Blog #21 - Our Last Day in Toscana

So what do you do with one day left in Tuscany when you have already been to Florence (twice), Pisa, Lucca, San Gimignano, and Volterra and with a side trip back to Eastern Liguria to hike the trails of Cinque Terre?  You go to Siena of course to see its historic centre, which has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is also the site of the famous Palio di Siena, a traditional medieval horse race run around the Piazza del Campo twice each year, on 2 July and 16 August.




Sandy scoping out a panoramic shot from one of the walls of Montepulciano.


However, before we could get to Siena, there were two other stops we wanted to make on the way.  The first stop of the day was at Rapolano Terme.  Terme is Italian for spa, baths or hot springs.  Having missed the hot springs at Pré St-Didier Thermal Spa at Monte Bianco, we were excited to learn that there are a number of thermal spas in Tuscany.  These spas were actually marked on our road map of Italy with a special symbol, but our guide books had no information on them.  So we had to go on-line to do some research.

The hill town of Montepulciano seen across the valley - the second stop on out last day in Tuscany.

When we were in Florence, I went to an Internet Café to do a little research to find out which spa we should go to.  I found using a computer in this Internet Café was no simple matter, which made me somewhat suspicious.  First thing I had to do, was to hand over a piece of identification (I used my drivers licence), which the clerk then photocopied and entered all my personal information into a computer.  The clerk explained that it was the law in Italy, which I later found out to be true (if you can believe Wikipedia).  Then when I logged onto the computer I had been assigned, someone else's e-mail was up and running and I could read all their messages.  Needless to say, I didn't check my e-mail on this computer and only used it to research thermal spas in Tuscany.  The spa town that seemed to be best located and had a nice description was Rapolano:
http://www.welcometuscany.it/special_interest/thermal_spas/siena_Rapolano_Terme.htm

These stairs were off limits.  What's down there?

When we got to Rapolano, we stopped at the information centre and learned that there were two commercial spas - one in the town and the other a few kilometres outside of town with views of the Tuscan countryside.  So we chose to go for the spa with the view - the San Giovanni.  All their spa treatments were booked, so all we could do was go into the pools.  We had brought our bathing suits and our own towels, so we paid €13 each and went into the spa.  The spa had half a dozen pools of varying sizes from small to large, with the water cascading from its source through each of the pools.

Some of the pools at Terme San Giovanni Spa in Rapolano

Since they have a "No Cameras" policy all we can show you is a photo of the building we took when we left and the picture above of the pools that I downloaded from their web site.  Here is a description of the waters we bathed in:

"The mineral waters in the swimming pools at Terme San Giovanni Spa in Rapolano flow from the source at a temperature of 39° C. The natural elements that they contain are mainly composed of sulphur, providing their distinctive odour, and calcium bicarbonate. Combined with the high temperatures of the spa water, these two components provide healing properties that are particularly effective in treating skin problems, as well as the motor and respiratory systems.  In addition to the feeling of relaxation and comfort that bathing in these springs provides, it also has a cosmetic effect on the skin, improving its appearance and fighting against conditions such as psoriasis, dermatitis and eczema. As for the motor system, our hot spring water helps relieve muscle stiffness and enhance tissue elasticity.  Inhaling the natural vapours disinfects the airways, providing a marked improvement in respiration."  http://www.termesangiovanni.it/index.php?lng=en

The entrance to Terme San Giovanni Spa in Rapolano.

After spending two hours in the mineral pools of San Giaovanni Spa, we continued on our journey to the famous hill town of Montepulciano.  Our mountain guide Mario from the Monte Bianco expedition was the one who recommended that we go to Montepulciano, and he was right of course as we found the town very interesting.  On the drive there, I felt a burning sensation in my back and realized that I had used the mineral coated pool walls, which were quite rough, as a scratching post for my back and in doing so had ground calcium, sulfur and other minerals into my back - ouch!  We took the back roads to Montepulciano and it ended up taking quite a while to get there, but when we rounded a corner on a hill, we saw the town sitting on a hill across a wide valley.

