9 years after watching the film that inspired me to want to visit Tuscany, we were finally on our way! If you haven’t been to Tuscany before, do yourself a favour and watch this film… watching it multiple times over the years has kept up my desire to visit.
It was a very early start – up before 4am and at the airport by 5am. This is what Dave looked like before we went… I still can’t believe that he drove all the way to the airport without having had his obligatory cup of coffee.
We flew into Pisa and hired a car, then drove about 90 minutes to the little town just outside of Florence where we were staying. Dave had chosen a beautiful 16th century farmhouse for our stay and it was absolutely gorgeous – so quintessentially Italian. Casa Palmira was the perfect base for our week in Tuscany, close enough for a drive to get something to eat, but far enough away from the hustle and bustle of any town centre.
The only hitch was that to get to anywhere that had anything resembling food, we had to drive through the most narrow streets we’ve ever seen in our lives! I spent almost the entire holiday jumping with nerves when it looked like we were going to pop a headlight on the stone walls which lined the streets (no such thing as emergency lanes in this place!). Dave did such a brilliant job of driving – there were some fraught times to be had throughout the week, but generally we all accepted that Italian drivers are, on the whole, absolutely maniacally crazy drivers who clearly have no fear of passing over to the other side in a horrific fiery car crash! Or so it seemed. Oh… and they seem to have super powers with regard to removing parked cars from gaps smaller than a watermelon…
The only hitch was that to get to anywhere that had anything resembling food, we had to drive through the most narrow streets we’ve ever seen in our lives! I spent almost the entire holiday jumping with nerves when it looked like we were going to pop a headlight on the stone walls which lined the streets (no such thing as emergency lanes in this place!). Dave did such a brilliant job of driving – there were some fraught times to be had throughout the week, but generally we all accepted that Italian drivers are, on the whole, absolutely maniacally crazy drivers who clearly have no fear of passing over to the other side in a horrific fiery car crash! Or so it seemed. Oh… and they seem to have super powers with regard to removing parked cars from gaps smaller than a watermelon…
Our B&B was really beautiful, where a huge open fireplace greeted us, for which we were all exceptionally grateful (because despite us all packing for Summer, Summer clearly hadn’t got the memo). A massive sprawling living room, snug, breakfast room & kitchen took up the bottom floor, all of which was open for guests to use as they wished. And we did a lot of relaxing, reading and chatting in there over the course of the week. Dave and I had a 4-poster bed and much to Dave’s upset – no TV. In these days of Kindles & iPads, I have to admit that I didn’t miss having a TV at all.
Our first day was spent lazing around at the B&B after our early start, we all had a lovely afternoon nap and then ventured up the road in the evening to grab a bit of dinner. Our first pizzas of the holiday went down very well!
Florence
The next day we all hopped into the car and headed out to Fiesole, where we parked the car and jumped on the shuttle bus into Florence. This saved us the task of negotiating road rage-y Italian drivers in the city. We were dropped off in San Marco Square and made our way down a long alley towards the city centre, stopping to look at street art on the way.
My breath isn’t often taken away by architecture, but rounding the corner to have Florence Cathedral looming over us was just… WOW! I was speechless for a few seconds, my breath really was taken away by the sight. It was, in a word, simply beautiful.
We spent a few minutes taking photos before making our way around to the front of the cathedral and into the main piazza. While Dave went inside the cathedral to take some photos, I stayed outside, taking in the atmosphere in the piazza, looking up at the intricate marble carvings and wondering who they were. We figured they were Popes throughout history. I still need to google to find out who the dudes are.
It was then time for lunch, so we stopped at a little pavement café, which served gorgeous pasta dishes. From there, we took a wander into Piazza della Signoria, where the replica of the Statue of David stands. It was originally placed in front of the Academia museum, where it’s original is housed, but it was damaged, and as a result, was moved to its new home. Getting a non-photo-bombed photo was a bit of a challenge, but we managed it.
From there, we ambled along towards the Ponte Vecchio, which looks like nothing from the outside….
… but is full of exclusive jewellery shops on the inside. It is unbelievable that so many jewellery shops, selling essentially the same thing, can remain in business with this much competition on their doorstep, but they obviously manage and I can only imagine that the sheer number of tourists on the bridge at the time we were there (which isn’t even high season yet) means that they manage just fine!
