Category: Lucca

Norjie has hired a car for the weekend so we’re mobile again and went off for a day in the Chianti once again (for me). It was beautiful, it is beautiful and I guess every time I go back it will indeed be beautiful. Having said that, todays experience was totally different to the day spent with H,A & R. To start with Norjie is not really into wines so it wasn’t a day of being off the beaten track searching out wineries and good wines. Instead it was a day of exploring the little towns of the Chianti area.

First, I have to once again pay homage to my dear friend of the GPS. I love her for many reasons, again confirming that there definitely is a worse Italian accent than mine but secondly she unfailingly gets me there!! For this I love her and am in Hammy and Ariane’s debt. I remember being reluctant to take her, now they will have to prise her off me in Sicily.

We set off and went first to Castellina in Chianti. A lovely Chianti town but very busy and very much geared to the tourist trade…i.e. full of restaurants, enotecas and a bustling market. We walked through a wonderful passageway under the old cellars which was fabulous. A highlight for me was lighting upon a dress I liked in the market…and that fitted!! I bought 2 for 20 Eu each and they will certainly help me through the long hot summer.

From there we went to (back to for me) the lovely town of Volpaia. Last time we were there Hammy and I tasted wines while Rose and Ariane walked through the town. There was also the added excitement of me needing to get to a loo, so I missed the town. This time no such drama. First we went to lunch in order to secure a table. We went to the restaurant on the other side of the piazza to where we sat last time at that little bar. We sat out on the terrace under the vines with a splendid view and a yummy light lunch and, of course, a glass (or two ) of wine. Gorgeous. We then wandered through the town and what a lovely town it is…ancient and quiet, away from the hoards and totally beautiful. The Harley Club arrived to shatter the tranquility but they had soon parked their bikes and settled down to enjoy their lunch at the bar opposite.

From there we went to Panzano. Another lovely quiet, ancient little town to wander through. The main trauma here was the exceedingly steep streets. No problem on the feet but I had to park the little gutless Fiat Panda on a very steep hill. I had had awful trouble in the car park in Castellina because it wouldn’t get up the vertical slope out of the car park…I had to reverse back and make the 3 cars behind me reverse so I could get a run up and even then only just got the little gutless wonder out of there. Not a car to be buying any time soon…all I could think was thank god for my solid training in the hand break start and the manual transmission all those years ago!!! Anyway the long and the short of this exhaustive tale is that we got up the hill in Panzano with (according to me) considerable skill and tenacity.

Last stop was Greve. The heart of the Chianti, or so they say. A lovely town. We had read about this thing there where you put money on a card and slot it into these wine tasting machines for a tasting. I wanted to do it because it sounded like a lot of fun. So we put 10 Euros onto this card which we shared and had our tastes. It failed a little because I was driving and couldn’t taste as much as I would have and could have, and Nora is definitely not into wine and she curled up her toes and refused to have more. So…there were no refunds. But fortunately we’d been chatting to some Aussies in this enoteca and despite the fact that he was a Collingwood supporter my ‘waste not want not’ instinct overcame my ‘hate every Collingwood supporter’ instinct and I gave the remaining tastes to him.

Then we returned to Lucca and to top a good day I found a car park immediately….dinner at home tonight and tomorrow a lesser excursion into the Garfagna.
Ciao all XXXX

Really just a very quick update. Off to school on Thursday to struggle through more passato prossimo / passato imperfect / reflexive verbs / modalis and god knows what else ….brain scramble!! Home to try to write it up. Then Norjie arrived back and I had 5 minutes to say hello before I headed back to school for my hour with Ele. But what was nice was that I had arranged to meet Norjie at a bar after my hour for a Spritz and a catch- up. That was really nice. After our Spritz we walked around town a bit to book some restaurants for Norjies last days here in Lucca. She came back with lots of ideas for what she wanted to do in this last week which was terrific. As a result we have booked a car for the weekend and are going to ‘do’ the Chianti area again as well as Barga and the Garfagna around Lucca. After that flurry of organisation we went out for a meal which was very pleasant indeed.

