Siena Italy - April 30, 2011

Nathan and I took a cooking class with an Italian Chef
in Tuscany

Learning how to use this rocking slicer !

Our Chef/Teacher Rosanna Passione of La Chiara di Prumiano

Basilica of St. Catherine

Entering Siena

We climbed that tower!

The square

Learning about torture!

Poor Adam

Andy's enjoying the torture a little too much!

Climbing the tower

Daddy and his little girl

From the wayyyyy top

Looking down the staircase - we climbed up that!

A treat for a climb well done

So many flavors, so little money!

Yummmmm

Sweet little store

We happened to be in Siena for the 550th anniversary
of the canonization of St. Catherine by Pope Pius II

The boys trying on some Italian leather jackets

The procession with St. Catherine's head

Yes!  That IS a real pizza!

HUGE!  And delicious!

Saturday began with a cooking class for Nathan and me with an Italian chef.  The idea came from the literature about our apartment/hotel, that offered the cooking class, however, when we inquired about signing up for it, we were told that the chef was in the hospital and not able to teach at that time.  Another chef at a local restaurant located close to the apartment was recommended as a substitute so we signed up with her.

Andy drove us to the restaurant, which actually turned out to be an Inn for people or groups of people who came for various retreats or conferences ie: Yoga, spritual meditation, etc... - it was a wonderful location for those typed of groups and the Inn was aged, stone, quaint and, of course, surrounded by vineyards and a garden from which the vegetables and herbs that are used for cooking, are grown.

Nathan and I learned how to make homemade saffron fettuccine with zucchini and cherry tomatoes, Savoury chicken with herbs and olives and a chocolate cake from scratch.  We also received a couple more recipes that were not made that day.  Although Rosanna Passione (the chef/teacher), was very nice and taught us delicious recipes, we were disappointed overall with the class because we were not involved with the cooking at all.  The two of us were the only students and we just stood in the kitchen and watched Ms. Passione create the meal. Nathan and I assumed that it was to be a more "hands on" type of class.  We'll know to ask more questions before signing up from now on!

Andrew arrived to pick us up just in time to help us eat the food - lucky guy, it was good!  From La Chiara di Prumiano, we picked up Emma and Adam and went to Siena - just south of S'ant Appiano.  Andrew dropped the rest of us off and parked Mo Mo while Nathan, Emma, Adam and I went into the Basilica of St. Catherine where we had heard St. Catherine's head is encased in glass.  Sure enough - we found it!  Pictures were forbidden in the church so we did not get a photo of the head.

When Andrew arrived, we walked into the town of Siena and found a snack for our hungry children - Pizza of course!  The slices were large and delicious!  Then on to find the Office of Tourism and plot out our activities for the day.  The office was located in the Piazza del Campo, the main Square, we were given a map and some suggestions of things to do which included climbing the Torre del Mangia on the other side of the square and some walking tours. There was to be a procession at 4:30 beginning at St. Catherine's Basilica through many of the streets in Siena. During the course of the day, we heard drums and saw little groups of costumed men throughout the city whom I assumed were preparing for the procession.

The whole family agreed that climbing the tower was a good idea since we had such spectacular views from the tower in Pisa. In order to purchase the tickets for the tower, we climbed about three flights of stairs to the office (Emma and I were already winded by the time we got to the ticket office).  When it was our turn to purchase the tickets, we were informed that cash was the only form of payment accepted - ugh!  Back down the stairs to find a bank machine that may or may not work with our bank card!  We did find a machine and by some stroke of luck - Andy guessed the right code and we were able to get some cold cash for our climb!  Back up we went, got our tickets and began our climb. 

The stairway was much more narrow than the one in Pisa and there were fewer "resting" places.  Several times during the climb, we were forced to stop to let people coming down the steps, pass us - there were many languages spoken and a lot of laughter when that happend!  It was fun!  The view from the top was wonderful - Siena is a beautiful old city and it was certainly worth the climb to see it from that vantage point.  We met a family from Australia at the top who had been touring around Europe climbing towers for the past month - mom, dad and two teenaged sons - they were having a fun time too! 

