 One of the many castings of a Pompeii eruption victim.  Rough cobbles, high curbs and three crosswalk stones. Today we got out early to see Pompeii... or so we thought. The plan was to park at the rear Porto Anfiteatro entrance early (a rear entrance), before the tour buses dump their hoards at the main entrance. We would walk quickly to the main entrance (Porta Marina) and then work our way toward Anfiteatro before being swamped by the masses at our backs. Well, that didn't work. (Thanks a lot, Rick Steves, for the lame suggestion). The walk up hill was very rough and we kept being distracted by seeing all the fantastic sights. The ancient cobbles and high curbs were difficult to navigate--not quickly, anyway. Plus we weren't early enough... the hoards of cruise ship tourists, texting Swedish schoolgirls and pushy Chinese nouveau riche swarmed the place. The going was very tough. I've read about the cobbles in Pompeii, but my Lord are they rough on your feet. They are eroded at the edges so badly that I felt like I was hopping stones across a stream. Some are high, some low. They are also rutted by chariot wheels... fascinating to ponder but hard on your ankles. Steps are a foot or more high... tough on knees. Some curbs are even higher. The ancient sidewalks are very eroded and uneven. Combine this with stones jutting out of the soil and tripping you. Lucas almost tripped once on a rock jutting up... I almost tripped three times. There is rock dust over everything so the rocks are hard to see. There are groups of three stones crossing the streets in places. These were used to cross the street and not get your feet wet--there would be water flowing through the streets for waste removal. The history is amazing though. My favorite was the baths. Ancient pipes, hollow heated floors, walls and ceilings in the Caldorium. The baths also had lots of intact frescos and bas reliefs. Lucas was fascinated by the plaster casts of the people buried under ash. There was even a dog writhing on his back... frozen in time at the moment the hot ash took his life. I also loved the street-side shops with marble bar tops with amphorae built into the counters. You could picture customers coming up and buying beer, wine and snacks. The wells all over the site are beautiful... each has the water coming out of the mouth of masks... and the water is potable. We filled our thermos 4 times and Lucas and I wet our caps. It was pretty hot today.  Fountains of Pompeii... Refreshing.  Lucas doing the photographer thing at Pompeii. That's my boy! They also had a gated shed will thousands of artifacts from the city... mostly amphorae, but also columns, fountains and other treasures. They should really spend the money on a museum at Pompeii. Most of the artifacts and statues are in the Naples National Archaeological Museum--a city I'd never return to. Here's a link to some photos of what they removed from Pompeii. Afterwards we took a ride toward Sorrento. We found it to be overly chic, with stylish designer shops galore... not our thing. Plus, we must have driven around the town three times trying to get to the main street. The one way streets really lock you in to making turns you don't want to take. So we headed up the twisty roads toward Masse Lubrense, a massive mountain area above Sorrento dotted with workaday village and views. We bought pastries for tomorrow's breakfast and headed down the pass toward the Amalfi Coast again. We got to one point where you could see both sides of Sorrento Peninsula at the same time. Gulf of Naples and Vesuvius on one side, the Tyrrhenian Sea on the other. I couldn't believe the views. As we drove down the coast road again--the western area we hadn't been on before--I was struck by how much more natural the environment was. Huge light colored cliffs... caves... rugged pinnacles of stone jutting up from the sea and the mountainsides. And more curvy roads and insanely dangerous drivers--the locals pass you on inside curves, outside curves, when oncoming cars are approaching, in curved tunnels, they'll pass you while another car is passing, even when people are walking on the narrow side of the road, or when a huge bus is coming round the bend! And if you drive carefully around the hair-pin turns yourself, they'll ride your butt a couple of feet from your rear bumper--and then pass you! I was so tired when we got back. I'm proud to say that I drove these amazing roads and the amazing landscape and the villages clinging for dear life from the cliffs above the sea... but I'll be happy to leave Amalfi tomorrow... Once in life is enough. --Jerry F. Don't forget to SHARE this post with your friends, and let us know what you think by leaving a COMMENT. Gratzie!  Driving back down to the Amalfi Coast road from Masse Lubrense.
