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Heading to Tuscany

September 2023
A 18-day adventure by Laurie Read more
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  • Laurie ReynoldsHeading to Tuscany
    1
    21
    Day 11

    Day on the Water

    September 15, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    I was wrong about two things - one, I was afraid that we would have had so much ferry time yesterday that today’s boat trip would not be so fun. And two, I said I wouldn’t want to come back here. Going slowly up and down the coast was really great! And I got a much better view of the trails I could walk if I were to return. So maybe I shouldn’t say never, because they look fabuloso.

    I am so glad I booked this boat trip weeks ago, because a couple in our B&B was very disappointed they couldn’t get anything for the next four days. It was a bit pricey, but oh so worth it. The views of the villages were amazing, the water was super clear and warm, and I even got to swim near a huge jelly-fish, but only after I was assured that this one wouldn’t sting. One of the young guys on our boat (there were 12 of us total) picked it up, but no way I was interested in that.

    Joe did not get off the boat to swim, but had a seat in the shade and did not mind sitting there doing nothing for our swim time (or at least that’s what he said). After swimming they served us a very nice spread of tapas type food (each one made locally and with an explanation of what it was and who made it!) with some prosecco to accompany it.

    The weather looks like it’s turning, and our boat company has already cancelled the trips for the next three days, not only because of thunderstorms but also because the water will be quite choppy and this little boat can’t take too many waves. We have been quite lucky!

    I did some up and down walking on the trail and saw the bunker we had seen from the boat. The Nazis occupied the town for three years and there were many bombardments. It’s so sobering to see a reminder of how horrible things were years ago.

    One last dinner will be in another highly rated place, which I was able to reserve on Wednesday when we got here. If it’s anything like last night’s meal in Osteria (caprese salad, seafood ravioli for Joe and pesto for me), we will be well fed!    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsHeading to Tuscany
    212
    Day 12

    Another travel day

    September 16, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    Back on the train to Pisa to connect to the train to Lucca. All of this is a little hard on Joe but he’s been a trooper. Up and down the stairs, crowd huddling in the shade, one person says—I just heard the platform was changed. The masses move to the stairs. Another says —no that’s a different train. Finally a real Trenitalia person appears and tells us to stay put. Then the train arrives and there is more confusion. Nothing that anyone who has traveled by train in Italy hasn’t experienced. And I am not knocking Italian trains. They put US trains to shame a million times over. Connection in Pisa was effortless, and even though I could not figure out how to get my ticket stamped, the very nice men in uniforms just told us to sit down and not worry. Note to self: next time, make sure to use the Trenitalia app. Much easier.

    Our hotel is in the middle of the historic center and about a 30 minute walk in Joe time from the train station. We walked because our B&B didn’t open till 2 pm. It was sunny and a bit hot but we went straight through the historic center.

    Joe napped while I walked around. I went to the plaza built where the Roman amphitheater once was and two pretty stunning Romanesque churches. All the columns and capitals were from Roman temples, so no display of Romanesque inside.

    After Joe’s nap and shower we grabbed a couple of slices of pizza from a place where the 35-50 person line had evaporated. Then the aimless walking took us to the entrance of San Giovanni, another Romanesque church that sits on a 9th century crypt, which sits on a 4th century baptistery, which sits on a 1st C BC Roman villa. Unfortunately no entrance was possible because of the Puccini (who’s from Lucca) celebration. But we learned there would be an opera concert in the church this evening. A performance of some “ greatest hits.” So we bought the tickets and had a light snack in a café nearby. In a beautiful square. Where we are waiting till concert time. This is a charming place, no doubt about it. Some tourists but most definitely a real city.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsHeading to Tuscany
    1
    Day 12

    Opera in the evening.

    September 16, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    At our Puccini celebration concert, we heard bits and pieces from Madame Butterfly, Toscana, Turandot, La Boheme. One tenor and one mezzo-soprano who alternated. Then a couple of pieces together. I’m no opera expert but even I recognized something from Madam Butterfly! Very fun in a Romanesque church no less.

    Then we took a stroll around the lit-up cathedral, followed by a light dinner in a cute café restaurant we passed on our way back to the hotel. This was a very nice intro to Lucca.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsHeading to Tuscany
    311
    Day 13

    Tourist day in Lucca

    September 17, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    I got back from my early morning walk at about 9:15, and based on Joe’s response, I was not too optimistic about how our day would unfold. But two cappuccinos and a big breakfast later, he was ready to go.

