Charlie and Tracy's Visit

Last week my brother Charlie and his girlfriend Tracy arrived for a visit. They had left Seattle on June 1 and spent a few days in Milan and Venice before heading to Florence. We met them at the train station there on Wednesday, June 6. After putting their bags in our car we took an walk around Florence. It was a beautiful, hot day so one of the highlights was a stop at a new chocolate/gelato shop near the Il Porcellino statue. My taste buds are still raving about the Cioccolato Azteca gelato--a deep, rich, bitter chocolate.

Here are Tracy, Dom and Charlie standing on the Ponte Vecchio.

June 6th was Tracy's birthday so we stopped at one of our favorite restaurants for dinner before heading back to the apartment.

The next day we went to Pisa to visit the Leaning Tower, Duomo and Baptistery. We had lunch in Pisa before heading up the Serchio Valley for an appointment at our accountant's office. While we were there Tracy and Charlie wandered around the town of Fornoli near Bagni di Lucca.

On our way back to Lucca we stopped at the Ponte della Maddalena in Borgo a Mozzano. This 12th Century bridge used to be called Ponte del Diavolo (the Devil's Bridge).

Dom, Charlie and Tracy walked to the top of it but I went into the bar across the street to use the facilities and have an ice cream bar.

We went into Lucca and walked through the town hitting the high points. On our way back to the car we walked along the walls. This picture shows the back of the church of San Freddiano and in the lower right corner the gardens of the Palazzo Pfanner. The palazzo is an historic residence open to the public, as are the gardens. There is also a luxurious 2 bedroom apartment for rent in the building. I hate to think how much it costs but it would be a lovely spot for a stay.

On Friday we lazed around the apartment before heading out to the weekly market in the piazza in front of our apartment. Then we went over to the Esselunga supermarket so Charlie and Tracy could see how Italian markets differ from those in North America.

We had purchased a rotisserie chicken at the market and a few things at Esselunga for a lunch at home. Afterwards we lazed around the apartment for the afternoon reading and taking naps.

In the evening we went up to walk around Partigliano so Charlie and Tracy could see where we used to reside. We saw some of our old neighbors and then had dinner at La Terrazza, another favorite.

On Saturday morning we drove to Portovenere which is south of the Cinque Terre near La Spezia. In many ways I like the former better than the latter. It is certainly an easier day trip. We walked through town and up to the lovely church at the west end of town. This picture is looking east at the Bay of Poets.

This chapel is one of my favorite spots in all of Italy. It is just a charming building in a very romantic location.

There was a wedding about to take place when we were there so the church was full of well dressed people and white flowers. We never did see the bride.

 Charlie and Dom checking out one of the local fishing boats.

Charlie taking a picture of some people from Palm Desert. They were off the cruise ship in the harbor.

Here is one of the few pictures of Dom and I together. Behind us is the steep and rocky coast leading to the Cinque Terre only about 30 kilometers away.

We returned to Capannori early enough to rest before going to the Sagra di Tordelli in Segromigno. This is one of our favorite local festivals. I hope the picture Charlie took was a good one.

I did have him take this one of Mary Caselli, me and Tracy. The tordelli (meat filled pasta) was especially delicious this year.

On Sunday morning we all got up early to go to the marcia (walk) at Castevecchio di Compito. Charlie does not look particularly awake at 6:15 am.

The clouds looked stormy (and it had rained overnight) but we were lucky. This is a picture of the town of Castelvecchio from the partenza (start) of the walk.

And here we have the view from the town out onto the plain.

Dom, Mary Caselli, Charlie and Tracy at the ristoro (refreshment stop).

After the walk (which we completed by 9 am) we went back to the apartment, showered and drove to Artimino, a tiny walled town in the Carmignano area southwest of Florence. Just outside of the walls is a wonderful restaurant called Da Delfina. Dom and I had been there about five years ago and we have always wanted and excuse to go back. The four of us had a delicious lunch on the patio.