Montepulciano as seen from across the valley.

When we got to Montepulciano we found a fairly large walled city, built on a narrow limestone ridge full of Renaissance buildings.  As we entered the gates of the city, we saw quaint shops including many wine shops selling the famous Nobile wine from the region.  We went into one of the shops and found that they had an extensive wine cellar that they allowed tourists to walk through.  They also had wine tasting of various years of the Nobile wine, which we tried out on our way out of town. We selected a 2003 Nobile to buy and bring back to Canada.

The entrance gate to Montepulciano.  Like the other hill towns, there was a lot of up-hill walking to get to the centre of the town, which was at the highest point on the hill.

Down in the wine cellar.

Chiesa (Italian for Church) di Sant'Agostino - one of the "small" churches in Montepulciano.  I counted eight churches and the major cathedral on the map of this town of about 5000 residents.

The rest of our stay in Montepulciano involved visits to the churches and cathedral, taking photos of the panoramic vistas and visiting the numerous shops.  We had a capuccino/beer and cakes at one of the shops and also tasted some wild boar salami.  I didn't care much for the salami when I first tasted it, so I didn't buy any.  However, by the time we got back to the car, I found I had a very pleasant after-taste of the salami lingering on my palate.  So I went back to the shop and bought a stick of the wild boar salami for snacking on.  It was a tasty treat on our drive to Rome the next day.

The shop where we bought the wild boar salami.

Translation "Door of Bacchus - Secret Passage".  Bacchus is the Roman god of wine and wine making.

The Piazza Grande of Montepulciano.

By the time we got out of Montepulciano, the sun was setting but we still wanted to see Siena.  Since it was directly on our way back to Barberino, we drove off the main highway and into the city.  Siena is not as big as some of the other cities we drove through (e.g. Pisa, Genova), but it is still large enough to get lost.  With a population of 54,000 it is about the size of North Bay.  We did manage to find the old city centre without too much trouble, parked the car and walked through the ancient gates to this amazing city.  It was bustling as we first entered the streets where only people were walking and made our way to the central squares and main cathedral.  Our only regret was that it was now dark and the cathedral was closed because it looked amazing. 

The Cathedral of Siena seen at night.  It would have been nice to see in day time and to see the interior.  I guess we will just have to go back and do just that.

I was also quite happy to finally see the Piazza del Campo where they hold the traditional medieval horse race called the Palio di Siena, or simply Il Palio (Italian for the Prize).  The following link provides some amazing pictures of the race:
http://www.google.ca/images?hl=en&expIds=17259,24815,26637,26992,27095,27103,27178&xhr=t&q=palio+di+siena&cp=14&wrapid=tljp128795426884500&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=W5_ETJjIFoKisQOlmJ3SCw&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=3&sqi=2&ved=0CDsQsAQwAg&biw=1090&bih=434

The Piazzo del Campo where they hold the famous Palio di Siena horse race.

Not the best self-portrait we took, but the background showing the Town Hall and Torre del Mangia is well centered in the photo.

Blog #20 - Gelato Heaven

Gelato is Italy's variety of ice cream - a treat we grew to love so much that we coined the phrase "Give us this day our daily Gelato".  Whenever we got a little tired from all the walking, it was usually easy to spot a Gelateria near by where we could find dozens of tasty flavours.  One day we were walking around one of the hill towns in Tuscany when we were dragging our feet and realized that we hadn't had a gelato in two days.  We quickly found a remedy and were then on our merry way.

A typical selection of gelatos from a "gelateria", which is Italian for "ice cream shop".

Here are some interesting facts we learned about gelato and why it is different and much better (and healthier) than North American ice cream.