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 Taking a day trip from our Amalfi Coast apartment, we headed out toward Pompeii... over the mountains and a short autostrada drive away. I've read about all sorts of scams in Italy, many done by gypsies. This one was unexpected... a real shocker: On the way to Pompeii, I was about to pull into the toll booth of the Autostrada, I noticed a young woman standing, texting, leaning with her back to the toll machine... and the car in front of us almost brushing her pregnant looking belly with their side mirror. Huh? At first I thought she was ticket taker outside her booth, then it dawned on me. She a gypsy trying to scam people! The way she was leaning and pushing her belly into the car's side mirror, she was forcing drivers to pull out too far from the machine to put money into. Then she takes the money out of your hand to "help", gets the change for you, and pockets some. You have to remember here that when you get change the coins could be 1 or 2 euro pieces... that's $1.27 - $2.60 each coin she pockets. I imagine if you try to put a really big bill in she'd just grab the cash and run over to the lanes in the opposite direction. I guarantee the belly is phony. It looked very squishy when the car mirror pushed into it--like foam. So, when she tried this with me I growled my very best "Va via!" ("hit the road!") and she shrunk away from my car. I opened my door so I could reach the toll machine and sped off when the toll gate lifted. Imagine this happening at any U.S. highway tollbooth (Again, don't Italians need jobs? How about toll keepers or guards?) I can't stand these human leaches. By the way, I should mention that while I did carry my wallet in my front pants pocket, I did opt to use a flatter money clip wallet to carry just essentials for each day: our main "points" credit card (with no transfer fees), our dedicated ATM card (we opened an account just for this trip with limited funds in it) and daily cash. I had one of those money belt pouches with me, but never really used it. Instead, I bought a leg wallet from Amazon and used it all the time. The leg wallet was able to carry all of our backup cards (though Lisa kept one in her PacSafe mule bag as another backup) along with all our extra cash. There were only a few days I didn't wear it---when it was too hot for pants and I wore shorts. We were lucky in Italy. We never got robbed but caught a few trying at times. The best advice I can give is learn the simple expression, "Va Via!" Don't just say it... growl it or yell it. Make noise. There are gypsies dressed as makeshift nuns around the Vatican holding cups for handouts. You can tell their habits aren't correct. In general, do NOT give handouts! These beggars might have a partner who just saw where you keep your money. Charity remains at home--when you travel. There are other gypsies that toss babies to you to catch (just dolls) and while you are distracted, their kids snatch your purse, camera, etc. There are people at train stations that try to "help" with luggage or with those ticket machines... just don't let anyone help you. Oh, and don't be suckered into taking pictures of or with those fake gladiators outside the Colosseum. They will strong arm you into paying huge fees just to take a picture of them. They are pretty aggressive. Now that I think of it, that guy who was crowding us in the Colosseum gift shop was more than likely trying to pick our pockets. Toll booth gypsies. Who knew? You see, there are many types of scammers and many ways to pick our pockets without actually putting a hand in there... --Jerry Finzi Don't forget to SHARE this post with your friends, and let us know what you think by leaving a COMMENT. Gratzie!  This guy is going to be hit up for paying 20-30 Euro for having his friend take a picture of him while he poses with the gladiator scammers.  Vitruvian Boy with Vitruvian Man.  We promised his school he'd get some education here in Italy--Checking out DaVinci's inventions. This was one very full day. (I'm writing this a day late). We were supposed to go ballooning this morning but it was canceled--too windy. We instead went to Vinci, above Florence... the birth place of Leonardo da Vinci. We enjoyed hilltop views along with models of Leonardo's inventions: a life size replica of his human powered flying machine, various military weapons, tanks and bridges, hydrometer, cranes, a bicycle and even his design for a wind up car. A high point for me (besides actually being up on a very high point) was the ringing of the huge bells in the church tower during Sunday mass. I shot a video of them but recorded it at double speed without sound (duh). Those bells looked like they would shake the tower apart as they swung in and out of the tower.. no, wait. Leonardo invented a device that neutralized the swing effect of these bells. We saw it in the museum. Leonardo... what a brain. Imagine him walking onto the set of Shark Tank with one of his inventions... All in all, it was one of the better museum experiences so far. After that a stroll to a tiny piazza for some gelato. Then we headed to our next stop, the Renaissance town of Lucca.  One of Lucca's city gates.  We drove under the arched Porta Elisa and through the fortress walls and found parking right away... but as long as I use my handicapped placard I don't have to pay for parking. Very nice of Italians to do this. Lucca is a beautiful city surrounded by very thick fortress walls. There is even a moat... dry nowadays. A stroll up Via Elisa (I told Lisa I picked this street just for her) revealed a friendly renaissance feel... Juliet and Romeo could have been better off here. Villa after villa, balconies, a huge tree topped tower, secret gardens and very narrow passages gave us opportunities for lots of pics. Lucas loved the mailboxes mortared through the front walls and the giant Nutella bottle in a snack bar. I liked the door knockers. We saw a little pizzeria got some slices and sat on marble church steps snacking and watching all sorts of people walk by... priests, starlet wannabees, nuns in full habits, grubby tight pants regazzo trying to look the part of successful playboys, babies with huge Bug Bunny balloons and dogs of all sorts--fat, underfed, happy, or way to old to be walking. Great people watching in this town. This is a very touristy town, but we definitely enjoyed the relaxed pace. Everyone was in their strolling mode. We finally made it to the Piazza dell' Anfiteatro in the center of town.. an oval piazza built over the top of an ancient amphitheater.... it's still under there. Although pretty because of the curved buildings surrounding the perimeter, the place was tourist-kitchy with tourist menu cafes. We walked the long walk back to the car with my knees and feet complaining the whole way.  