Time for some pics.
Garachico
El Guincho
Our flat
Found a friend
It’s Warm
And the contrast with back home makes it even better. The news is all about cold and snow (and the World Cup but strangely that seems to have suddenly stopped ….).
And for the first time ever I had my birthday dinner celebration outside!
Tenerife 9th December
It’s freezing at home and Eileen’s knee is recovering rapidly so 10 days in the sun beckons.
Travelling was ideal – everything worked efficiently, although Ryanair managed to allocate seats 24 rows apart! Car was upgraded to a Mercedes automatic and had to ask for help to locate the handbrake 😃.
More to follow but probably no adventures.
Saturday 24th – The End
Great trip back – all smooth.
Downsides
– messing up Ryanair booking, paying for bags we didn’t use
– someone crunching the car wing mirror which cost
– leaving my wallet at the final place – they’re kindly posting it back
– crazy little car with a 3 gallon petrol tank. Meant had plenty of practice at Italian self service stations.
– midges had plenty of feasts on Eileen, especially at the beginning when it was hot and humid.
Upsides
– the weather – the last week was perfect. Bright sun all day every day, but only mid 20s. And cool nights.
– food, especially the pasta. Who knew????????
– EVERYTHING ELSE. ITALY WAS MAGNIFICENT, AS EXPECTED.
Montalcino – Out and About
Beautiful countryside, different to Chianti – more magnificent but not as soft.
Pienza, for example, was extremely fine.
San Quirico
(To remind us where we had a fantastic lunch).
Sant’ Antimo
And lots of others. Ended up at Sant’ Angelo in Colle for dinner at Stella’s favourite restaurant – well worth it.
Montalcino
It’s up there. About 25 minutes on mainly a 20% gradient. (Or drive on the main road but not as much fun!)
Worth it when you get there.
Tuesday to Saturday
Final place – just outside Montalcino in a vineyard.
Here’s the proof.
And here’s the view.
You can just see the pool and the canopy right at the bottom.
And that’s Montalcino up there …
Tuesday 20th – Siena
On the move again, and if you’re passing Siena you have to stop by! Just like San Gimignano it’s been a long time since we were here, and not a lot has changed. Usual stress about parking and finding bearings, but solved quickly.
And it looked very fine indeed in the sparkling Autumn sun.
And the cathedral which neither of us had ever been to before which is odd. Anyway, long queue to get in, and so being tech savvy (!) we scanned the QR code and managed to book tickets online. Feeling very smug, waltzed up to the entrance where we were told to go and join a different queue – yes, they had to look at the reference number on the online booking, manually type it into their computer and print out a paper entry ticket. Then we’re allowed in. (To be fair this queue was a bit shorter, but methinks there is scope for some efficiencies!)
Well worth it.
And on to the final destination – looks promising!
Chiantishire – Out and About
Amazing small hilltop towns which it is easy to get blasé about, and at the same time never tire of.
San Leonino then Radda, then Panzano.
One problem with some very small towns is that they are so small there is nowhere to eat or even get a coffee. One solution is the most amazing hamburger van (sorry veggies) – best ever said Eileen which was probably true.
And a decent view.
Saturday – San Gimignano
That’s Lucca done and we’re on the move to Chiantishire.
stopping off in San Gimignano on the way. First we had to contend with a small(ish) thunderstorm on the way. Nothing like the storm Italy had further south around Ancona (400mm in a few hours) but enough even for crazy Italians to drive a bit more safely (only a bit!).
And guess what – San Gimignano hasn’t changed much/at all in the 20 years since we were last here.
With a super lunch
and dessert