This was the view from our table and one of the reasons the place is so wonderful. The food is great but the Medici Villa and olive trees make it an incredibly delightful. There is even a glimpse of the Arno River at the bottom of the valley.

After lunch we meandered back to Capannori. As we drove into town we saw that something had been done in front of the church. We stopped and discovered that this wonderful flower "mural" had been created.

Up close we discovered that all sorts of natural plant materials had been used--petals, flowers, seeds, pine cones and bark.

There was even a picture of the Capannori church.

Yesterday (Monday) Charlie and Tracy went off to Florence for the day. They came back here last night and we put them on the train via Pisa for Rome this morning.

I really enjoyed having them stay with us. It was fun to be in the real tourist mode for a few days. We got to visit some places we have not been to in several years. What with selling the Partigliano house and buying the Capannori apartment, we have not had almost no guests in recent years and we missed that. We are looking forward to sharing Italy with more of our friends and family in the coming years.

Massa Marittima

It was still early after we visited the mostra scambio (swap meet) near Grossetto so we decided to visit the small hill town of Massa Marittima. I had been perusing a Tuscany guidebook recently and read that it was worth seeing. 

The town is only about 15 kilometers off the autostrada so it was a quick hop over there on our way north. If you enlarge this picture you can see that the hill on which the town is located rises steeply out of pretty flat terrain. Below us all the fields were lush with growing wheat or tawny where the hay had been mowed. 

This was taken from the "top" of the town. the dome and bell tower are located in the town's main piazza.

We parked just outside the old city walls. The ledge above the road was large and contained a variety of old fruit trees--plums, cherries and figs--that had run wild. The poppies made bright red splashes and bobbed furiously in the breeze.

We walked up a staircase and through the old wall and quickly found ourselves in the town's main piazza. It is roughly triangular shaped. This is the church and a lovely building beside it, perhaps the bishop's palace at one time.

This was the town hall with variety of plaques and coats of arms dotting the facade. The history of who controlled the town can probably be read in them.

The rest of the piazza contains equally lovely buildings. There were quite a few tourists around but because we were there during lunchtime the streets were pretty quiet.

A number of streets led out of the main piazza. This turned out to be one of the largest and most interesting although we found it as we were returning to the piazza after our perusal of the town.

The entire town is one of the most picturesque in Italy and the perfect size for an hour's wander. Everywhere you go there are evocative lanes curving away into the distance. The hot sunshine and disembodied voices made one wonder what is just out of sight.

There were a lot of potted plants and window boxes. If one lives in a medieval walled town that is often the only garden one has.

Some gardens are larger but only glimpsed through closed gates.

At the top of the hill we found more churches. This is the church of St. Augustine. It reminded me of San Domenico in Siena--bright but very spare decoration.

Next to it is a lovely cloister with the campanile towering over it.

I met a cat that was friendly enough to jump up on the wall and allow me to scratch it behind the ears. Living in Capannori we do not have much contact with the local gatti.

Towards the top of the hill was a large fortified gate complex. The tower in front is quite tall and seems to protect the smaller tower and gate below.

I thought this was a lovely home with greenery at all the windows and vines growing across the facade. The color was a perfect butter yellow.

Obviously another avid window box gardener lives here.

This courtyard could be glimpsed from the street and there was a sign advertising holiday apartments for let. So I stepped inside to take a closer look. It all had a very Moorish look but it was difficult to take a good picture because of the strong light and shadow.

After our meander through the town of Massa Marittima we went back to the main piazza, bought some gelato and joined the other tourists sitting on the steps of the church in the shade.

Between the mostra scambio, our visit to Massa Marittima and the lovely Maremma countryside, it was a wonderful day out.

The Blogger Returns...

Apologies for the long absence but my brother and his girlfriend were here for six nights. We have been off having fun and eating too much. They headed off to Rome this morning so I will now catch up.