The Aqueduct outside of Lucca. After driving out of town I drove to something I knew would impress Lucas and Lisa.... a huge, miles long Roman aqueduct. Heck, I Was impressed. The thing was massive, beautiful and went on for miles. All in all, Lucca is one of my favorite places so far.  The Duomo and Tower.  The view as you enter the arch toward Piazza Miricola. Next we drove through lots of traffic toward Pisa. The traffic was wicked, stop and go... made me wish I had an automatic transmission. Yikes. The first impression was how big a city Pisa is... and how popular a tourist spot it is. The streets surrounding the Piazza Miracola were packed with cars, people and vendors hawking all sorts of tourist junk. We found parking a block away in a city pay lot... luckily the handicap rules made me save 40 Euros! (About 50 bucks... For only an hour and a half.) We were all impressed by the amount of lean... I mean it is a lot! We were also blow away by the Baptistry and Duomo because of the decorative sculptures on their facades. Most entertaining was watching people go into all sorts of contortions with hands, arms, legs and backs while taking the typical "I'm holding up the tower" photos. I even took one of Lucas holding the tower up. Ok, so we hit the road, wanting to head back early because lo and behold, our hot air balloon ride was rescheduled for the next morning--at 7am! Nasty traffic from weekenders driving back from the beaches to their homes around Florence caused us to get back at 10:30pm. We aren't going to get enough sleep and we have to get up at 5 to get to the take-off field in time. I was a bit nervous about arranging to send my little family up thousands of feet in a balloon basket, but the guy I booked is one of the best in the world who has trained many other balloon pilots. next up... up... and away.... --Jerry F.  A disturbing painting of Vesuvius on the wall at Le Cicale.  "We Three" on the terrace at Le Cicale. Yesterday we got out of Naples as fast as we could... the Interstrada got us past Mount Vesuvius (the top was in the clouds) and helped get us to the mountain pass that took us to the Amalfi Coast and La Cicale, our apartment above the Tyrrhenian Sea for the next three days. The roads up were very curvy with more and more switchbacks bringing us to higher altitudes. The rugged mountains and cliffs amazed us. Then the hill villages came... where the real people of Amalfi do their living... and shopping. We took advantage and stopped for bread, pasta, butter, eggs and various supplies. The shopkeepers were very sweet, helpful and friendly even considering the language barrier. We got to Cicale and no one was there at first... so we called. Then Stefania (Lucas calls her "with the hairy armpits") showed up and took a while to show us around. It was odd, she spent too much time showing us each and every room, nook and cranny. She seemed on the nosy side. (We were tired and just wanted to cook a meal, eat and hit the sack.) After about half an hour, I managed to get her to leave us in peace in our new apartment. Cicale is amazing... 2000 feet above the sea, a private balcony on each bedroom and our own terrace overlooking the sea. The views are breathtaking. You look our over the glistening Tyrrhenian and barely see the horizon blending into the sky. There is a view down into our cut in the mountains into the Furore Fiord and the amazing bridge that travels over it. The Fiord is a jagged cut out of the mountain that has a little sandy beach under the bridge. There is a fully equipped kitchen (with oven), bath and shower, two big bedrooms and tons of decorative Amalfi tile (they're known for ceramics and lemons here). Two large shuttered patio doors lead our onto our private terrace. A great place to eat and watch the sea. Each bedroom has double doors that lead out onto private Juliet balconies. However, as usual, there is spotty Internet, spotty water heater, no ice cube trays and no air conditioning here... although sleeping should be cool with the shutters and sea breezes. I'd hate to stay here in summer, though. Unlike our last place, Cicale came with a nice assortment of coffee, tea jams, breads and basic kitchen spices. And we went shopping before we got here so we are ready to cook! Night time fell and so did we... The next morning I awoke to a glistening sea sunrise, the smell of more olive prunings being burned, an old neighbor on the terraced house below us coming out and picking tomatoes, the beep beep of cars going around the downhill curve we are on, wall climbing lizards and flowering bougainvillea. We had jam, honey, nutella, sweet bread and cornettos for collatzione and headed out into paradise--at least it LOOKS like paradise... Lisa was beside herself with each curve and near miss I maneuvered. Most roads are at the edge of cliffs 500-2000 feet high above the sea, with either a low stone wall or a weak looking metal fence between us and going airborne. Sure, I have an automatic, which helps, but it's a very wide car for these roads. There are times when oncoming cars force you so far over to the wall or cliff face that my parking collision sensor alarms trip off. By the way, even though it seems like the Italians are driving at breakneck speeds, it's really slow going on the Amalfi Coast. Even though the entire Coast Road from the Masse Lubrense mountain to Salerno is only about 30 miles, it could easily take you 3 hours to travel the whole thing (more in the stagnant summer traffic). This is what makes these crazy, speeding, careless Italian drivers even more ridiculous. Even though their mindset is as if they are in the Mille Miglia or Grand Prix, their average speed on the Coast Road is about 10 miles an hour. Speed like crazy 'til you hug the next car's rear bumper... then wait a minute or three until... yes... pass him on the next curve! Bravo! Ok... now the next rear bumper... While the driving is the hell in this paradise, the views are