Category: Italy

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 …

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!

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.

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

Really finding our way around which is comforting. The Guinigi Tower – can’t find out why someone thought it was a good idea to plant trees on the top, although apparently it was once the kitchen garden.

And when you see it, there’s only one thing to do. (Got the reduced entrance for OAPs!). Well worth it.

And the obligatory lunch in a beautiful setting.

And final evening before we move on.

The forecast today was stormy and heavy showers, although still hot. So the mountains seemed like a good idea.

Castellnuovo was praised in the guide book but not really looking at its best.

Barga, however, was great.

Including a late lunch – bit of a crisis as his electricity had gone off in the storm, so cold food (excellent), cash payment and use your phone torch in the loo.

And some views from behind where we’re staying.

Normal service resumes. On the recommendation of Giovanna had a fantastic dinner at an Osteria in the middle of nowhere – so much so that we couldn’t believe anything was there until we eventually found it. And the macaroni with pesto and mint (amongst other stuff) was fabulous.

And then to the business of Lucca. It’s always confusing to a)find a place, park etc. and b) get your bearings and find your way around. Lucca is nicely confusing as it has no central centre (as it were).

Coffee by what we thought was the cathedral (it isn’t).

This is.

See a tower and you have to climb it (233 steps if you’re interested). And worth it.

That really is a tower with trees on top – save that one till Friday.

And to show our confidence back to the house for a rest, then back to Lucca for another fabulous recommendation from Giovanna, all without a satnav. And it really is pretty warm, but watch out for the storm clouds.

So we’ve been in Tuscany for 4 days, but total lack of WiFi and 4G means no blog. Haven’t had a single complaint which is a bit sad. And added to a week of no WiFi at home (thanks, BT, for your useless service) it’s been tough!

Anyway, as always, let’s start with car hire which is invariably the fun bit. Worked fine, except they gave us a car which also runs on LNG. That’s fine except you can’t get LNG.

That means the petrol tank is about 2 gallons.

But we fell for the petrol station trick. They show the price which is fine (well it isn’t but it’s less than home) and a nice man fills it up for you. Then he shows you the very less prominent price of 40c per litre more if he does it for you. Fortunately 7 litres to fill the tank meant a lesser scam on us. But fun – welcome to Italy 🇮🇹.

Usual practice when returning a hire car is to fill it with fuel

Airports have many fuel stations nearby

Perugia doesn’t

So you travel a few miles to find all fuel pumps are self service

And only take cash, not cards

But you don’t know how much you need

So you either overspend or pay the surcharge for returning it half full

Response from hire company – yeah, we know!

Happy holidays