    The cathedral visit, and seeing the archaeological excavation under San Giovanni, were both top notch. All these layers, and bits and pieces of each layer remain, going back to the Romans from about 2 C BC. It was fun to climb around the sub-church layer, where archaelogists had identified the villa, the early Christian church, the Baptistery, and even a 12 C church destroyed later that century to make way for the current church. I climbed the two bell towers while Joe waited patiently. The Cathedral has an 8 C Volto Santo, which is a wooden crucifixion that comes with the tradition/legend that it was carved by Nicodemus shortly after the Resurrection. Carbon dating disproves that theory, but it has been confirmed as being from the 700s. They are currently doing serious renovation work on the cross and figure of Christ, so it is not hanging in its chapel. But the work space is glass-enclosed, so you can watch the work when it’s in process.

    After the cathedral and church, we found ourselves on the 16-17 C walls that surround the city. They replaced the original Roman walls, and the later medieval walls, expanding the perimeter of the city as they went. This is now an absolutely wonderful 5 km Via Verde - lots of bikes and carts and walkers on a shaded path that has multiple access points within and without the walls. Joe and I walked about 3 km on the path, and I’ve walked the whole circle twice by myself — once in early morning and once when Joe went to take his nap.

    Since we hadn’t eaten any lunch, our last pre-nap stop was at a café outside one of my favorite churches - San Frediano, with a white marble facade (brought over from the Roman amphitheater) and 12C mosaics on top.

    We’re doing a zoom baby shower for my niece and her husband in a few hours, and I will be there!    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsHeading to Tuscany
    1
    1
    Day 14

    Another travel day.

    September 18, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    I decided to take a cab to the Lucca train station, though we had walked from there to our hotel when we arrived in Lucca. The whole trip to Siena was very easy. Two regional trains with a 20 minute transfer in Florence. On arrival in Siena, I continued the luxury travel theme and decided to take a cab, because the walk would be straight up and tough for Joe. Unfortunately, there were about 10 parties in front of us and it took us almost a full hour to get to the front of the line and hop in a cab. Apparently, Siena’s cab contingent dropped to under 50 during covid and is now up to 54. But oh well.

    Our hotel is right in the middle of the historic center, very convenient. I had to manage cathedral tickets again to account for Joe not climbing the tower. With timed entry and different tickets to visit different things, it was a bit complicated but I managed. After a quick lunch, Joe took a nap and I headed to the porta del cielo, which took us up and around the cathedral dome. I had about another 90 minutes to just walk and get oriented. This is a tremendously beautiful city, just wow. It has been a bit cloudy this afternoon, but that doesn’t detract from the medieval and gothic beauty.

    We ate dinner in a slightly upscale place called Tre Cristi. It’s about two minutes from the hotel, which was good for Joe. He was feeling good after dinner so we walked to the main square and then on up to the cathedral, both beautifully lit up at night.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsHeading to Tuscany
    2132
    Day 15

    Cathedral Day

    September 19, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    I decided to head out in a new direction this morning before breakfast. Unfortunately, I didn’t know that the data I had bought as part of Verizon’s “international plan” was about to expire. I had quite the time wandering lost in the early morning, and Joe was happy to keep on sleeping!

    We spent most of the day in the cathedral, the baptistry, the crypt, and the museum. With two breaks in the duomo square café for aqua frizzante. It was a great visit. The exterior of the cathedral (mostly 13 C) is an unbelievable frenzy of columns, capitals, arches, and more. The cathedral’s marble floors, decorated with biblical and mythological scenes in the 14-16C, are uncovered only for a few months of the year, and we were lucky to see them. But my favorite was the crypt, the ancient church that lies under the current cathedral. It was only discovered in 1999, I read, and it has some beautiful 13C frescoes of Christ’s life. In the museum, there is a walk several hundred steps up to a great “vista panoramica.” Joe sat patiently in a very airconditioned gallery in front of a priceless Madona and child.

    We had a light lunch in the main square, nothing great (except for the view), but enough to hold us till dinner. When I left Joe back in the hotel for his afternoon rest/nap, my plan had been to climb the Torre Mangia in the main square. Not sure why I hadn’t figured that the tickets were likely to be sold out, and so they were. My other choices were the Pinacoteca, which houses the best collection of Siena romanesque, and the San Domenico church, where the severed head of Santa Catarina de Siena is in a reliquary for all to see (her body is in Rome). I started with the Pinacoteca, and found some medieval pilgrims begging, but no Santiago. Then I walked over to San Domenico, where I didn’t spend much time with the gruesomeness, but did enjoy the walk and got terrific views of the cathedral from below.

