Tuscany, Part 2

After our trip to Lucca, we decided the following day to do our housework and the next day we worked on our journal.   We visited the Internet Cafe we had found and had an e-mail from our friend Clive, who had spent time in Tuscany and mentioned San Gimignano, which we decided we should see.

5th May, 2000

As we descended the hill towards Montecatini Terme, we stopped to photograph the house on the side of the hill, shown near right, because unusually the light was very clear.  Frequently on warm days there was a haze in the valley.

Known as the Manhattan of Tuscany, the town has a remarkable skyline of towers that look like sky scrapers from a distance.   In reality, these are the tower houses of wealthy families of times gone by, who showed off in this way.   We had seen towers in other hill top towns, but usually only a single one.  Apparently, these tower houses were a symbol of power and in the Middle Ages and were torn down as power was centralised and towns were defeated in war.  Those at San Gimignano survived because the town voluntarily subjected itself to the rule of Florence and no one bothered to pull them down.

We entered the town through an impressive gate in its largely intact walls and were in a street of mediaeval houses in a fine state of preservation.       

We spotted an empty Barber's shop and David was ordered in for a long-overdue trim, as shown far left.   The back yard of a wine shop provided a good vantage point to look at the towers, shown left.

We walked up to the Piazza della Cisterna, shown in the pictures below left and centre.    In the centre of the square is the large cistern, once used to hold the town's water.  

Adjoining the Piazza della Cisterna is the Piazza Duomo, shown above right and below left, with the Tourist Office where we enquired of the Internet.   On the building, shown below left, you can see numerous recesses hacked into the stonework.   On the building to its side were to be seen a couple of bronze details, one of which is shown below centre and which we presumed were family crests, more of which had originally adorned the first building.  

We found the Internet cafe but it had a single terminal, with a queue of would-be users, so we contented ourselves with a look at one of the minor town gates, shown below right, before setting off for the return journey to camp.

6th May, 2000

The previous day's trip through the countryside had amazed us, with beautiful "Tuscany scenes" which we had not really seen between Pisa and Florence.    Today we planned to drive the S222 through Chiantishire.   We took the motorway to the south of Florence for speed and were soon on the Chianti road.    If yesterday had been amazing, today was mind-blowing and we had to keep stopping to admire the incredible scenery, shown in the photographs below.  

Eventually, after innumerable stops, we arrived at Siena and, once again, had to park outside the main town and hike in.   Almost everywhere we have been, major buildings have been clad in scaffolding and Siena was not to disappoint.   The Duomo, with its campanile, is shown below left.   Below centre is a distant view of the Torre del Magnia in the Campo and right the view looking back at San Domenico, near where we had left the car.

Suddenly, we caught a glimpse of the Campo - the huge, sloping square around which horses are raced at great risk to themselves and their riders.   The Torre del Mangia is shown again, below left, and centre is the Cappella di Piazza, built to celebrate the end of the plague in 1348.   The view across the square is shown below right.

On the far left is the view across the square from the Torre and in the centre the Fonte Gaia, crowded with sightseers.  Around the square various flags flew and, in a courtyard we came across a practice flag waving session, shown below right.

As we made our way to the Duomo, a rain shower added urgency and a considerable crowd around the doors with a like mind.    The facade of the Duomo, with its gilding, is shown below left (after the rain had stopped), followed by various views of the interior.

As we left the Duomo and were looking at the old, unfinished extension, we were treated to a spectacle of police cars, sirens wailing, tyre screaming, racing across the Piazza del Duomo so quickly that it was over before we could get our camera switched on.   TV camera crews were waiting at the Police Station, so we concluded it was some high-profile arrest.   We returned down the narrow alleys, shown right, to our car.

We decided to try the local supermarket as the one near camp was a bit restricted and made our way to the south of Siena from where, after shopping, we were able to pick up the motorway for a quick return to base.   Without doubt this day was the highlight of our trip to Tuscany.   While Florence had been an ambition for some years, had we flown to Pisa and been bussed to Florence, we would never have seen the real Tuscan countryside. 

