Today was one of those “wow, oh wow, oh my god, oh wow” days !!
After another lovely breakfast in the grand ballroom, we packed up and headed off to the airport to collect our rental car. Florence airport is really pretty small – the departures area is you go in one door – the arrivals area is you go in another. After a short wait at the Hire Car Shuttle pickup point, we were soon at the Europcar desk collecting our car. We have a white Mercedes B180 – a hatchback type shape probably slightly bigger than a Corolla in size – but an automatic will give me one less thing to concentrate on when driving.
I think one of our drivers from one of our hotel pick ups said that the road rules in Italy are more of a “guide” than “rules” and it certainly shows – the centre line on the road for example is really just an indication where the centre of the road is rather than staying on one side or the other ! Anyway, after a quick familiarisation with the car, we were off into the streets of Florence. I am a bit disappointed as I have found I left the bracket for my car video at home so I am going to have to try to rig up some sort of stand for it to film our driving – we tried today but I think when I look at it it will be all over the place as the camera slipped all over the dashboard.
We skirted the edge of Florence onto the Autostrada (toll road) toward our first stop for the day, Sienna, managed to collect the toll ticket from the right booth and pay at the right booth when we exited the Autostrada, then headed toward Sienna. The Tuscan scenery struck us almost immediately – rolling hills covered in vines and olive trees headed by yellow/brown stone buildings or towns – and although it was overcast again today, the views were just magnificent with a new “wow” around every corner.
Colourful laneways of Sienna
As we drove along, we noticed a number of flashy old coupes driving the other way – Mercedes, Jaguars etc and soon realised it was some sort of Targa rally. Our drive here between Florence and Siena was along what is called the “Chianti Road” – SR222 and I think if we were trying to do it tomorrow or Sunday we wouldn’t have been able to. As we got to one section – probably a 10 or 20km stretch – we could see that it had been setup as a race stretch. There were hay bales on certain corners, all the street signs had padded tyres strapped to them, there were sponsor signs put up at various corners etc and eventually we reached a winery where it appeared the starting line and pits had been set up.
Montefioralle
Along the way were stopped at a little hillside town called Montefioralle. It was just picturesque and sooo quiet ! Strolling the little streets it was like everyone had gone away and all the houses were closed ! This town is famous as the town where Amerigo Vespucci lived. He was an explorer and the story goes that America is named after him. His little house has the family “V” above the door with a little bee, the family symbol.
We arrived in Siena about noon and Adrienne had her plans in hand to navigate to the parking station we needed to visit the Duomo. Well our GPS had its own plans ! We headed past a tiny street the GPS wanted us to turn into so we went on to the next roundabout and headed back. At the street again we turned into this narrow lane and drove along with the GPS telling us to take the next right. We duly followed instruction into an even smaller lane and about 200m along realised the only place this was taking us was the carpark of an apartment building. There was another car sitting slightly off the road in a driveway and as I did a swift reverse to head back to the main road, I realised they were checking out their GPS as well !!
Back on the main road, Adrienne took matters into her own hands – or her Ipad and Google Maps to be correct – and it wasn’t long before we were at our parking station. This particular parking spot was important as it was right near an escalator that took you up the steep slopes to the town centre. At the top we made our way to the Duomo – a spectacular church of marble which sets itself apart from many by the striped effect of alternate layers of green and white marble – especially inside. The church is very large but there is a section which was never finished as the effect of the plague at the time and no money meant it was never finished. If it had been, it would have been the largest church in Europe.
The stunning Duomo – inside….
After the Duomo we headed down to the town square – The Campo – which is famous for the twice yearly horse race around the square, once in July and once in August – The Palio. The different suburbs or areas or fans prepare and enter a horse for the race and it is a huge honour for the area if their horse wins. Our driver yesterday told us of having driven people here who have to stand in the middle of the square for 5 or 6 hours before the race starts – sometimes in 40 degree heat – for the race at 6 or 7pm which is then all over in 3 minutes or so – I suppose that’s a bit like the Melbourne Cup isn’t it !
But today the square was just full or tourists sitting or lying and taking in the view. We bought paninis and drinks for lunch and sat and joined them. We walked back down the hill to the car through small lanes all decorated with beautiful flags and street lights which seemed to represent these areas.
…… and outside
We left and headed to a tiny walled town called Monteriggioni. It was just stunning – perched on a hill with its surrounding stone walls and the whole town about as big as the Sydney Cricket Ground ! All the buildings are yellow/brown stone, with bright flowers hanging from window boxes and the main square now has 2 or 3 restaurants in it. There is even a Hotel ! We paid our 2 Euro to walk around the walkways that had been reconstructed at either end of town and take in the view of the gorgeous surrounding countryside and the town from above.
Hotel Pescile
Then it was on to our hotel, just outside San Gimignano, called Hotel Pescile, which has a view back to the towers of the town. San Gimignano is often called the “Manhatten of Tuscany” because of its towers. There are only 15 left today but at one stage there were 72 on the skyline.
San Gimignano
The views back to the town are spectacular ! It is overcast with very occasional splashes of sun but the haziness of the hillsides seems to add to the scene in many ways. As I write this I keeping looking out the window at the view and have to get up and take another photo !
We arrived about 4pm and have just been looking around the hotel and catching up on some chores. I have just booked dinner in town at Ristorante Le Vecchie Mura which has been recommended by the owners here. They only provide dinner here in the summer months. The hotel is an old farmhouse – very simple rooms but a lovely garden and buildings. They also appear to make their own wines still so we might have to try the local drop !
Tomorrow we just tour around the area but if today was any indication it will be another stunning day !