1. Gelato has a lower butterfat content, typically 4-8% vs. 14% for many ice creams.
2. Gelato has lower sugar content, typically 16% vs. 21% for many ice creams.
3. Gelato is frozen quickly in small individual batches vs. the continuous assembly line freezing used in North America, which results in a denser product with more flavour.
4. With its higher fat content, North American ice cream can be stored for many months, whereas gelato can only be stored for a few days, which is why it is always fresh at the gelateria.

An upscale gelateria in Rome near the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain, major tourist attractions.  Location, Location, Location - they were able to sell their fancy gelatos at a premium price.

I couldn't resist ordering one of the fancy gelatos.  You know what they say, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do", so I did.

And then the bill came --- €16 ($23 CA)!  When I cried out in surprise, they thought I was complaining, but I was just in shock, so they threw in a smaller one for free for Sandy.  This one may not have been worth €16 and I doubt I would have ordered it had I known the cost, but the high price didn't stop me from throroughly enjoying the treat.

We bought these gelatos in Florence for a more reasonable and more typical price of €3 each.  I got my favourite two flavours of dark chocolate and strawberry (with a wafer stuck in for decoration) and Sandy got her favourite flavour of mint.

A closer look at the cone selections in the gelateria in Rome.

Blog #19 - Driving in Italy

Italians are some of the nicest people I have ever met - until they get behind the wheel of a car that is.  Actually, driving in Italy was not as crazy as reputed to be.  The Autostrada or toll highway between major centres is very efficient and in great shape everywhere we went.  The country highways are well maintained and much easier to drive on than some of the pot-holed roads we have to face in Canada.  Although in general the country roads and city streets are much narrower than we are used to, most of the cars on the roads are small compacts.

We ordered a Volkswagon Jetta from Magliorre car rental company under the advice of our travel agent Louise from the CAA office in Orleans.  When went to pick up our car in Venice, we were told that they were overbooked and that we were to be given an upgrade to a Fiat Doblo.  I told the agent that I hoped the Doblo wasn't a big car because I understood that the roads were narrow in Italy.  He said don't worry, you're tall so it will be perfect for you. 

Well, as it turned out the Doblo is quite large - in fact Sandy affectionately referred to it as the Bread Truck.  I started out driving the Doblo on the Autostrada from Venice 400 Km to Courmayeur in the Italian Alps, so by the time we arrived, I was quite familiar with the car and able to drive comfortably in the smaller city streets.  It actually was nice to have the extra interior room, but there were a few times when it was tight passing other cars on narrow winding roads.  By the end of our trip we had put 2600 Km on the Doblo without any close calls.  So I thought we should it St. Doblo because I felt like it protected us very well throughout our trip.

Here are some pictures of our Doblo, the roads we drove on and some of the sights we saw as we drove by.

When I pulled up to our hotel in Courmayeur to load our luggage, Andrew came up to the door of our Doblo and placed an order for two loaves of white bread and one loaf of rye, since we had been calling the car, "the bread truck".

On his drive from Lake Como to Courmayeur, Andrew drove through the wrong gate at the toll booth and didn't pick up a voucher to indicate his starting point.  When he got off the highway, he had to pay the maximum fee of 60 Euros, when it should have cost about 15 Euros.  We paid about 100 Euros in Autostrada toll fees throughout our trip.  It was worth it, because we did take the side roads a few times and they took over twice as long to go the same distance.

On our last night in Italy, we took a taxi into Rome and spotted this Lambourghini.

Blog #18 - The Gates of Paradise

This blog is a companion piece to Blog #17 about our site seeing in Florence.  Here we present pictures of the famous Gates of Paradise by Lorenzo Ghiberti, which are located on the Baptistery.  The Gates are really just two doors on which Ghiberti sculpted scenes from the Old Testament of the Bible.  The Baptistery was built in the 5th century and the Gates were created between 1425 and 1452.