astounding. I just can't look for too long while I'm driving. Still, this place is one of the most beautiful I've ever been to. The architecture, the tiled domes on the churches, the rugged cliffs above, the terraced olive and lemon groves, the rocky shoreline and sea below and the castle towers on just about every promontory. In places it's like I've walked right into a Maxfield Parrish painting. The driving. Well, the driving is hell. I love driving curvy roads, but it's not so much the roads as dealing with the drivers here. First of all, I am SO glad I have an automatic for Amalfi driving. One less thing to think about while maneuvering on roads barely wide enough for a Fiat 500, no less huge buses. Our Volvo SUV is way to wide for comfort here. I wish I had gotten a Fiat 500L like I had originally reserved. Most roads have dangerous curves and drastic changes in altitude via switchbacks... on one road alone I counted six hairpin switchbacks bringing up over a thousand feet. Some of the hairpin turns are so sharp that the turning circle of the Volvo can barely make it across both lanes. And the drivers... they are crazy! Pazzo! The locals go speeding around blind curves, crossing over lines (if there are any lines), hugging your rear and passing where there isn't space to pass--and on curves, too! The motorcyclists and scooters are even worse. They ride right down the middle as it it's another invisible lane. People are in the habit of beeping several times when going around blind curves. There are also convex mirrors on lots of turns but they don't help much. And then there are the tourist buses. I read once that these buses are narrow--specially built for narrow Italian roads like the Coast Drive. Nonsense. These are huge. Some are like those monster buses you see taking rock groups on tours in the States. I also read that--for safety--they only went one direction on the Coast Road. Again.. nonsense. I've seen them going both ways, so it's possible you have a bus tailgating you while another is trying to come in the opposite direction taking up more than one lane. I've even seen tandem trailers on the Amalfi Coast Road. How they get through the very tight one lane villages is beyond me. Lisa was beside herself with each curve and near miss I maneuvered. Most roads are at the edge of cliffs 500-2000 feet high above the sea, with either a low stone wall or a weak looking metal fence between us and going airborne. Sure, I have an automatic, which helps, but it's a very wide car for these roads. There are times when oncoming cars force you so far over to the wall or cliff face that my parking collision sensor alarms trip off. By the way, even though it seems like the Italians are driving at breakneck speeds, it's really slow going on the Amalfi Coast. Even though the entire Coast Road from the Masse Lubrense mountain to Salerno is only about 30 miles, it could easily take you 3 hours to travel the whole thing (more in the stagnant summer traffic). This is what makes these crazy, speeding, careless Italian drivers even more ridiculous. Even though their mindset is as if they are in the Mille Miglia or Grand Prix, their average speed on the Coast Road is about 10 miles an hour. Speed like crazy 'til you hug the next car's rear bumper... then wait a minute or three until... yes... pass him on the next curve! Bravo! Ok... now the next rear bumper... While the driving is the hell in this paradise, the views are astounding. I just can't look for too long while I'm driving. Still, this place is one of the most beautiful I've ever been to. The architecture, the tiled domes on the churches, the rugged cliffs above, the terraced olive and lemon groves, the rocky shoreline and sea below and the castle towers on just about every promontory. In places it's like I've walked right into a Maxfield Parrish painting. One of the craziest drives was the one heading up to Ravello, a very artsy and musically important town clinging to the cliffs high above the sea. We strolled through Rufulo Gardens for its beautiful gardens, architecture and amazing views. The views from the terraced garden walls were unbelievable... like we were up on top of the beanstalk in the Giant's cloud looking down. We then had a simple lunch on the Piazza listening to street musicians singing old fashioned songs like Volare, but still lots of fun. We then drove to a treat for Lucas--Vietri sul Mare, a town know for ceramics and tiles. (Lucas has taken several pottery classes.) We first visited the Solimene Ceremica factory. The building itself is a work of art looking like a modern interpretation of a castle covered with tile. It was designed and built by built in 1954 but looks like it was designed and built this year, aside from its deferred maintenance. The place was full of pottery workers... few customers. It's not exactly a retail space, although you can walk right in. We saw all sorts of pottery and tiles... masks, fish, mermaids, monsters and of course bowls and other vessels. We wandered around and went to each worker to watch them work... one even let Lucas try his hand at putting a handle on a cup. Lucas was impressed with their bowl molding machine and how fast the artisans painted each plate with brightly colored glaze. One worker was making glaze in a huge vat, which made the 5 gallon buckets of glaze in Lucas' pottery class seem tiny. We tried to catch a girl's attention in the office to ask about buying something, but she ignored us. There were no prices on anything, although all sorts of things were strewn all around the place. It was impossible to buy things here. (A note from December, 2014: I finally bought Lisa some Solimene pasta bowls from an importer for Christmas at ridiculous prices... and she loves them). Next we walked on a nearby street where every other shop is selling ceramics... most were artisan shops. Every shop facade was a one of a kind work of art in tile. We bought some things from one shop (a chicken pitcher and some mini bowls for Lucas' classmates) and started to head back to Le Cicale for another home cooked meal. Of course, the ride home was tense... 15 minutes of traffic before we could even turn around to go back in the opposite direction on the Coast Road. This time I was graceful as a dancer around each curve... like a boxer bobbing and weaving to avoid the oncoming idiots. We made it back safely, thank God.