It was on the Ponte Vecchio that we stopped for our first Tuscan gelato. And it was SO worth it. I’d have expected nothing less for the price tag attached to it! But it was delicious… and the first of many.
The rest of that day was spent ambling back towards the bus stop, to catch the bus back to Fiesole, where we stopped off at the local fresh produce market and picked up some pasta, Italian meats, home-made sauces and cheese to make some dinner. A very nice end to a lovely first day.
Siena, Monteriggioni & San Gimignano
I had another ‘WOW’ moment on this day when, after a hour or so spent driving, we rounded the top of a hill and Siena was sprawled out in front of us. The entire city is monotone beige – there are no splashes of colour anywhere – but somehow, it was a breathtaking sight. Dave and I made our way around the streets which run in concentric circles around the main square.
The weather wasn’t great, raining on and off the whole day, but on the whole it played ball and stayed dry, if not sunny. We chose a gorgeous, cosy looking restaurant for some lunch and had one of the best meals of our entire trip there.
When I asked for the bill, our waiter said ‘just pay whatever you think it was worth!’… well, if he’d been serious, we’d have been bankrupt, because it was delicious! We only realised just before we left that it was one of the top 10 places to eat in Sienna, as rated in our trusty guide book. So clearly a good choice! As we were leaving, we got talking to the bohemian-looking waiter who was standing outside smoking and he made a comment about my footwear not being appropriate for the weather (I was wearing flip flops) and he then asked where I was from when he heard my accent. He then told us that he spent 6 months of the year in Antigua and the last time he was there, he sailed around the coast of South Africa… what a life! The heavens opened as we made our way back to meet the others – and picked up an obligatory gelato on the way out!
The weather wasn’t great, raining on and off the whole day, but on the whole it played ball and stayed dry, if not sunny. We chose a gorgeous, cosy looking restaurant for some lunch and had one of the best meals of our entire trip there.
When I asked for the bill, our waiter said ‘just pay whatever you think it was worth!’… well, if he’d been serious, we’d have been bankrupt, because it was delicious! We only realised just before we left that it was one of the top 10 places to eat in Sienna, as rated in our trusty guide book. So clearly a good choice! As we were leaving, we got talking to the bohemian-looking waiter who was standing outside smoking and he made a comment about my footwear not being appropriate for the weather (I was wearing flip flops) and he then asked where I was from when he heard my accent. He then told us that he spent 6 months of the year in Antigua and the last time he was there, he sailed around the coast of South Africa… what a life! The heavens opened as we made our way back to meet the others – and picked up an obligatory gelato on the way out!
We made our way to Monteriggioni, which is a town which fits on the head of a pin, so to speak. It is completely encased in ancient stone walls and is 2 streets wide and about 200m long. The real fun started just before we arrived because I had a song stuck in my head, which I randomly started singing. Within 2 seconds, Ayesha had picked up the cue and was singing along with me, much to the boys’ disgust. We continued to sing as we parked up and got out of the car and Ayesha even did the dance that goes with the song, which I believe is now floating around somewhere on YouTube! Now just to get it stuck in all of your heads too, start singing with me… ‘5, 6, 7, 8! My boot scootin’ baby is drivin’ me crazy, my obsession from a western – my dance floor date, my rodeo Romeo, a cowboy God from head to toe, wanna make you mine better get in line, 5, 6 ,7, 8!’ Hee hee! (I bet you'll now wake up in the middle of the night singing this over and over in your head!)
In a word, Monteriggioni is gorgeous! We all speculated how cool it would be to move all of your friends in there, but the logistics of fitting everybody into a handful of houses soon got the better of us, so we stopped dreaming and continued to walk around in awe of this pretty little place.
San Gimignano was last on our list for the day and again, was just beautiful. It’s hard to come up with enough adjectives to describe all of these sweet places. And that’s what they are – sweet, cute, gorgeous, beautiful, quaint – all of them all rolled into one. All of the places we visited on this day were just so full of history, you immediately felt as if you were being transported back in time as soon as you stepped foot in them. I love that people live there – and have probably lived there all their lives – in these tiny stone houses, with curtains for front doors (presumably to keep the insects out, but let the cool air in). Just awesome. San Gimignano is quite hilly and steep, with the main square being at the top and the tiny lanes all plummeting quite steeply down from it. Some of the best Tuscan views we saw were here – really typically Tuscan scenes with rolling fields and tall, skinny trees.
