The gentle, green rolling hills of Tuscany greeted us out our window this morning when we woke up. The difference in topography between this part of Tuscany and the area near Camaiore, where we've been basing out of, is significant. Mountains, not hills, loom over Camaiore and the village where we are, La Pieve. This area of Montepulciano has mountains in the distance, but the immediate area is vineyard after vineyard, interrupted occasionally by olive trees, and plenty of green crop land. We've all seen this Tuscany in photos, but they don't do it justice. It's serenely beautiful, if not almost trite. But if it's going to be this beautiful and peaceful, we'll put up with trite!
After a light breakfast of a pastry and cappuccino, we checked out of our room at the Belle Vista, so aptly named for the place that had the nicest view of any of our places in Italy so far. We drove north to Pisa, which is on our way back to our home base. We felt that we owed it to ourselves to plunge into the inevitable tourist trap that is Pisa, since it was on the way. Yet, at breakfast on Sunday we met a couple in our “convent” in Siena who had just come from Pisa and said it was worth a couple hours of time. When we got to Pisa, we parked at a free parking lot recommended by our “buddy” Rick, and took a bus into the centro, then did the Rick-recommended walking tour, which took us through a part of central Pisa not so suffocated by tourists. This gave us a feel for the college-town atmosphere that gives Pisa the credibility that the tourists do not. Apparently there are 45,000 students at the university in Pisa, and their presence provides a welcome energy we didn't expect. We ultimately ended up at the famous tower, and wouldn't you know, it's still leaning! We didn't bother to pay the 15 euros (each) to walk the steps to the top. We've loved Italy from a number of different heights and towers now, with probably more to come, so we passed on this one. We did try to take one of those corny photos of me holding up the leaning tower, but couldn't seem to convincingly pull it off. Apparently that takes more talent that one would think, or we just suck at special effects! We did go inside the Baptistry to hear the security guard do the every-30-minute routine of intoning several notes, letting them hang in the acoustics of the dome, where they resound long enough to harmonize with one another. Then it was on to the Duomo, to see yet another beautiful church.
Then back to the car we went, and drove the 30-minute trip back to our house in the hills above Camaiore. It felt good to be back “home,” after a 4-day weekend of traveling and seeing new sights. We have the luxury of pacing ourselves, since we have a month to spend in Italy. So tonight for dinner, we walked to a little trattoria (a simple restaurant) down the road about 10 minutes from the house. Because of the very low blood alcohol limits here in Italy, I don't drink if I'm going to be driving, so it was nice to be able to walk to this nearby La Pieve trattoria, and enjoy wine with dinner. The house wine (“vino roso de la casa”) is inexpensive, and a real compliment to the Italian cuisine, so it's really nice to be able to enjoy wine with a meal. While we were eating and enjoying the local character of this very clean and attractive trattoria, about 15 young men, obviously a soccer team in their early 20's, along with their soccer coach came in from soccer practice. It was fun to get in on this touch of local color, not to mention watching how many bowls of spaghetti those guys could put away, along with a few beers. It was just a fun, amusing atmosphere that we got in on, much like our dinner last night in Montepulciano. We again felt fortunate that we have come upon these out-of-the way places here in Italy, away from the throngs of tourists, where we can feel at least somewhat imbedded in the lives of these colorful “locals.”
On the short walk home, through the dark hills under a crescent moon, we were entertained by no small number of fireflies, making us feel that they were trying to guide us home with their lights. It was almost like something out of an enchanted movie scene. Then looking to the sky, we saw something we've seen little of so far this month in Italy—stars! And from what we've heard of the forecast, tomorrow should be sunny too. Maybe the beach will be on tap for tomorrow?
No comments:
Post a Comment