Dinner tonight was gnocchi with tomatoes, provolone, speck (smoked prosciutto), wine and bruschetta... all bought for about 10 bucks at little alimentari in Vietri sul Mare--including 3 euro for the nice bottle of Montepulciano wine. Buona notte, tutti... --Jerry Finzi P.S. If you like what you've read, please LIKE us on Facebook and SHARE us with your friends who might also be interested. Gratzie!  Stefano and Roberto heating up the balloon envelope.  Stefano firing up the balloon. Well, we did it! My Kindle's bell alarm got us up at 5am and we got ready as quick as possible to get on the road. We were actually a little early for our flight so the balloon crew hadn't arrived yet. A phone call and a few minutes later, Gianna pulled up to the side of us in her BallooninTuscany.com shrink-wrapped Range Rover. A handsome, outdoorsy smile greeted us and said to jump in her car for the drive to the launch site. A tumbling roller coaster of a ride through the woods and we spilled out into their hidden field. It's there we met Gianna's husband, Stefano, the burly, smiling maestro of ballooning, having just arrived with his balloon trailer in tow. He made us feel confident right off... his cigarette and smile seemed to go with each other. His generous frame spoke of loving life and pasta. He spoke English charmingly well, having had lived in New York City back in the early Eighties. In another age you could picture him as the aging flying ace putting all the younger pilots though their paces. In fact, he has trained most of the current crop of competing balloonists. Stefano, Gianna and a young assistant pilot, Roberto, set up the balloon methodically... first the basket, then pull and stretch the balloon along the ground, straighten out the lines and cables, then the burners, fire them up, inflate. The first test blast of the burners spooked all of us. The thing sounds like a jet. The whole process took about 25 minutes. We then climbed aboard--Lisa did a great job getting her aching knee on board, Lucas climbed right over, and Babbo climbed up and slid in. Before we knew what was happening, Stefano had us up and away within seconds. In a minute we had already risen higher than any trees and were enjoying a misty Tuscan sunrise. I can't describe the peacefulness of it... the gentlest motion you can imagine... the occasional sound of dog barking or a hunter's shots far below.... the far off layers of high mountains north of Tuscany... the Towers of San Gimignano off in the distance... the textures and geometry of vineyards and olive groves... the hovering and drifting wisps of smoke as farmers all around were burning their olive tree prunings. You could smell the smoke even from up high. Looking down on villas and peasant farmhouses alike. After about 1-1/2 hours, Stefano proved his skills by not only putting the balloon down in exactly the field he wanted, but by actually landing the basket right behind the balloon's trailer (so Lisa could climb out easier right onto the trailer's bed!)
The other reason I chose Stefano and Gianna as our balloon hosts was because, unlike the folding tables in the landing field with cheap wine, cheese and fruit, we were driven back to their 600 year old country home for a brunch with a quality Prosecco. Sausage, proscuitto, cheese, fruit, amazing thick millifiori honey (tasted like jam), a Tuscan raisin bread, rustic bread, foccacia, orange juice, and more.. All this, plus great conversation (Stefano is a bit of a philosopher), 4 little dogs for Lucas to play with, and a tour back in time--of their house... with the most amazingly authentic Tuscan kitchen! Overall, one of the best experiences of my life... we went to over 2600 feet high. Lucas and Lisa feel the same. Thank you Gianna and Stefano! --Jerry Finzi P.S. If you like what you've read, please LIKE us on Facebook and SHARE us with your friends who might also be interested. Gratzie!  Castel d'Orcia, a castle on the rock in southern Tuscany. Castel d'Orcia had lots of switchback curves to conquer, but I made it. Again, the wide vistas were breathtaking, at every hairpin turn a new elevation and new views. This "Rocca" (castle on top of a high point) set on a high precipice was amazing. There is a fortress on one mountaintop and a tower on its close neighbor. It looked like something out of King Arthur or the Lord of the Rings. When we got to the top there was a very naturalized looking area with parking a cafe and walking paths. The little cafe gave us great views, ice cream pops, sodas and almost-internet. We took a walk along the brick path along the edge of the cliff--pretty scary at times with poorly maintained shaky wooden handrails and uneven brick path. There were spots that had slid away entirely so we decided not to go further. Next, a drive to some real Roman baths... Jerry F.  A view of the valley below, photo by Lucas Finzi.
 The alarm went off on the Tom-Tom to alerted us of speed cameras as we entered the town limits. Good boy, Tommy. A road hog on my butt made me pull down a side street just to get rid of the nut. Mind you, this was IN the speed zone! This village had a large car park in front of the long wall along the side of town. Medieval walls and arched ports led us to a cute stroll through time back to the Renaissance and dinner at a cute family style trattoria... A nice old lady who was sweet to Lucas and patient with my spotty Italian led to gnocchi bolognese and tagliatelle. Molto buono. We had some antipasti too. Lucas' insistence that we head home meant no dolci (dessert) for us... home and sleep came in no time.... after a ride in the dark through the gravel backroads and headlights coming upon hundred of sleepy sheep and two pissed off sheep dogs! Next agriturismo... --Jerry F.   The baths and Rocca d'Orcia beyond. Visiting Bagno Vignoni was an incredible look back into history. Picture a huge shallow swimming pool built around a bubbling hot spring. Beautiful roman architecture all around... like a bubbling, watery piazza. I thought this was on flat land, but there were amazing view from our car park.... yet again. So many hilltowns! (Will we actually get tired of this the way I got tired of castle after castle years ago in the Loire valley in France?) We walked around a bit, took photos, pondered Romans taking communal baths here--and some Popes too, we had read about--and then we were hungry for dinner... There were some nice restaurants surrounding the baths, but in typical "we don't need your business" style, dinner wasn't served until 7:30! It was around six. So, they close for at few hours at lunch (so THEY can go home and have THEIR lunch and snuggle with the wife) and they close during the time most tourists want to eat. As my Dad used to say... they are real Lu-Lus! So, onward to find dinner. Lucas wanted us to go "home" and cook but we'd have to shop first--a difficult thing to do when not all hilltowns have supermarkets or an amilentari that happens to be open when you need something. So we programmed a "walled town" (Buonconvento) I had already entered in my handy Tom-Tom and hunted for dinner. Within a half hour or so we pulled into Buonconvento, appetites ready to go... --Jerry F.  