Today, off to school again. It being Friday it was a day of goodbyes to friends made during the week as each Friday is. I then met Norjie for lunch at one of my favourite places (San Giorgio) where I always get my Al Papa di Pomodoro (this yummy tomato soup). It was a nice lunch, then we came back to the apartment to stay out of the sun for the hottest part of the day. I had lots to do…plane ticket to Trieste, train tickets back to Rome from Trieste, looking at accommodation options for Bordeaux, replying to emails of long ago…etc etc.

Now we’re ready to head of for the evening meal. We have booked at Buca di San Antonio (Pots and Pans Restaurant) for one of the final nice restaurants. Off to chianti tomorrow…I hope I’m not pushing my luck by continuing to hire cars…every-time I get a car back I heave a sigh of relief. I do still get a bit anxious despite the increase in confidence!!

More later

S

Another sweaty day of school. The class is settling in now and the nice thing today was that a “my age” woman from Melbourne joined the class. We bonded immediately and I think I have a new BFF. It was lovely actually, we are about the same level. She was in the more advanced class they were trying to persuade me to go into but she hated it and came down a peg to our class. So, it was a fairly pleasant lesson.

But… the same frenetic pace as I get out of class, peddle home, have lunch, write up my notes then basically turn around and peddle back to school for my hour with Ele. Even that was a wee bit better with me talking more (and Ele trying to make out she understands what the hell I’m saying). Anyway maybe these private lessons will help who knows. Having a buddy to have a drink with after class is a bonus!! On the way home I did a bit of super-marketing then back to pour myself a glass of wine.

Tomorrow I have to take myself off to Bologna for my dental “igiene”. A long way to go to see the dentist but what else is there to do but stay faithful?? So, no school at all tomorrow…oh dear I may even miss it!!

It is going to be a very long, hot trip I can tell you. It is even hotter today and tomorrow…sorry guys I know that sounds like boasting but god it’s hot!!

Let you know how it all goes.

Back at LIS today for the first time in about 5 weeks. My decision-making really needs to be questioned!! Now I have NO time at all. I go to class from 9 – 1pm, I come home and try desperately to write up what I’m supposed to have learnt then I jump back on the trusty bike and I peddle furiously back to school for individual conversation class where I stutter and stammer and try to work out what is being said to me let alone forming sentences myself.

So…there are 8 in my class, probably the biggest one yet. There are 3 people from Denmark (a husband and wife and another woman who is not connected to them), 2 American men one young and one old (the old one is here with his wife having bought an apartment in Lucca), One young Swiss girl (I hate the Swiss with their language skills in the same way I hate skinny people who eat anything and everything), and one Chinese woman from Hong Kong who is studying in NYC – she’s older too. The teacher is a bit young and inexperienced but lovely. Her name is Laura. The class, in the theory department, is a bit below me but therefore very comfortable in terms of not feeling inferior.

For conversation I have my dear Ele…she really challenges me to go up a class but we are in agreement that I can’t speak to save my soul. This is the all time challenge and I just can’t give in!!
So home I peddle and grab the bottle of wine!! What more can I say?? I watch Suits which I’m loving but have only 2 episodes left. This will leave me bereft and with no idea what to get to entertain myself and unwind next.

Oh well…hopefully I’ll be here to tell the tale again tomorrow…

Lazy Tuscan days continue. I write this listening to a robust debate on AJ about whether, now that gay marriage is legal in the US, polygamy should be legalised. There is always the next level to debate is there not??

Yesterday I rode my wall. The ride has been reduced to 2.5 giros in deference to the amount of sweat produced which is a hazard directly related to how well you can hang on to the handlebars. I read in my lovely garden, I wandered around a bit and I tried to do a (very small) bit of Italian study before returning to school. Read uneventful day but nice, relaxed and enjoying Lucca. Yesterday marked only 3 weeks left in this city that epitomises everything wonderful about Tuscany. My evenings are dedicated to ‘Suits’ at the moment, with the sounds of a brass band marching around the city in the background.

Today I spent a good portion of the morning shopping for various essentials. I heard music coming from the Summer Festival site so wandered over there and lo and behold there was Elton John testing the sound system. He was a long way away but I was awe struck nonetheless. The town is totally bopping today and I’m going to have to take myself out tonight to listen to a bit of Elton. They were lighting oil lamps all around San Michele, there are people everywhere and a very festive air about the place. I wandered the streets a bit today. Came across an ambulance attending a woman of my vintage who had fallen over which put the wind up me but on I walked with resolution. I had an urge to buy something but didn’t because I just couldn’t make up my mind!