7th to 10th May, 2000

After our hectic touring, we had a rest day on the 7th, watched the Spanish Grand Prix and began work on our journal.   Kate broke a tooth on a tough crust and we wondered whether this was going to be a major problem.   On the Monday the post from England arrived at last and we settled down to dealing with various minor problems.    Our accountant, Alan, phoned with another minor problem and mentioned that he and Mary had been in Montecatini Terme only a few days previously and had cycled from Florence to Pisa.  (Wow!)

Kate's tooth did not seem to be too much of a problem, but David suffered an unusual predicament with a piece of wax falling into his ear, making him stone deaf in one ear.   With duff teeth and ears, we were beginning to look and feel a bit decrepit.   We had planned to get the boat to Sicily on the Wednesday, but were seriously considering whether we dare.   In the camp office, Kate was able to find the address of a local dentist and we set off to see what could be done about her tooth, which was becoming a bit sensitive.   David found the drive with a deaf ear most unnerving.   The dentist coated Kate's tooth and we returned.    A trip to a doctor to sort out the ear seemed a definite possibility, but first we tried olive oil, followed by lots of soapy water and, after about an hour's fiddling about, the hearing returned - much to our relief.

Firing on all cylinders, we set off back to town to book the ferry.   As we were leaving, we noticed that a British rig had arrived and stopped briefly to say hello.   We booked the ferry, collected Kate's pictures from the one-hour photo shop, and returned to start packing for the move.

We dined in the camp restaurant that night with our new-found British friends, Mike and Diana.   Diana had an Italian Grandmother from near Trieste and had, at the age of four, been fluent in the language.  She explained that she still spoke Italian like a four-year old, as after that they moved to England and she had never studied the language.   It was good enough, however, to order us an excellent meal, over which we compared notes.

On the Tuesday, we did the washing and, between rain showers, washed the car and readied ourselves to move out the next day.

We stopped for a last chat with the Brits, before leaving for a leisurely drive to Livorno to catch the night ferry.   We arrived by about 3 p.m. at the port area, shown below, which was to say the least, a bit grotty, but we had little choice but to hang around in the intense heat of the sun, finding what shade we could, until it came time to load which we were told would be 8 p.m.   We were befriended by a truckie called Paolo, who spoke no English, but insisted on conversing with us - mostly by sign language    He did not need asking twice to pose for the camera.   He presented us with two lemons which he had lifted from the ticket office.   He was a regular, well known in the office and, as far as we could judge, by most of the other truckies and, as we were to see later, half the crew.  We had earlier looked, without success, for loos and refreshments, but Paolo knew exactly where it was and bought us a coffee each.

Unsure of the width of the loading ramps, we took off our extended mirrors, which make manoeuvring difficult as they stick out so far and people tend to walk into them.    This turned out to be a big mistake as the ferry is not a "Ro-ro" and it is necessary to turn round on the deck and reverse.  The ferry named the Victory is shown above right.   It took over three hours to empty the ferry as much of its cargo was trailers needing the a fleet of tractors. 

We got our orders to load and drove carefully up the very uneven ramp expecting to hear the scraping of our tow bracket.    Once on the deck it was obviously much bigger than we had thought and we easily did a U turn as instructed.     Reversing the fifty feet down a lane flanked with tough looking railings was another matter.   Without the extra mirrors, it is not possible to see the side of the caravan and judge where one is going and David made a right mess of the operation.

Eventually we got the rig almost into place and lugged our over-night stuff up to our cabin, which had a port-hole facing forward.  We had a meal in the self-service cafe and then went on deck to watch the departure, shown right, which was on time at 11 p.m.  We retired early, with David climbing a rickety ladder to the top bunk.

Last updated:  18/03/01