    Dinner tonight in Siena at a very highly rated place, though it may be wasted on my un-foodie palette . Joe is still holding up very well, and remembers that he is in Siena!    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsHeading to Tuscany
    1132
    Day 16

    Repositioning Day

    September 20, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    Just like the cruise ships that move from summer in the Mediterranean to winter in the Caribbean, we needed to reposition ourselves back to Florence. Our flight leaves from there very early tomorrow morning.

    When I woke up this morning, it occurred to me that I had time to climb the Torre Mangia. So I left notes all over for Joe, in case he woke up, telling him I would be back no later than 11. I had a quick breakfast, and got myself to the ticket line. Since I was early, I was able to get in the first group to go up. About 25 at a time, and a good little bit of cardio to get to the top with its great views. I met a Canadian couple who, like me, is always unable to resist the temptation to climb a tower, climb a castle, climb whatever happens to be there to climb.

    I was back at the hotel and able to bring Joe up a tray for breakfast, so he got a good sleep today. We’ll make up for that tomorrow, with a 4:45 departure for the airport.

    We left the hotel a little after noon and walked through old Siena one more time. I haven’t done any shopping, but I couldn’t resist getting something for my granddaughter who loves drawing and painting. She would have loved that store! Then a few minutes in Piazza Salemberi listening to the cellist playing, and finally on to the bus stop.

    When we got to Florence, we had a short walk to our hotel — unfortunately the place we spent the week had no availability for today, so I just booked something near the station. Turns out it is a stone’s throw from the church I had slightly regretted missing, so I headed over there while Joe took a nap.

    Santa María Novella can be summed up in one word - frescoes! They are everywhere, inside the church, in the cloisters, many in excellent condition from the 14 and 15 C. The nave is long and very high with romanesque barrel vaults. I remembered that Nils had asked about a Giotto crucifixion, so I was delighted to see it hanging in the nave. This is definitely a not-to-be-missed church if you like romanesque and early gothic.

    One last dinner in Florence, then one heck of an early morning to the airport.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsHeading to Tuscany
    Day 18

    Travel day —Home again

    September 22, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Yesterday was the day that makes you wonder whether you’re crazy to keep on traveling. We had a 7 am flight from Florence to Madrid. Though it was all booked on one ticket with American, that first leg was on Vueling, which is a low cost airline. That’s fine but for some reason they were unable to give me my boarding passes for the rest of the trip and told me that I would have to get them in Madrid. And then, even though we had business tickets, the lounge wasn’t an option because our first leg was on a low cost. Not a huge deal, but things were crazy crowded and the coffee was very bad. Probably wouldn’t have been much better in the lounge though.

    Once in Madrid, getting those boarding passes was not easy. There is one, yes only one, customer service desk in T4 where these boarding passes could be obtained. The line was slow, and the Iberia customer service representatives did not have an endless reservoir of patience. Luckily we had about 3 hours in between planes, so we were able to navigate it and still had about an hour in the lounge to gird our loins for what was to come next. Joe had a banana and a glass of white wine, interesting combo. The one advantage of this segment of the trip is that since we went through security in the Schengen zone (Florence), we didn’t have to go through security again to get to T4 and our international flight in Madrid.

    The Iberia flight to Boston was fine (why Boston, you may ask - well it all had to do with the cheapest business tickets I could find!). But once in Boston things got hectic and confusing again. I couldn’t recheck our luggage in the international terminal — even though we had carryons, I always check them on the way home. Since our ticket was booked on American, we had to take the luggage over to the domestic terminal. This requires a ride on a transfer bus that seems to come whenever the driver feels like making the rounds. In fact I remembered from one of my caminos flying from Boston and having to ask a car rental bus driver to take me over to the international terminal because the clock was ticking and the transfer bus was no where to be found. Note to self: no more international transfers in Boston. But we made it to Terminal B, checked in again, got through security again, and got to our gate. Our Iberia flight had been 40 minutes late, but luckily (at least for this leg) our flight from Boston to Chicago was also late. So we made the connection.

    Once in Chicago, we had about 30 minutes to get from L gates all the way to the end of G. Joe got a good cardio workout, probably the best he’s had in a long time. As we were walking down G, we heard an announcement that our flight was in final boarding, so I ran ahead, let them know we were here, then ran back to luckily find Joe making his way towards our gate. We made it, got to Champaign, and thought nothing about having to sit for a half hour waiting for the Uber to get home. That was a luxury!

    I don’t expect anyone to really read this rant, but I do like to have a record of it so I can remind myself that we can deal with really bad travel days. Joe suggested this morning that I start planning another trip to Italy, but I think I’ll wait a while for that.    Read more

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