After the climb, we rewarded ourselves with gelato and walked the streets of Siena.  We tried to go on one of the walking tours but got turned around at some point and were no longer on the "tour" depicted on the map so we made up our own tour!  We enjoyed looking around the little shops, sitting in the square and watching the people. 

One of the shops that we found sold leather goods made in Tuscany - we went back to that store a couple of times and in the end I purchased a new wallet to match my purse and a new briefcase type bag for work!  Adam and Andy tried on leather jackets but didn't love them enough to bring them home.  While in the shop, we heard the drums again and saw the saleslady who was helping me, head toward the door.  She was very nice and motioned for all of us to follow her.  When we approached the door, the drums got louder and we saw a parade of Priests, other religious people (ie: nuns, bishops??), and many men who were dressed in costumes reminding me of court jesters.  St. Catherine's head was carried through the streets also.  The lady explained that the town was celebrating the 550th anniversary of the canonization of St. Catherine who was from Siena - wow! Did we time this visit well! 

The various "court jesters" were from different sections of Siena and each group representing the various sections, carried their corresponding flag. At the end of the parade, many townspeople followed the procession which was headed to the Piazza del Campo (square).  It was a sight to see and we felt very fortunate to witness such an event.

During this time, Nathan had gone on his own to find an Italian flag (he has decided to collect flags from the various countries we visit), which he found and purchased. After the procession, we found Nathan and a nice quiet restaurant for dinner and ate pasta (of course!)  The dinner was good, but we just couldn't resist heading back to the pizza shop and ordering one for the road.  The pizza was HUGE (as you can see from the photo above!).  The pizza guys were very friendly, made our pizza, snapped some pictures and we were headed back to the car --- munching on slices along the way!  Siena was great!

FIRENZE !! - Florence Italy - April 28, 2011

We made it!  Fattoria S'ant Appiano is
between Florence & Sienna in the Tuscany
Region of Italy

Our Tuscany home - set in the gorgeous Tuscan countryside

View from our front door - looking at the town

Enjoying a relaxing evening outside

Entering Florence!

Crossing the Ponte Vecchio - lined with jewlery stores
and tourist shops

Ponte Vecchio -
Built in the 10th century, damaged by floods over time
 and then restored in 1345

One of Florence's Icons, it was the
only bridge in Florence spared by the Germans
as they retreated in 1944

Enjoying the scene over the Arno River which divides
the north & south sides of Florence

Love Padlocks - locked to a railing between the Arno
and the Uffizi Art Museum

One of the many market squares in Florence

Perche No! - Wonderful Gelateria

Piazza della Signoria - Florence's most famous square

One of the many statues in the square

Family - acting like sculptures

Our second gelato of the day!

Greek Orthodox church where
a friend will be married the day that
we fly out of Europe!

View of the Tuscan countryside from the back of our
apartment

Since it was dark outside when we arrived in Tuscany, we had not seen the view that welcomed us on Thursday night.  After a long day of sight seeing, getting lost and then finally finding S'ant Appiano, we were driven from the office, to our apartment and went to bed. Our apartment was very sweet - two large bedrooms with armoirs, a bathroom, kitchen and dining area with fireplace.  Although there was a television in this apartment, we did not turn it on.  The wooden french doors that led outside from the dining area looked out over the vineyards and blue skies in the morning.  When we woke up, Andrew and I walked outside to discover the beauty of Tuscany that surrounded us.  Vineyards, hills and valleys, and a quaint little town on a hill that was Fattoria S'ant Appiano.  Andrew walked over to the main office and talked with the owner and her daughter on Friday morning to get the information that we would need to get to Florence (The daughter who helped run the business was fairly easy to talk with and very nice - Andy and the mom, who spoke no English at all, hit it off well and formed some kind of bond!).  The kids woke up earlier than they would have liked since we had reserved tickets to the Uffizi Museum, and we all prepared for the day.  We made it to Florence with no problem but had to stop at a gas station to ask where to park!  We found a great place on the edge of the old town, left Mo Mo and went to find the Office of tourism and explore the Renaissance city of Florence.

