Tuscany, at last

Lucca, Pisa and Pancole, three days one blog

August, I am not sure what date, but I think the 17th

It's been a busy few days and Steve had to reveal his WTF#6 yesterday and it is 7am and we are getting ready to drive to see David, yes THE David, so a quick catch up on thoughts and activities.

Lucca was a charming city, winding streets with little traffic, lots of leather shops, gelato stands, churches and bakeries. 

We spent most of our time seeing the coast with stops in Viarregio and the beach one day and Cinque Terre the next. Logistics are challenging at times, not knowing the drill for the where to go, where to park and what to see but we managed to drive fairly easily (a feat in and of itself) to Portovenere. There we parked, hopped the shuttle to the harbor and bought our tickets to see any of the five towns by boat. It is too hot to walk, there is not enough time and who doesn't LOVE a boat ride.

The coastline is gorgeous, the towns a rambling, ramshackle jumble of orange and yellow and pink pastel houses with hordes of people moving on and off each ferry at each stop. Some vie for a seaside table at an umbrellaed restaurant but most seem to stand in line for what must be very good pizza or cones of fried fish. We opted for those umbrellas and Giacomo, at age 76, served us a delicious meal of anchovies and octopus and sea bream and pasta. 

The beaches are small scoops of dark sand up against huge rocks with bikini clad people on towels sunning and jumping off the dock into crystal clear waters. The bars serve the cocktail of the summer to eight out of ten patrons-an aperol spritzer, which we are told is all the rage this summer in Venice.

Yesterday, after a pit stop in Pisa, because how can you not see the leaning tower when you are so close, we headed to our place in Tuscany, near San Gimignano. 

Hills beautiful, apartment not so but we hope to be out and about seeing Florence and drinking wine by noon. No wifi except at the restaurant, not a lot of blogging but looking forward to a lot of laughs and expecting a lot of getting lost. 

OK well since we did not upload our blog in the last day and a half, we'll just add to it. It is now Monday the 19th and life is good.

We are in Tuscany and as far as our accommodations , well suffice it to say two things. One, it is a bit like glorified camping where you have to supply your own paper towels and toilet paper......but they forgot to tell you that when you booked. And the A/C you have to pay extra for is really just kinda cool, not cold.  Two, everything is further than you thought and harder to get to. But more importantly, you are with really good friends who can rock and roll with the best of them. Oh, and of course, we bought another fan to stay cool.

Anyway, the Tuscan Hills are as beautiful as you expect. They roll, they undulate and they are lush beyond belief. We spent Sunday in Florence and after years of telling Steve the about the utterly, over the top physiological feeling of seeing the David forty years ago, he finally got to experience it for himself. I guess you will have to wait for him to blog about his experience but I thought it was as beautiful as ever. 

Today, the 19th- we had reservations for a food and wine 'experience' in Grevi in Chianti, should be a 55minute drive and was an hour and ten so we are finally doing something right which is unbelievable since I have basically taken over as navigator and I suck at it. I was not sure if this was perhaps going to be a sucker deal. You know, tour, taste, lunch for the turistas. It was Fabulous, thanks to Ricky, a friend of the Silvers for the recommendation. Gino our guide at the magnificent Verranzano winery (yes THE family of the explorer whom the NY bridge is named after) was charming, not hokey. The tour was as much about the wine as the food and once we sat down at the table to do the tasting, first the rose, then the chianti, the chianti reserve, the super tuscan, the santo vino dessert wine and the reserva grappa, you can imagine the comraderie at the table. It was the Silvers and us, Mary and Kenny from near Peekskill, who a couple nights before were discoing and skinny dipping on the Amalfi ( and they are OUR age), the lovely Susan and Nick from Tasmania ( I smell a house swap) and a lovely couple fro Vancouver. The food was incredible from the fresh bruschetta to the house made boar salami, the al dente pasta, the pork loin, the cheese with homemade balsamic and the biscotti, we did not want the afternoon to end.  Lots of wine, lots of talk and perhaps some new friends along the way.......travel is spectacular.....

PS - it is a bit harder to post, so see you in a few days.