Lucas and Lisa above Florence. Today we got up early and ate breakfast at the agriturismo's little cafe. A flat egg fritatta, some pastries including chocolate cornettos (picture a crunchy croissant), cioccolatta caldo (hot chocolate) for Lucas, cappuccino for Mom and blood orange juice for Babbo. The plan was to go early to Fiesole, a beautiful hillltop village that over looks Florence. On the way trough Florence we found ourselves at Piazzelle Michaelangelo, a broad piazza with parking and a replica of the David. I planned heading up there anyway, so we stopped for our first look at Firenze. As I pull toward a spot, this shifty looking guy starts directing me toward the parking spot. I had read about guys like this in both Rome and Florence. They act as if they are a parking attendant and shake you down for helping. Some will even ask for cash payment for parking. As I got out, sure enough he confronts me jingling some loose Euro coins in his hand, looking for a tip. I asked him where the ticket machine was (usually there is a kiosk to get your parking ticked for your dashboard.) He said the parking was free but still outstretched hand looking for a payout. I told him he was crazy and gave a stern look and he magically disappeared. Lucas was the one who first noticed the sign saying that parking was indeed free. So, the city gives tourists this one and only lot to enjoy a great view overlooking Florence and the low-lifes come out of the woodwork to scam us. Anyway, we took our first pics of the broad view of the River Arno and the huge terracotta Duomo dome... pretty breathtaking. The piazza is also home to many kitchy caravan vendors selling their useless nonsense to tourists. We then drove up toward Fiesole after a ride through insane Florentine traffic. When we got to the very narrow one lane curvy road heading up to Fiesole's heights, we were met head-on with car after car racing down around every bend! Parts were so narrow I was forced to back up until it was barely wide enough for the oncoming car to squeeze past us... literally with inches between us and the wall on one side and our cars on the other. Now I know why Italians are in the habit of parking or even driving with their mirrors pulled in! After one guy passing shouted something to me I realized their is some sort of odd pecking order on who has to back up and who gets to stand his ground. God! (Note the photo below... the arrows show who has the right of way). In hindsight, Tommy took us us the wrong road. It turned out there was a much wider road going up to Fiesole that would have been a lot easier on my blood pressure.  Via Vecchia Fiesolana: The "old" road up to Fiesole. Note the arrows showing it's two way status, with the red arrow saying that the downhill traffic has the right of way. Who knew? (Photo from Google Earth)  Handicapped parking 1/2 block off the main Fiesole piazza. We made it up to the town but first had to park the car in a handicapped spot... I have my U.S. handicapped tag with me which is recognized by European countries by international treaty. Lisa was nervous about this working so (sigh) I reluctantly changed to another pay spot on the same block. After asking a policia if my handicapped placard was OK, I went back to the hilly spot where I was wedged between two cars on a street so narrow the mirror had to be tucked in... and waited and waited for no cars on the street so I could handbrake and first gear out of the spot and immediately put it in reverse to get back into the handicapped spot that I was parked in originally! Applause and respect from Lucas and Lisa on my stick-shifting prowess and we were finally off to see the Roman and Etruscan ruins on the side of town... Roman baths, temples, alters and a huge amphitheater. Afterwards we had lunch in a ten seat little trattoria... beef stew for me, pumpkin soup for Lisa and saffron risotto for Lucas. He got in a little trouble by saying it was better than Dad's risotto. This was the best meal so far in Italy. Then we trekked up a very steep hill that challenges my poor knees to see the promenade overlooking Florence. We were all so winded and hot from the effort that the view was anti-climatic. The villas and gardens up in this section were obviously for the wealthiest citizens of town. Amazing. A big change to our plans after a family meeting: Believe it or not, we decided not to go into Florence afterwards. Here's the reasons... We heard from a family at lunch that Florence was elbow to elbow thick with tourists; the lines for seeing Michaelangelo's David were an hour or more long (we weren't able to book tickets ahead); parking and bus to the historic center was going to be a real hassle; we didn't want to torture Lucas with long lines, heat (it's been pretty warm here) and hours stuck in museums. Besides, we've been having a great time off the tourist beaten path in the smaller hilltowns. So I don't fulfill a life long dream of seeing David, but my sweet boy will be happier and having fun.... --Jerry F.  The view of San Gimignano from Mormoraia's window. We rested up for a few hours in our new apartment... well needed after today's ordeal of finding the place. After photographing the view from our window as the setting sun changed its look every few minutes, we headed out to San Gimignano for dinner. The ride in is short--only about 8 miles--but pretty hairy with lots of curves and hills. And the Italians like to race around every blind curve crossing over the line (if there is one) or hug my tail as I (Pardon my safe driving) downshift through a downhill hairpin turn. These people (men & women alike) imagine themselves as race drivers in the grand prix. Today we saw an example of what must happen to some of these speed demons... a huge upside down 18 wheeler on the downhill side of a mountain road. It looked as if they just left it there many months ago. We parked in a pay lot under the walled side of the village... there was an elevator up to the citta streets. A slow stroll took us slowly up toward the center... where we found an adequate restaurant with a table next to tall windows framing a wide view of the valley below. As we dined, the lights twinkled in the valley far below us. We then walked up to a grand piazza with half a dozen of the towers on all sides. A great gelataria called out our names. I had mezzo (half) chocolate, mezzo coconut. Lucas had chocolate and orange. Lisa had chocolate caramel. We enjoyed the cool air and gelato. Italians think it's winter... to us it's a refreshing night. We sat on the steps of the gorgeous marble well in the center of the piazza... a guitarist played soft music in front of us. A great night finished this day. Sheep in the darkness and Mom walking though a uscita.