The office of tourism in Florence (or at least one of them) was hidden behind the square where the Basilica of Santa Croce (Basilica of the Holy Cross) is located.  The Basilica is the principal Franciscan Church in Florence and the largest Franciscan church in the world. This church is where such famous Italians as Michelangelo and Galileo are buried.  Andrew and I had the kids take our picture in front of this church because it was a roman catholic church with a star of David prominently displayed on the front wall. After some research, I discovered the following:

The campanile was built in 1842, replacing an earlier one damaged by lightning. The neo-Gothic marble façade, by Nicolò Matas, dates from 1857-1863.
A Jewish architect Niccolo Matas from Ancona, designed the church's 19th century neo-Gothic facade, working a prominent Star of David into the composition. Matas had wanted to be buried with his peers but because he was Jewish, he was buried under the porch and not within the walls.

After gathering some information and a few maps from the O.O.T., we headed to the world famous Uffizi Gallery to check out the famous artworks that have been gathered overtime. The Uffizi was undergoing a lot of renovations and as a result it was difficult to appreciate the outside of the building.  I wasn't sure what to expect since I did not do my research before our travels.  Unfortunately, Emma and Adam, having been introduced to nude artwork on a field trip with their school to the Musee Fabre in Montpellier, determined after 5 minutes that they were NOT interested in seeing more "naked people".   In the end, I had to agree with them.  Maybe it's because we just aren't "cultured" kind of folks or just very modest, but the numerous nude male statues lining the halls of the Uffizi caused me to keep my head down for most of my visit!

I did enjoy a lot of the religious paintings and found them especially moving since we had just celebrated Easter and Passover but I think that Andrew and I learned during our visit that Iimpressionism is more of our style overall.  Nathan was the biggest trooper of the kids - Emma and Adam left the Gallery after approximately 20 minutes and agreed to meet us outside at a specific time, Nathan stuck with Andrew and me for about an hour and even stole a photo of one of the sculptures (no photos allowed!).

We enjoyed seeing the Arno river which flows through Florence and divides the north and south sides of the city, and the love padlocks that are hanging on a railing between the Arno and the Uffizi. Legend has it that when a person hangs a lock on the railing (or on other places nearby), after writing their "true love's" name on it, and throws the key into the Arno, their love will last forever!  Sidenote: after a week the railing is so full of padlocks that they are cut off and thrown away - what THAT does to the true love is unknown!

The streets around Florence are so inviting!  Filled with Gelato shops, jewlery stores (no, I didn't get any jewlery - BIG bummer!) and around several corners we were dumped into little "squares" containing markets which sold not only souvenirs but leather goods as well. Upon a recommendation from the Plakas family, who has been to Italy many times and is planning a wedding in Florence in June, we had our first Italian Gelato at Perche No! and it was fantastic!   Emma and I had a fun time looking at the purses and wallets at several stands.  In the end, Emma and I bought leather purses, Adam and Andy got "Messi" soccer jerseys (famous Barcelona football player) and Nathan took home a t-shirt. While we ate lunch, Emma suggested switching from our old purses to our newly purchased fancy Italian leather purses, however, since it looked like rain was coming our way, I discouraged it.  (In retrospect, however, it probably would have been a smart idea since my new purse had a zipper on the top and my old one only had a ribbon to tie the top closed).

We enjoyed looking around the numerous squares and had fun checking out a lot of the sculptures in the Piazza della Signoria where there is a replica of the "David" along with Titan and many others.  I was sort of fascinated by the sculpture above depicting the beheading of someone - I need to look that up and figure out the significance of it!