It had been a long day, but a lovely one and we chilled out by the fire for the evening before we all flaked out. I think we all slept well that night.
The next day, we drove into Fiesole and spent the morning at a Roman amphitheatre. The sun was shining and it was such a treat to finally feel warm!
We then made our way on the bus into Florence again, where Dave climbed the 463 steps up to the top of the dome in Florence Cathedral. It was apparently a beautiful view... I'll take his word for it. I spent that time ambling through some of the most gorgeous views I've ever seen in my life... the Lindt chocolate shop! And of course... the good old gelato couldn't be left out!
We then made our way on the bus into Florence again, where Dave climbed the 463 steps up to the top of the dome in Florence Cathedral. It was apparently a beautiful view... I'll take his word for it. I spent that time ambling through some of the most gorgeous views I've ever seen in my life... the Lindt chocolate shop! And of course... the good old gelato couldn't be left out!
The following day, Dave and I went to Cortona – a visit inspired by my film 9 years ago. It was a kind of ‘free’ day in the trip, so we made the decision to just drive and see where we ended up. Cortona, again, is a tiny, stone wall-surrounded city, which is full of character.
Our first stop was at a tiny deli, which thankfully served hot chocolate, because this African had gone out dressed for a Summer holiday and the temperature was in single figures! Now, I think I’ve described the hot chocolate in Italy before now, but let me tell you again – it is like manna from Heaven. It is literally a melted chocolate bar in a cup… served hot. It certainly did the trick in heating up my insides.
Our first stop was at a tiny deli, which thankfully served hot chocolate, because this African had gone out dressed for a Summer holiday and the temperature was in single figures! Now, I think I’ve described the hot chocolate in Italy before now, but let me tell you again – it is like manna from Heaven. It is literally a melted chocolate bar in a cup… served hot. It certainly did the trick in heating up my insides.
After Cortona, we drove to Montepulciano, which is where we stopped for lunch. We originally were going to give Montepulcianno a miss, but I’m really glad we didn’t. Although it could be argued that once you’ve seen one of these little hilltop towns, you’ve seen them all, each of them has their own character and story to tell, so I’m glad we got the chance to fit this one in too. If nothing else, the pizza was amazing!!
The following day was a relaxation, no sightseeing day. We whiled away the day napping, chatting, eating chocolate, watching videos, listening to the rain & reading. It was a lovely ‘take-a-break’ day.
On Saturday, we all piled into the car for the long drive to San Marino. I didn’t know until we were planning this trip that San Marino is a tiny land-locked country all on its own. Dave and Ayesha have both wanted to visit San Marino since they were small, so for them, it was an extra special day. It took us around two and a half hours to drive there, but as we were driving, the weather improved and when we got there, although it was overcast, it didn’t rain and the sun actually peeked out at certain points during the day. San Marino town centre is actually on the very tip top of a mountain (or I guess a very tall hill would be a more appropriate description), and we had to catch a cable car up to the town. We spent the day ambling around the cobbled streets – the whole place has a medieval feel to it, made even more real by a movie set we passed, which looked like something out of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. The castles here provided the perfect set for this kind of film – no expensive sets required here! It really is a gorgeous little place.
Our last day finally dawned and although I was sad it had almost come to an end, I was kind of excited at the same time, because we were finally going to see the famous leaning tower! As we were flying out of Pisa, we decided to leave it until our last day, so that we didn’t have to make 2 trips and it turned out to be the best day weather-wise of the trip. The sun was shining on us, it was the first day that I was able to lose my jumper and it was just a lovely day to go and see such an iconic site. It really leans!! I know that sounds silly to say, but I really didn’t expect it lean that much. In fact, everything on the site was leaning slightly – it such an awesome place to experience. We had a last pizza of the holiday with the Leaning Tower as a backdrop and then made our way back to the airport to *sniff* wave goodbye to beautiful Tuscany.
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