--Lucas F.  Our Mormoraia apartment, second floor above the cafe. Ok, so the morning was fine. Quick breakfast at Cosona apartment, saying good-by to our hostess was interesting... they live in the huge 400 year old villa... we were staying in the old olive pressing building. The villa has a huge courtyard, statues, wellhead, and even a tower. She led us past room after room in this vast place with 16 foot tall ceilings... but overall the look was chic but lots of delayed maintenance. Her "office" amazingly was a teeny phonebooth-size closet. Laptop, phone and credit card machine. Huh? What a waste of what we would call a castle. Then onto Mormoraia (the Whispers) a working agritourismo with their own vineyards, winery, tasting room and pool. We selected this apartment because the rooms have million dollar views of San Gimignano's raised towers and the vineyards. So, I punched in the pre-programmed favorite on Tommy and off we went. More hills, valleys, gorges, bridges, hilltowns and then vineyards galore as got further north Florence province. We got there... but no. The place was deserted. It sort of looked right... pool, view. But, no. This isn't it... no matter how Tommy insisted in his robot voice. We pulled over and checked the emails... the confirmations. We tried texting. I phoned but got an Italian robo-voice telling me that it was not working. We asked a carabiniere for directions... she was wrong. Lisa suggested using the gps to find the last road in the written directions. We found it--a narrow gravel hill that sloped down into a valley. When I saw the ruts in the road ahead I decided to back out... nowhere to turn around... more than a quarter mile. By this point Lucas and Lisa were both melting down and the stress level in the Fiat was thicker than the bolognese I had last night! Babbo (Italian for Daddy) screws up again. Sorry guys. We actually went back to San Gimignano to go through the step by step directions one by one... and finally found it! As it turns out, their lat/long coordinates were off by 1-1/2 kilometers. And when I mentioned this to them later on, they didn't seem to care and were barely apologetic. In typical Italian fashion, the reception office was closed for lunch until 3pm! Great. It was only 2 pm. A stressed Mom and a melted, hot, tired, hungry kid on my hands. I got out the remains of our last fridge's contents from our cooler and slapped together a fool's lunch: two kinds of cheese, sliced tomatoes (happy that I brought my French Laguiole picnic knife in the carry-on), some cookies and bottled orange sparkling water. We sat under this beautiful shady arbor on the grounds and refueled. In short order they were back to normal. We checked in and saw the amazing view out our windows. The wifi stinks, the tv is not working, but is has clean beds, kitchen, a laundry across the courtyard (more on the laundry later). The place is pretty fancy to be honest... tailored--not really our taste but catering more to pseudo wine snobs. In reality, the bottle Lisa bought from Mormoraia (what? No free samples?) was terrible and acidic. Interesting that although they make their own wine and olive oil, we were given no samples... and the kitchen didn't even have any olive oil to cook with. The last place was more rustic... more authentic. This place feels more like a hotel looking to make money at every turn. Anyway, I hope the wifi sticks around long enough to post this... then off to San Gimignano to see the towers close-up and to have dinner.  The main deposit at Bagno San Fillipo. Note the people on the road above in the circle for scale.  Two locals taking in the waters. They said it wasn't as hot as it was a few months ago. As soon as I parked the car along the steep roadside, Lucas said "What's that stink?!" The rotten egg smell helped Lisa guess... natural hot springs. The Bagno San Fillipo have been there for eons... Roman Caesars and popes have bathed in their sulfur hot waters. Since we parked our car right above the first 100 foot tall stalegmite-like snow white formation, the steamy stench made Lucas pull up the neck of his shirt over his suffering nose. It really smelled like rotten eggs. He decided maybe this was a good cover for his farts. I couldn't tell. We hiked down into the gorge and found this formation... and a much larger one beyond--two tiered and stepped. Picture white cream puff mountain steaming. Streaks of colors here and there. We didn't go in ourselves but the water was like a warm bath--some areas are much hotter than others. Many local Italians bathe here for curative effects. All I know is what I read... wear old bathing suits because you will never lose that stink. We talked to an Italian couple who were bathing there and they said it wasn't as hot as a few months ago. There is a proper spa in town that gets the waters piped in directly from these springs. Italy is a volcanic land after all... This was a fantastic off the beaten path sight to see. This country is full of natural wonders. The geology of the place staggers me. Next... same day, a castle tower on mountaintop... --Jerry F.  This larger formation was further downstream.  View of Pienza from our Cosona window.  A beautifully aged and loved religious niche in Pienza. Pienza is a medieval town in southern Tuscany... surrounded by the crete sinese--clay hills. The texture of these hills and valleys is hard to describe. It's big sky country... vistas are wide and far. The clouds come and go ever-changing the light on the hills. One minute this hill is illuminated... the next minute another. Dappled light from passing clouds enhances the undulating hills. The sharp angle of the morning sun enhances the mottled soft texture of the hills. We were staying at Cosona, a small agriturismo about 12 minute drive from town. We had a view of Pienza from our windows. This area is a fantastic, relaxing area yet filled with beautiful views of the Crete Sinese (clay hills). If you drive the back roads (and you should to find surprising things) your car will get dusted with the fine clay. We parked at a convenient pay lot on the side of town... our first time with the Italian parking kiosks. Not too hard. Put in a couple of coins, get receipt, put in on your dashboard, and you are good for couple of hours. (Later Note: I could have parked in any handicapped spot for free). We walked through the village, bought cheese and balsamic from a friendly old cheese monger, then took pictures... lots of them. Lucas and Mom are becoming good photographers. They make me proud. Then it was paninis for lunch with wine and aqua gassata very sparkling water... burp). Amazing ciociolatta and pistashio gelato followed. We had a passagiata (a stroll) and took pics along the stone walkway that runs on the cliff side of town. Thirty mile views of mountains, hilltowns and villas. Pienza immediately became a favorite village that would be hard to beat. Then I drove on to a secret surprise for Lucas and Mom... --Jerry F. 