Andy wanted to make his way to the museum where the original "David" is housed and found out from someone we talked with on the street that the line was 2 hours long.  That didn't stop him, however, he at least wanted to see the outside of the building!  After wondering around the outside of the Duomo Cathedral which is the third largest cathedral in the world, took six centuries to build and is dedicated to St. Mary of the Flower (and also had a two hour line to get into), Andy seperated from the family and we agreed to meet about 30 minutes later in the Piazza della Signoria.

The kids and I began walking back toward the Piazza and stopped in the square where we had purchased our souvenirs so that I could buy a cute blue scarf - it really is very pretty with little flowers on it -- that was the last time I saw the wallet that had traveled from the states with me.

After parading through the streets for awhile enjoying the people, the views and the experience of Florence Italy, we met up with Andy just as the rain began to fall.  For cover, we decided that it was time for another gelato and headed to the closest gelateria for our second cone of the day which we ate undercover, huddled with many others, at the opening of the Ponte Vecchio before crossing back over.

Although it was a little early for dinner, I was interested in finding a restaurant that was also recommended by Mrs. Plakas in order to see the church where the wedding is to be held in June which happens to be across the street from the restaurant.  We found both with no problem - it will be a beautiful wedding I'm sure!

In preparation to pay the parking ticket before our departure from Florence, I opened my purse to retrieve my wallet and discovered that it was no longer in my purse - I had become a victim of the Florence pick-pocketers that we were warned so much about!  After thinking about what I had lost, I realized that my only serious concerns were my French bank card and my Citi Bank Mastercard from home.  I can replace my Ohio drivers' license, insurance card, pix of the kids etc... and there were only 12 euros in the wallet.  Thankfully, upon our arrival to France, I had taken all store credit cards etc.. out and put them in my nightstand along with my American money - whew!  We tried to find a police officer or police station to report the loss but had no luck so headed back to our apartment.

Our hostess at the apartment helped us call the local police station who said that there really isn't anything that we can do - a  police report wasn't necessary.  So, we were able to call the credit card company to block the card and order a new one (which arrived Monday morning!).  I cancelled my french card on Monday because they were closed on the weekend.  Later, we found out that the criminals had, in fact, tried to purchase quite a bit of sporting good equipment - $1,005.00 worth but Citi Bank blocked the charge!

We did not let the lost wallet dampen our visit to Florence - it was wonderful, the weather was very nice overall, the gelato was fantastic, and the sights were beautiful!

Cinque Terre and Pisa - April 28, 2011

On our way to Cinque Terre - Italy - GORGEOUS views
along the way!

The village on the northern tip of Cinque Terre -
Monterosso al Mare

Walking down the mountain on which we parked

Ahhhh - The U.S. Flag -- and Italy too!

Enjoying the view

How fun would this be??!!!

A Church in Monterosso

Havin fun trying on hats!  Chef Nathan, ready for our
Italian cooking class!

Adam's Italian souvenir

The third village in Cinque Terre - we decided to visit Corniglia
-Big mistake since we didn't have a lot of time!

Waiting for the train to head back to Monterosso

Charming store in the village of Monterosso

Heading back up the mountain to Mo Mo

Entering the Pisa square



Peek-A-Boo - there's the tower!

Pushhhhhh.....

Good job Emma!

hummmm - I think it's comin down!

From the top!



From the top...again





The tower looks pretty straight here huh?!



Havin fun getting to the top of the tower

On the way down - What a view from the top!

The route to Tuscany was, of course, beautiful!  As we drove I admired the landscape and was reminded of drawing mountains as a child. We used to draw arched line next to arched line to depict a mountainous area - well, that was Italy - mountain on top of mountain - gorgeous greenery all around with bright blue skies above and often, the mediterranean sea below. Upon several suggestions to visit Cinque Terre along the way, we headed in that direction.

