon. We're having a great time and enjoying the warm Tuscan spring. The temperatures have been pleasant in the 70s and I'm wearing shorts most of the time. Yay!
Ciao, Gerry

Into Florence

Ciao ancora! I'm in Florence now at an internet site. We left the villa today and dropped off our van and are now urban residents in an apartment in Florence. From the country life to the city life.
Last week was another busy week. I did send a blog entry but it seems to have gotten lost somewhere. Sorry about that.
The highlight last week was a visit to Pisa, the home of the leaning tower. It is indeed leaning, I'm happy to report. Pisa was a confusing town. The least well marked city we've been in. And there's really nothing to see there except the tower, the Duomo and the baptistry, which are all grouped together on the campo di miracle (the Field of Miracles). We didn't have time to climb the tower but did enjoy going into the Duomo (the cathedral) and the baptistry. Both are beautiful and are from the 12th century (if I remember correctly). The acoustics in the baptistry are spectacular. At one point the guard came in and sang some notes, the echo harmonizing with herself. It was amazing.
All of our guests have left except for one who is now just a fellow traveller! So it's just the four of us--Marilyn, Allen, Jaydee (Marilyn's longtime friend) and me. We have a three-bedroom garden apartment near to Santa Croce, one of the big churches in town. It should be a good week.
The four weeks at the villa seem to have flown by. I'm amazed that the time is up already. I'm happy to be rid of the big 9-passenger van that we were driving as it's pretty useless to us in the city here. We'll take buses and walk a lot.
I hope I can get on one more time and I'll try to figure out in the meantime what happened to my last blog.

Ciao, Gerry

Ahhhhhh, more of the same

Our adventure continues. We're in the middle of the 2nd week now and still having a wonderful time. I'm writing from the small town nearest to our villa called Tavernelle. Tavernelle sits about halfway between Florence and Siena.
We took a nice drive the other day around the countryside. We visited a ceremic factory that had a showroom and wandered around an ancient castle. We also visited an old monestary that is now in private hands (after Napoleon came through and de-monkified it. They still make wine there though, of which we bought some--very good wine. Those monks knew what they were doing.
Allen and I had an adventure today when we drove our guests this week, Todd & Marge Evans, into Florence. Normally, when I go into Florence, I drive right to the train station and park. But because we were in rush hour traffic, and they had reservations for a particular time for the Uffizi (the big museum in Florence), we dropped them at the foot of the Ponte Vecchio, the famous bridge that spans the Arno River. They took our only map, so Allen and I had to negotiate our way out of Florence without a map through very narrow winding streets. It was fun in its own way, especially since we got to a place which we knew and then found our way out of Florence. For a while though I had visions of us just circling around and around through these ancient streets for another eternity.
Tomorrow we have the cook coming in again. She's quite fun and makes it really enjoyable. One of the things she'll be teaching us how to make is gnocchi--yum. I'm sure it will be another spectacular meal.
I've read all your comments and really don't have much to say about them except damn those lemmings--Iàll never get that image out of my head.
Ciao!

Good food, good weather, good wine

Now I'm writing from Florence. We're here to pick up the next set of guests who are arriving at the villa today--Todd & Marge Evans. Faith & John Burgess left today, somewhat reluctantly, I think. They grew used to the relaxed pace of life in a villa.
The other night we had a special treat. The house next door to our villa is a winery. A very small winery that only puts out about 1,000 bottles a year. But what a great production it is. We tasted all the wines that they make; one white and two reds. They also make a vin santo which is particular to Tuscany, but he didn't have enough bottles left for us to taste that. They also press olive oil at the winery and we had a taste of that too. Riccardo, the winemaker, is quite passionate about his winemaking and it shows. The wines were excellent.
We've visited a few more markets too. The best so far has been in Tavernelle, the town right next to us. It wasn't crowded and had a fair number of sellers. But it was the usual stuff they were selling: food, clothes, housewares, etc.
The weather has turned really nice. We're lucky--sunny skies,warm temperatures, etc. It's beautiful.
We also had a special treat last night. Lucia, a local cook, came and cooked a several course meal for us. And she did a cooking class that three of us took, including me. It was very fun. We made beef in chianti sauce, sweet & sour onions, mushroom pate and chicken liver pate, homemade tagliatelle and sauce and panna cotta for dessert. The panna cotta, which is a gelled cream dessert, was extraordinary! Everyone loved it.
I've adjusted to the time change really well, though not everyone has. Marilyn's son and daughter-in-law are here and are having a terrible time adjusting. I guess I'm just lucky. I got into my schedule right away. Maybe when I return I'll pay for it.
Thanks for reading.
Gerry

I'm Here!!!

Greetings! I made it. I'm in Siena as I write this. We came down for the market in town and are strollng around this ancient city.
I arrived safe and sound on Saturday. It was a very long flight! But I met Marilyn at the Pisa airport as planned. After picking up our rental car, we drove to Villa Chianti--our home for the next four weeks. Unfortunately, it was raining some of the time, so there I was, tired from my trip, in a new car (standard)on a new highway in a foreign country, driving at top speeds in the rain. Somehow, despite all of that, we made it.
The villa is beautiful. It is big and spacious and we have settled in. On Sunday the first guests arrived, Faith & John Burgess, who have been driving around Italy for about a month now. We got them comfortable and visited a market in San Casciano on Monday morning. It was a nice market and we all did a good bit of shopping.
On Tuesday, Allen arrived. He came a bit jet weary also but we got him home and he rested and is now happy and rested.
The food has been amazing. ANd the wine is delicious. We are having a good time picking restaurants and just eating alot. I fear that this will not be a weight loss trip!
My time at the computer is almost up, so I shall close. I hope this finds you well.
Ciao!

Less than a week to go

This is the view I expect to be seeing everyday over the next 4 weeks; from Villa Chianti in Tuscany. I'm headed there in 6 days for a 5-week trip, with the last week to be spent in Florence. After the 10 days that I spent in Italy last year, I'm really ready for this trip.
I leave on Friday from San Francisco airport and fly to Frankfurt. After just an hour in the Frankfurt airport I fly then to Pisa, where I will meet up with my friend Marilyn at which point, in our rented car, we will head to the villa to start our time.
Villa Chianti is right near the town of Tavernelle in Tuscany, about half-way between Florence and Siena.
The reason for this trip is Marilyn's birthday. She is turning 70 and wants to do so in style. So she has rented this villa for a month and has invited friends and family to come spend a week with her. Allen & I are there the whole time to be the desk clerks/van drivers/concierges/etc. We're managing the guests for her, one could say.
I need the break and am really looking forward to getting away. It's been a long time, it seems, since I've had a day off and I'm ready. I've never been away for this long, unless you count my year in Australia. But that was more like living there than traveling there. None-the-less, 5 weeks is a good amount of time. I'm sure it will practically fly by.
Thanks for reading my blog. I hope, depending on access to the internet in the town near the villa, to enter once or twice a week. Who knows--this could be the last entry. I hope not though.