Mostra Scambio Near Grossetto

Yesterday (Saturday, June 2) we drove about an hour and a half southwest of Lucca to a classic car/bike mostra scambio (swap meet) near Grossetto. June 2 is a holiday in Italy (Festa della Reppublica that commemorates the date Italy voted to reject the pre-WWII monarchy and become a republic). It is also the unofficial "first day of summer;" sort of like Memorial Day in the U.S. As a result the roads were pretty crowded on our way down but we never encountered any actual slow downs. 

We were not exactly sure where we were going but luckily there were good signs after we exited the autostrada. After paying our entry fee the first thing we encountered was this GIANT motorcycle. Compare its size to the man standing beside the sign on the left.

The show was mostly the usual array of parts and memorabilia for sale but this mostra scambio had some interesting vehicle displays including these historic tractors. Did you know Porsche made tractors at one time?

Dom said this pseudo-classic racer is a "kit car." The body was classic but there were a lot of modern additions.

It has a pretty nice cockpit.

There are always lots of classic scooters at these meets, especially Vespa and Lambretta brands.

In post WWII Italy, and even today in parts of the Far East, scooters--and their cousin, the three wheel Ape (AH-pay)-- have been converted to all sorts of vehicles. This is a modern rickshaw lovingly restored.

There was a great exhibit on classic cars associated with various films. This is the Porsche model Richard Gere drove in the film Breathless.

I laughed when I saw this and told Dom my formative years were spent watching Magnum P.I. in his Ferrari Testarossa.

Dom called this the ultimate woodie. The body was literally all wood. It has bench seats in the rear and a rack to carry water skis on top. It's called a Hustler Spiaggina.

There was also a variety of exhibits one doesn't usually see at a mostra scambio. They included this exhibit by a local slot car racing group.

There was a model airplane club with a variety of craft on display. These are radio controlled planes that really fly in the sky.

There was a HUGE model train set-up...

...and a number of model ships including these large models of the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria.

Here is another classic Fiat Multipla, one of our favorite auto d'epoca.

Dom thought this was an interesting motorcycle.

A local Fiat 500 club had a large number of vehicles on display. They look like little bugs all lines up in rows.

Another one with a suitcase strapped to the rack.

This one looks like someone races it. The can strapped on the back is labeled "oil."

Here is a lovely Alfa Romeo.

And a gorgeous newer Maserati with a matte black paint job. It was getting a lot of attention.

The rear of the Maserati.

This gentleman owns this vehicle.

The man with the camo t-shirt was explaining all about his four classic U.S. Army jeeps. Only the one on the right (behind the crowd) is a real U.S. Army jeep. The other three (in graduated sizes) are replicas that he built. They were very authentic looking. His son or grandson was periodically driving the smallest around the exhibition grounds.

This is the next to the last smallest.

Dom always admires the Ferraris.

But he also liked this Renault 4.

There was a display of off-road vehicles from the local 4x4 club.

As is usually the case at these shows, there was food available. Dom and I had an early lunch. He had a sausage sandwich and I had a really tasty porchetta (roast pork) sandwich. While we ate, we watched the 11:30 freestyle bike exhibition. The riders were doing all sorts of tricks as they went off a jump.

Here is one of the bikers in the air. They kept hopping off and on the bikes in mid-air and often had only one hand on the bike. I was glad I was a distance away from the action!

All in all it was a good mostra scambio. On our way north on the highway we came up on these three cars. Even before we were close to them we could hear the engine of the Fiat 500. At first I thought I was hearing a helicopter. When we got alongside the vehicle it was obvious that it was the car's motor. We are not sure why the three vehicles were lined up like this but after we passed them, the Porsche passed the other two and us. Then the Fiat passed all of us and took off like a shot. The motor might have been noisy but it was also pretty powerful.

It was still only 12:00 when we left the mostra so we headed north and stopped at the town of Massa Marittima on our way home. I will do another post on it as I took a lot more photos. It is a perfect jewel box of a Renaissance hill town.