The Cinque Terre are five small villages on the "Costa Ligure of Levante". The villages from north to south are: Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore.  In order to get to Monterosso (the first town on the northern tip), Mo Mo had to chug up and down the mountains, around hairpin curves, past little houses and restaurants tucked into the mountain, past vineyards, olive tree groves, lemon trees and a lot of "middle of nowhere on the mountain" areas.  We didn't know if we would ever truly arrive in Monterosso but continued to follow the narrow road and the signs claiming that we were indeed heading in the correct direction.

Finally, we did in fact, arrive in Monterosso -- along with many many other people and their cars!  As we drove closer to the village, the roadsides were more and more populated with parked cars.  We saw a parking garage and actually pulled into the drive to the gate before we noticed that it was closed/full.  Andy did a great job of backing out of the drive and into the road before any other cars came whipping around the sharp corner at the end of the drive.  He let us out and chugged back up the mountain with Mo Mo in search of a parking spot.  He soon returned and pointed straight up the side of the mountain where he left our hearty little car.

We enjoyed walking around Monterosso - a charming little village on the sea with tourist shops, restaurants and a lovely view.  Lunch was eaten in a tunnel due to a short rain shower which passed through, a couple of souvenirs were purchased and pictures were taken before making the decision to board the train and tour around another village in the Cinque Terre chain.  We decided to visit Coniglia, bought the tickets, boarded the train, arrived in Coniglia and started walking toward the village when we realized that the village would take 20 - 30 minutes to walk to!  We didn't have that kind of time since we still had hours to drive to Tuscany. We all did an "about face" and went back to wait for the next train that would return us to Monterosso where we enjoyed walking through through some more streets and headed up the mountain toward Mo Mo.  Emma and I brought up the rear huffing and puffing up the hill and stopped to enjoy rows of lemon trees and a few other interesting sights along the way - cacti, fun bumper stickers and tiny town maintenance vehicles :)

Pisa was our next stop and actually had more to offer than just the leaning tower.  The following came from the tourism sight for Pisa and explains the buildings very well:

In the north-west of Pisa there is an immense green lawn on which four impressive buildings stand, in gleaming white marble. These imposing structures are the enormous, breathtaking Duomo (cathedral) - built almost 1,000 years ago, the cathedral's bell tower - better known as the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the circular Battistero (Baptistery) - the largest of its kind in the whole of Italy, and the Camposanto - also known as the Holy Field, without doubt one of the most beautiful cemeteries in the world. This area is referred to as the Campo dei Miracoli or the Piazza dei Miracoli (Field of Miracles) and these remarkable Tuscan buildings combine Moorish, Gothic and Romanesque architectural features.

Upon a suggestion by our good friends, the Wolff family, we actually purchased tickets to climb to the top of the leaning tower - not cheap but well worth it!  The stairwell to the top of the tower is narrow, the stairs are well worn and leaning along with the tower, and the little openings along the way add to the excitement and anticipation of finally reaching the top.  We spent approximately an hour at the top looking around, enjoying the view and snapping pictures. 

Nathan attempted to enter the cathedral for a tour but found that it had closed for the day.  From the souvenir shop Adam bought himself a 5 inch statue of the leaning tower, I bought a new Rosary and Emma purchased a spoon for a friend who collects them. 

Dinner consisted of pizza at a little restaurant with a nice view of the tower and a scoop of iced cream for dessert (it was NOT gelato!).  Back to Mo Mo for another hour to reach our destination in Tuscany in Fattoria Sant' Appiano.

I decided that it would be a good idea to call our "hotel" to let them know that we would be arriving late and received the wonderful news that we were supposed to be there by 8:00 pm (which wasn't going to happen since it was already 8:45!).  The lady on the phone wished us luck finding the place in the dark and said that she would wait in the office for us.  Andy drove as fast as he could (which may have resulted in the speeding ticket that we received in the mail soon after our arrival back to Montpellier) and we were able to get close! In the end we did have to call for help which she provided nicely and we arrived at our nice Tuscany home around 10:00 pm.