 Cosona: Our apartment is on the second floor.  We saw this, but no one used it. Airport security is a joke. They X-rayed, but the people they have working at protecting our flights look like they couldn't handle a real emergency. For the most part they are all slow-moving and paying attention more to their looks than the passengers. And after all the hassle of measuring our carry on bags and finding models that fit, I saw a lot of older large bags going on board. I didn't see a single bag being checked for size. The overhead was large enough to hold the older style carry-on sizes. The flight was 8 hours long, uncomfortable and tiring. The seats were tight, but with three of us sitting together we could raise the seat arms for a bit more breathing room. ) When Lucas gets bigger, it'll be much tighter.) Leg room was OK, though it's hard to stretch out. A very tall person must hate these new seat spaces. None of us got any sleep. I tried with my ear plugs and inflatable pillow but the best I had was what I call "hospital sleep". You know, the restless sleep you get when you are in a hospital with lights on and nurses coming in at all hours. Planes are God-awful noisy things, too. I tried getting Lucas comfy enough for sleep, but nothing worked. This kid's going to collapse somewhere tomorrow. We then had to deal long lines and no air conditioning getting through Italian customs and getting our one checked bag (Lisa just had to have more space!) The place was modern yet tired looking at the same time. The workers looked bored and there were few smiles. I was amazed at how hot and stuffy it was.. they either don't have proper air conditioning, have it turned off to save money, or have the thermostats set to around 80. Fiumicino airport is a huge, confusing place. We walked out the customs doors and found our driver, Adele, holding up a card with our name. She spoke broken English... I spoke fractured Italian. We still managed a decent conversation on the way to the rail station. She played obnoxious Italian pop music on the radio--some with pretty inappropriate lyrics (I knew enough Italian curse words to catch this). Her driving was like any big city taxi driver--agressive and confident.   She drove us around the Colosseum before dropping us at Tiburtina station, which turned out to be a lot cleaner and safer than expected. We had to camp out for three hours in a modern cafe waiting for our train to come. We had some decent pastries, drinks, coffee for Lisa and my first Italian soda--Fanta (Which tastes like fresh oranges mixed with seltzer... very different from the chemical tasting Fanta we have in the States.) Lucas finally had a deep 20 minute power nap leaning on the table and on his cushy fleece jacket. Poor sweet boy.  A tired voyager. Because Lisa kept insisting the train coming in was not out train, this confusion almost made us miss it. The conductor helped and assured me it was ours... but we had to race to the first car to get on. Tickets have seat and car numbers on them and you never know if your car number is going to be at the beginning, middle or end of the train. A thumbs up from me once we got aboard and the conductor gave the go-ahead for the train to move. Whew! Close call! We had a first class cabin on this second class train... it was older, but that's what gave it the charm. Squeaky brakes, lights that didn't work, and a toilet that flushed right onto the rushing tracks below! Lots of tunnels on this route. Everything looked Italian! The further toward Tuscany we got, the more beautiful... hills, mountains, vineyards, hilltowns. We napped a bit. Took some bad blurry pictures out the window and enjoyed the fun of a new kind of train travel. I haven't been on European style trains like this since the Seventies.  Ridin' the rails. When we got to Chiusi, we had another couple hours to kill before the Hertz office came back from their 2-1/2 hour lunch! (All Italy does this and they wonder why they can't get ahead.) We had lunch in a little trattoria I had discovered on Google Earth. We ordered some pasta carbonara and tortellini with proscuitto. Lucas face woke up and lit up with his first bite. This was some of the best pasta we ever had... and for six bucks each! Our only complaint: The place didn't have air conditioning and it was hot.
We picked up our little Fiat 500L... they call it "the large" here. Perfect fit for us. This one is a standard shift so Lisa paniced each time my shifting was a little rough or abrupt... hard not to do with Italian drivers cutting us off, tons of curvy mountain roads, havint to take off from dead stops on steep slopes, and the sudden thunder storm we had to drive through. In fact, to get the car, we had to walk several blocks in the pouring rain. More on that Hertz experience in other posts. We made a stop in an Italian chain supermarket--Conad. Lucas will fill you in on that... oddly different. Another half hour or so and we arrived at Cosona, our first agriturismo (a farm B&B). The stone buildings were half a millennium old with high beamed ceilings, tile floors and amazing views. A real dream come true... vistas of hilltowns and rolling hills and mountains for 20 miles. Then... sleep. Lucas fell first, then Lisa... then me, but only after working for over 20 minutes on this blog only to lose the post because of the slow satellite Internet connection. Arrgh! Then sleep came fast after about 18 hours of traveling... Now it's morning, we had our first little jam, bread and fruit breakfast, I did this post (hope it doesn't crash this time) and we are out on our first Tuscan exploration. Miss you already, everyone. --Jerry F. Today's word of the day is...
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