I’m starting to realise how hard it will be to leave this lovely city.

Monday followed the previous days of being overcome, overwhelmed and slowed down by summer laziness. I had a Skype date with my beautiful work friends on Monday morning and before I got onto them I chatted for ages on Skype to the Glenns. Then 2.5 hours with Jan, Brendon and Jammo while they wined and dined. Such a lovely feeling of belonging and not being forgotten…completely filled in on all the comings and goings. Poor Norjie was definitely out on a limb for this time. She went off and had coffee by herself and then went to Casa Puccini while all the time I was chatting away. After that we had lunch at home, I went to the station to check out trains for Ham and Az. Then as the laziest day of them all drew to an end we went out for a lovely meal at “Gli Orti di Via Elisa”. This is a restaurant I’d been wanting to go to for the longest time. Rose and I had tried a number of times and it was always closed. Anyway, it was extremely good and we had a lovely meal. I had to get home to get a lesson on the GPS from Ham. Really this lazy lifestyle that encompassed only eating and drinking had to stop!!

And it did. For the last 2 days we have had a hire car. It is one of those things that make me feel proud of myself. I took a deep breath and I’ve driven all over Italy. I think it has broken the back of my trepidation about driving in Europe. Each time you do it you build confidence I guess. Mind you I could never have done it without Madame GPS. The only person in the world with a worse Italian accent than me (another reason that I love her!!) I laugh every time she tells me to enter a road in incomprehensible Italian.

So yesterday was gorgeous, we set off for Arezzo, a town I’ve been wanting to go to forever (since I saw “Life is Beautiful”). Arezzo is famed for a number of things but mostly the Piero della Francesco fresco cycle in the Capella Bacci, some other della Francesco’s dotted about, one beautiful one of Mary Magdelene in the Duomo, as well as lots of Della Robbia ceramic works of art. Also a really beautiful Piazza reminiscent of Siena with beautiful Renaissance buildings. It was heavily bombed during the war. A really lovely town all in all with more to keep us busy than we were able to fit in in the time allowed. That is to say we also had to fit in a delicious light lunch and a glass of wine.

From there we decided that there was nothing for it but to keep going to Sansepolcro about another hour east so significantly adding to our big day. This town is the birthplace of Piero della Francesco and here there are 3 truly magnificent works of his in the Museo Civico. They were honestly thrilling and so beautiful. We finally got back to Lucca around 9 pm, were thwarted in our efforts to get back to the apartment by the Los Lobos concert and desperately had to find some takeaway food, which we did but it was definitely sub standard.

The driving is dotted all along the way with fields and fields of Sunflowers…talk about under the Tuscan Sun!!

Today we set off to Volterra. A Tuscan town I’d never been to but had always thought I should. It is a gorgeous medieval town not dissimilar to San Gimignano. There were things to see including a beautiful fresco cycle in the Cappella Della Croce…by whom we didn’t know!! But mainly it was just walking the town and enjoying the beautiful streets, alleyways and buildings. Again a great place for a light lunch, more sunflowers to enchant us and tricky, challenging roads to traverse. But car back safely and me feeling particularly brave and pleased with myself.

Back in Lucca we finished off the bottle of Aperol at home and then went out for some dinner. All very pleasant really. Tomorrow Norjie goes off for the week to her course in the hills. She will be back next week for her last week. In the meantime do I or don’t I enrol in school for my last 2 weeks….p’raps I really should!!

Friday we started the day with a ride around the wall which was good. But then it was home to cool off. For lunch we went out for a light lunch, then went and bought Norjie a fan for her room because she wasn’t going to survive the nights of 25C without one. Then home to cool off, then out for a bit of a walk around then home ….you know how it goes. Then out to dinner for a delicious meal of lovely fish. A few big drops of rain even fell but that lasted about 2 seconds.

