Toscana, Italy September 10-21, 2018
Tuscany
We acquired some wheels and have just spent the most amazing week and a half in Tuscany. I have wanted to come and spend some time here since my first visit to Italy. We definately lucked out and found the perfect AirBNB...
We made our way to the town of Sillicagnana, a very small medieval town in the Tuscan hills. We also managed to christen the rental car with a nice sideswipe of the town wall. Thankfully all of the stress of our travel day was washed away the moment we walked into our home for the next week and a half.
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| Our small village of Sillicagnana, taken on a hike. |
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| View from our bedroom window |
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| One of the views from our sitting room |
We got into our own little routine that consisted mainly of having coffee in our sitting room, then taking the boys for a walk down to the café for a proper cappuccino. As usual we attracted many nonas and nonos. The kids have also gotten really good at navigating cobblestone streets and inclines....possibly better than their mother.
From our quaint little village we managed to get a fair amount of ground covered with some day trips.
Borgo a Mozzano
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| The Ponte |
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| Happy family on the Ponte |
We took a road trip to see a bridge. Not just any bridge, the Ponte della Maddalena (or the Ponte del diavolo). This was a bridge built on the early medieval roads to Rome and an important pilgrimage route. It was commissioned in the 11th century and has undergone numerous restorations over the years. Today it is a pedestrian only bridge. After leaving the bridge we set out to explore the nearby town of Bagni di Lucca, known for thermal baths and spas. Unfortunately we managed to get lost in the mountains for about an hour, but did manage to find our way back to exactly where we started, only a little car sick.
Lucca
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| Luke in one of his happy places |
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| Piazza Dell'Anfiteatro |
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| Cattedrale di San Martino |
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| Ze Bubbles!!! |
One of it's iconic sights is a circular piazza by the name of Piazza Dell'Anfiteatro. The ring of buildings surrounding the square, follows the shape of the former second century Roman amphitheatre of Lucca. We also found a bubble "artist", which amused the kids for a good portion of time. We had a lovely pizza dinner and headed home.
In the process we managed to lose Carl, our travelling alligator friend and a sippy cup Van chucked out of the window of our car.
Lago de Vagli / Vagli Sotto
The lake of Vagli was created in 1953 after the construction of a dam. The lake actually houses a depopulated village, the Fabbriche di Careggine, which becomes reachable when the basin is emptied for maintenance. The population was transferred in new residences built in the nearby village of Vagli Sotto. We were hoping to get a glimpse of the submerged city, unfortunately the lake was full.
We decided instead to head up to the relocated town in Vagli Sotto. It is a cute stone town with lots of inclines. After wandering around and playing with the camera a bit, we called it a day. We later met a few footballers at our bar who explained to us over beers that this town actually has it's own Italian dialect, which no Italian understands.
The lake would be an interesting place to dive, although they don't offer any excursions.
Pisa
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| View of the Arno and central Pisa |
Pisa is so much more than the tower. I can't help but think of how many people come here, park or are dropped off at the tower, take their snapshot and leave. We witnessed it. The actual town of Pisa is beautiful! The heart of the city straddles the Arno with colorful architecture. The side streets are narrow and bustling with cafes and eateries. We sat down and had lunch at Osteria Anita, which was heavy on seafood dishes. I enjoyed my first meal out that wasn't pizza.
After lunch we followed Isabel to the tattoo convention she was in search of and took the boys to a nearby park to burn off some energy.
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| Cacciucco (Tuscan seafood stew) |
Of course before setting out to discover the city, we did the tourist thing and took some shots with the infamous leaning tower. The most annoying part about it is that unless you are paying to take a tour of the grounds / buildings, there is little to no information available on site in regards to the tower or cathedral.
Barga
Barga is a picturesque medieval town that is rich in scenery and history. It has changed hands a number of times and played a major role in many wars. The Duomo di Barga sits at the very top of the city and offers breathtaking panoramic views of the mountain and valley. If I ever return to Tuscany, I would highly consider staying here. There's a little more going on, but it still retains the feel of a small mountain village.
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| So many stairs |
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| Well worth it for the views |
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| Doors to the Duomo |
Cinque Terre
This day started off on the wrong foot. We expected the boys to have a car ride nap on our way to La Spezia where we planned to catch the train into Cinque Terre. They didn't sleep a wink. We then ended up at the wrong train station. Once we found the right one, parking was damn near impossible to find. Eventually we got lucky and found a parking spot within about a 10min walk of the station and off we went...
This one was a little nostalgic for me. Melou and I travelled here back in 2002, hearing about it word of mouth in our travels. This was long before it became a top 5 hit on Google. When we came back in the day, there were some tourist, some. There weren't even really hotels and we were lucky enough to talk to a shop owner who called a friend and got us set up in an apartment for a few nights. These days Cinque Terre is over run with tourist, and it is disgusting. You can barely walk the small streets of Monterosso (it's largest town)because of the hoards of tourists. Not to mention the fact that every spare inch of real estate and sidewalk has been converted to a restaurant, hotel or shop to accommodate the surge. I would highly recommend skipping Cinque Terre, unless you want an overpriced and over sold experience. Yes, the scenery is still beautiful, but it has lost all of it's warmth and charm in my eyes.
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| Soooooo many people |
Rant aside, we did make the most of our time there. We spent some time swimming in the Mediterranean with the boys, had a liquid lunch in the harbour and took the train through each to each town. Thankfully Luke and Isa weren't in the mood to deal with the over tourism, so we made it to Monterosso and Vernaza before calling it quits.
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| Monterosso |
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| Vernaza harbour |
Tuscany wasn't without it's share of difficulties. The boys ended up with what I'm guessing was Roseola. Van's rash was exceptionally awful and they were miserable as sin for the better part of a week. We also dealt with some home sickness, which was compounded by our lack of wifi and therefore connection to home. I was also the lucky winner of a wasp sting to the bottom of the foot...yay me! In spite of all of these things that dampened our moods at times, we made the most of our setting and really enjoyed our time here.
We cooked a lot of dinners together, mostly out of budget necessity. In hindsight was one of my favorite things about Tuscany. At dinner time, which is 8 or 9pm here, you could smell cooking fires in the town and hear everyone enjoying a meal with their loved ones. Taking part in that was pretty special.
We also enjoyed all of the space we had. Our home was on 2 levels and the separation at times was much welcomed. The boys could be out playing on the porch while we cooked dinner and Isabel read upstairs. We learned to embrace slowing things down and having some downtime.
Overall Tuscany was everything I had hoped it would be and I look forward to returning.
Next stop, Florence!
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