The Baptistery

The Gates of Paradise

The Creation of Adam and Eve

Adam and Eve with their children Cain and Abel

The Story of Noah

The Story of Jacob and Esau

The Story of Joseph

The Story of Moses

The Story of Joshua

Blog #17 – Firenze At Last

So now we come to our much anticipated visit to Firenze (the city we call Florence), the birthplace of the Renaissance and some of the world’s greatest art treasures.  We made reservations for October 6th to visit the Uffizi Gallery where we saw Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus, Adoration of the Magi, and Allegory of Spring and works by other masters such as Leonardo da Vince, Michelangelo, and Rubens.  We also made reservations for Oct 7th to visit the Academie to see Michelangelo’s most famous sculpture David, and some of his unfinished pieces including the four Slaves. 

The Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore and Giotto's Bell Tower as seen from the Piazzale Michelangelo on the other side of the Arno River.



A view of Florence from Giotto's Bell Tower.  I climbed 414 steps for this view.




We also saw the Palestrina Pietà in the Academie, which had been attributed to Michelangelo, but is now believed to have been created by another artist. Michelangelo is known to have created three versions of the Pietà (Italian for "pity").  The most famous Pietà is the one that we saw in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican (1499).  He also created the Florentine Pietà (1557), which is in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo in Florence and the Rondanini Pietà (1564), which is in Milan.  We had a chance to see the Florentine Pietà, but chose to see other sites instead.

The Ponte Vecchio across the Arno River in Florence.

Sandy on the Ponte Vecchio with the many jewelry shops.

After visiting the Academie, we wandered over to the Medici Chapels and saw some of Michelangelo’s other celebrated sculptures such as Dawn and Dusk above the tomb of Giuliano di Nemours and Day and Night above the tomb of Lorenzo the Magnificent in the Sacristy.  The Princes Chapel, the other Medici Chapel, is an amazing building with a grandiose interior.

A view of Florence from the Piazzale Michelangelo.

Alas, we cannot show you any pictures of the art treasures described above for each of these locations have a "No Cameras" rule and security guards who enforce the rule.  We can however show you pictures of the statue of David, since there are two copies, which are almost as famous as the original in the Academie (no pictures of the original please).  The first copy is made of marble and is located outside of the Palazzo Vecchio.  There is also a bronze copy of David in the Piazzale Michelangelo located on the other side of the Arno River on a hill overlooking Florence.

A bronze copy of David located in the Piazzale Michelangelo.

The other famous sites of Florence that we saw were the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, the Baptistery with the famous Gates of Paradise by Lorenzo Ghiberti, Giotto’s Bell Tower, and the Ponte Vecchio.  We took a bus tour of the city and sat on the top level where we could snap lots of photos.

The Palazzo Vecchio

Replica of the statue of David on the left and statue of Hercules and Cacus on the right at the entrance to the Palazzo Vecchio. 

The Hop-On Hop-Off City Bus Tour.

A photo I took of myself from the top of Giotto's Bell Tower with the Cathedral Dome in the background.  I am wearing a Canada-Italy friendship pin on my shirt lapel.

The front of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore.

One of the doors on the Cathedral.

The painting above the door.

Sandy in front of the church of Santa Maria Novella.

The only dinner we ate out in Tuscany we ordered Steak Florentine because everyone kept telling us that we had to try this meal.  Not having eaten a good steak for some time, it was nice to have, but in my opinion did not compare to the Grade A Alberta beef that we get in Canada.

A sidewalk chalk artist creates a copy of Venus from Boticelli's painting "The Birth of Venus", which is located in the Uffizi Gallery close by.  Unfortunately her work will only last as long as it doesn't rain.

A sign warning shoppers that it is illegal to by fake goods from the immigrants and gypsies selling "Gucci" purses and "Seiko" watches on the street.  You can get a big fine just for buying these goods.

A street market in Florence.  It is OK to buy from the stalls, but not from people walking around or with their goods spread out on a sheet on the sidewalk.