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I ended my last entry as we were heading for a wine tasting and tour of Trebbio winery. We have experienced wine tasting in Canada, America, South Africa and evey a nasty little strawberry wine in Cambodia but we have never experienced a tasting quite like this one. Chianti country.... grapes crushed and aged in the dungeon of an ancient castle in the hills of Tuscany. Hmmmm.... does that add to the taste? I'm not sure but the fact that the little barrels cost 600E for 225 litres and you can only use them 3 times... that and the fact that 15 litres evaporates before the wine is ready.... now that's torture!
The wine was great... the location absolutely perfect and the company wonderful. We bougt a few bottles and headed back to our gite for a big birthday dinner and some of the wine we had just purchased.
A very fitting way to end Shane's birthday.
The next morning a tired Katharina found her way to the gite after spending the night sleeping outside. Apparently the noises we heard in the night were deer in love (read: heat). They sounded much like sick dogs and woke us all up. Katharina was sleeping out there and not sure what was about to attack her... fortunately the deer only are interested in furry four legged creatures their own size.... that's hard to come to grips with when you are sent to bed with stories of wild boar and wolves. Ahhhh.... nature.... ainn't it grand!
After breakfast (a healthy breakfast for Walter) we piled in to our rental and headed for Siena. We found the city with no problem but finding the entrance was difficult. Wandering past a kids playground &climbing up stairs to the city walls found us staring down to the square with no way to get there. These ramparts are built to keep people out but we didn't think tourists counted!
Using a little brain power we finally found ourselves in the Piazza del Campo. This is the heartbeat of the city where the semi annual horse races take place and where the populatiohn comes to relax. Here also are hundreds of tourists taking thousands of pictures. We added ourselves to the crowd pushing and shoving till our thirst for Kodak moments was quenched.
The next stop was the beautiful Cathedral with mosaica and carved marble. An amazing work of art not to be missed. We wandered down to the crypt and up to the vista as well as visiting the museum of the opera (nothing to do with music) in between. Stunning views of terrecota roofs and rolling hillsides.
Back for a swim and a good rest. Agian I must say what an oasis this place was... Castellare near Marino del Piano... what a beautiful place to find rest!
Then it was off to Florence. Katharina managed to score four tickets to the Uffici Gallery. We spent hours enjoying the beautiful paintings and sculpture. It is a pleasure for me to see these works with an artist. Katharina has an eye for detail that opens my rusted grey cells giving them time to breath new life. Thanks K!
Walter and Katharina headed off to Zurich after our day of exploring and enjoying Florence. Shane and I headed off to bed!
The next two days were exploring Florence and neighbouring hill towns. Saw the hall of David in the Academia. A place I had visited 37 years ago and a place that has held a special place in my heart since. Not for David but for the beautiful incomplete carvings forcing their way out of the marble. Faces of anguish that are only a few strokes away from perfection. Hard for me to put in to words. Suffice to say that I spent a lot of time there.
Ate Steak Florintine... wandered the streets.... took way too many pictures.... drank too much chianti.
Today we drove south to San Gemignano and Montoriggion. Both hill towns and both very different. There is so much here in Tuscany. It is difficult to describe the beauty of the hill towns or of the rolling hills covered in vineyards and olive groves. If you manage to get lost... as we often do... you will find yourselves stopping often to take pictures or just to look at the view. It is not unusual to see the outline of a castle on a hill top. You can imagine history coming alive here. Today it is a quiet part of the world catering to the finer things in life... the full enjoyment of what life has to offer... food, wine and fellowship.
Sadly tomorrow we will leave Florence heading east. On Wednesday we will be in Venice. Two or perhaps three nights. We will see what happens.
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