Then the weekend. A weekend of mooching around in the heat and adapting lifestyles to hot summer days. What this really means in a nutshell is exercise down to virtually nil. Eating and drinking unchanged. And anyone (even me) knows thats not a good thing. Saturday we were going to ride along the river for a lunch by the river but Norjie’s iphone told her it was going to be the magic 100 F (they still work in Fahrenheit !!) and that was a bit scary when it comes to riding a bike in the midday sun. So we did a lot of toing and froing about whether it was a good idea or not and ultimately decided that wisdom was firmly on the side of being more sedentary. So I went off for a shorter ride around the wall X2 and Norjie took off to walk around and orient herself to the streets of Lucca. I did some shopping to stock up on food and wine for the weekend. Then came home and flopped in front of the air con for a while. We then had an afternoon of doing much the same, a bit of a walk, stopped for an aperitivo then tea at home with the supplies purchased.

Sunday….I urgently had to laundromat and did that first thing in the morning, combining my usual coffee between putting the washing on and transferring it to the dryer. While I did that Norjie went off to Palazzo Pfanner for an explore and the opportunity to enjoy the gorgeous garden. We met back home for a cool off and some lunch at home. Then out for a bit of a walk this afternoon which included going to the booking office to see if there were any tickets for the Summer Festival worth buying (negative) and buying a gelato and sitting on the wall to eat it. Then home to cool off and dinner at home again.

We have booked a car for Tuesday and Wednesday to do a bit of exploring around the place. Again I have to take a very deep, brave breath and just hope all goes well. I think this is life in Italy in the height of summer, a decrease in activity which I shall have to work on going hand in hand with a decrease in food and wine and gelato….oh yeh!!

A new week starts tomorrow. Only 4 weeks left in Lucca and I really must take the plunge to get myself back to school for a final 2 weeks!!

Every day 37 and humid, so humid. How much I appreciate Melbourne’s weather where you can expect relief every few days. here it is months of the same. Not that I should be complaining I know. It is just a matter of adjusting to it and getting back into activity mode. Yesterday was a bit of a droop about kind of day. Norjie was out for the count most of the morning. I did check to ensure she was alive. I had a vision of post flight death from thrombosis and me not realising for days!!

So we then did wander a bit, have some lunch out and about, wandered a bit more then came home to sit out the heat of the afternoon with the inadequate cooler on. Then we went out again and explored the Duomo and went for a brief walk on the wall before going to the place next to the bike rental place for an aperitivo. Then home for another Spritz before we went out for a very ordinary meal. Then home again.

That was it!! I’m determined that I must get the bike out today, I think a bit of a ride around the wall to start with. I’m not at all in a “coping with the heat” sort of routine which is a different routine.

I’ll let you know how I go, now its time to go for a coffee.

On Tuesday I set off for the airport at around 11am stopping for a nice coffee with Ariane on the way to the tube. Got myself out to Gatwick. Got myself on the awful Easyjet flight with handbag stuffed into case etc. Got myself to Ciampino airport in Rome. Thought I was very clever having booked at shuttle direct bus to pick me up but that went to shit when I had to wait an hour and a half for other passengers for the bus. By this time I had a roaring headache (something I never get…or so I boast) and the horrid young Brits on the bus with me nearly sent me into orbit. By the time I got to Chris’ (she was arriving from Portugal later) all I could manage to do was pull out my bed and collapse. However, by the time Chris got back at 1am the headache had gone and all was well.

Spent a lovely morning with Chris, had a nice bar lunch and set off for the station to meet up with Norjie. Without going into details, that all worked well. We had a 1.5 hour wait for our train because we had to allow a margin for error when it comes to relying on flight arrivals. Then we set off for Lucca. A very quick changeover to the regionale train in Firenze. This train was a killer because we happened to get in a carriage where the air conditioner wasn’t working. So we, and everyone else, were in a pool of sweat…it is SO hot and humid.

On arrival in Lucca we had to walk around the back streets to avoid the massive crowds waiting to get into the Bob Dylan concert in the middle of town. We collapsed on arrival at the apartment, had an Aperol Spritz, then, with no food in the house, had to go out for a quick meal. We skirted the Dylan concert and listened to a song (it was a bit boring and we couldn’t see much), then home to bed!

This morning Norjie is still asleep, I’ve been out and had my coffee and am catching up.