Marci and Steve Go Back to Europe

Volterra, whoa whoa.....Contare.....whoa whoa whoa whoa Up and down the winding hills, round and round the curves and turns, past the fields of sunflowers, past the mowed down wheat, through the rows of vines and to Volterra we go. The name makes Terry and I sing Bobby Darien's (??) rendition of Volare on and off during the drive, but always totally off key since we both are 100% tone deaf according to our spousi.  Volterra is a bit less crowded than most of the hills towns we visited, but famous for its alabaster, a surprise to us. The lanes (yes, within arched Etruscan walls) were filled with shops selling not only modern versions of the Acapulco chess sets of the 60's that our parents all lugged back from their first foray to Mexico, but beautiful delicate plates and vases, eggs and jewelry. We bought alabaster rings meant for the eggs to rest on, but to be repurposed as napkins rings and a chunky interesting necklace. We saw the Duomo outside and in, along with the Baptistr...

How Many Hill Towns Can You See? As we traveled through Central Europe, moving from one medieval, overtaken, WWII occupied Capitol city to another, I started to wonder if they weren't so similar as to make seeing four or five a bit redundant. But each time we found something new to learn or see. The hill towns of Tuscany are a bit like that also. For one, they are all small walled towns on top of.....you guessed it, Tuscan Hills. The hills are pretty much the same color and topography with the roads leading to them packed with roundabouts full of blue directional signs, which only half the time have the  town you are looking for. So, as we conquer these towns, from far to near our little farmette in Pancole, we finally drove yesterday to OUR closest little hill town of San Gimignano.  We are total fans of Rick Steve's guides for helping us pick towns, or when to go or how long to stay and his guidebook clearly says 'TOURISTY', go at night when the busses leave and light...

Basking in Brunellos Tuscany is the place for walled cities, rolling hills and WINE, WINE, WINE.  Steve and I love to drink wine but we are not collectors and are more of the Vin Ordinaire or Vin du Maison. We do know what we like from a glass of bubbly to a smooth, full bodied Cab but our traveling companions have a new wine closet to fill, therefore, we must drink our way through the Chiantis, the Montelpucianos and the ultimate, the Brunellos, made to hold for ten to twenty years. So today we headed to Montalcino, THE place, and the only place, that is entitled to produce Brunellos, 100% Sangiovese grapes. We had a reservation and wonderful tour and tasting at Il Pioggione, where handsome Danny and knowledgable Francesca lead us through some new technology and taught us the difference between Rosso Brunello and Brunello Reserva.   They then directed us to the best (and only) trattoria in Sant Angelo di Castel for a great lunch on a sunny terrace. We started with Pecorino se...

And onto Siena, the burnt color of art Siena was a must see on our list and so today, back in the car, with only simple maps, a patient driver and a new navigator in the front, Meryl. We actually made it, with time to spare for a coffee at the Piazza to await our walking tour guide.  The adorable Alice (pronounced Ah-lee-she-a in Italian) walked us through the city and the history, winding us to Il Campo, the not so square square of Siena. Having no preconceived notions, we were all totally wowed by the size and uniqueness of the space, divided into nine pie slices representing the nine ruling families of lords hundreds of years ago.  There were medieval palaces, gothic churches, and a bit of renaissance architecture. But of course, as always, the unusual customs and rites of a town are what make it so interesting. We had all heard of the Palio, we had purposely planned our trip to NOT visit during this crazy time. But Siena just days after the Palio gave us a real treat, the ...

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 o...