A Panda to Tuscany++

[Jacques Vert]

Yet more Siena:

Apparently the good folks around here thought the Duomo wasn’t big enough so they decided to extend it turning the main aisle (nave) into the cross aisle (transept), and extending the original transept to form the new main body of the church. Unfortunately the Plague of the mid 1300’s got in the way and the reno was never finished:



Would have been bloody huge if they had finished it. Those cars are parked in what would have been the new nave. But the views from the top of the new completed façade are superb:

 

[Jacques Vert]

And there is the inside of the Duomo, the crypt, the baptistery, and a chapel:

 

[RB]

Enjoying reading about your journey. We always seem to have a good time in Italy

 

[ellen10]

Loving the photos and trip report.
Brings back great memories.
Siena is indeed beautiful we climbed the stairs to the top of the campanile and rewarded ourselves with seats at an outdoor cafe people watching and dining on delicious melon and proscuitto, followed by drinks and nibbles.
We too loved the beautiful marble floor in the Duomo.

Looking froward to more.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Siena is indeed beautiful we climbed the stairs to the top of the campanile and rewarded ourselves with seats at an outdoor cafe people watching and dining on delicious melon and proscuitto, followed by drinks and nibbles.

As noted in my post and photos, we climbed the facade on the unfinished extensions instead of the Campanile and also rewarded ourselves with lunch in the Piazza; but we swapped the proscuitto for prosecco!

One thing I should say about Prosecco: it is commonly referred to as a dry sparkling wine. Some bottles are labelled "extra dry". In fact, even the extra dry is often sweeter than a curvee or demi-sec from France. As explained to me by one knowledgeable waiter: It is dry compared to Spumante!

I seem to have developed a taste for it.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Day 16: Monteriggioni, Colle di Val d’Elsa & Volterra

Monteriggioni is a fortress built in 1214-1219 to help defend the area controlled by Siena from those buggers in Florence. It is also on the medieval Pilgrim’s route from Canterbury to Rome referred to as the Via Francigena. I understand that the route basically connected Abbeys and passed through Lucca, San Gimignano and Siena on the way to/from Rome and varied between a couple of routes as the various towns’ influence grained and waned.











A little bit of rain here so onto the next stop.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Colle di Val d'Elsa

The Colle di Val d’Elsa is a well preserved medieval town situated on a hill overlooking the Elsa Valley. Some great views over the valley and a couple of nice places for an Aperitivo.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Volterra

Volterra is yet another well preserved walled medieval town SW of San Gimignano.





We had the best pizza since we arrived in Italy at a place called Alla Vecchia Maniera, on Via Ricciarelli, and a good price as well.



The piazza boss:



There is also the remains of a Roman theatre but not in good shape.

 

[Jacques Vert]

And in Volterra we stumbled upon this couple:



Hang on, isn't that bloke a bit far from home?



Was this where they had been a little earlier?



Unfortunately we were not invited to stay for the reception; but I do think we managed to sneak into the background of one of their photos.

 

[sergeyvzn]

what a wonderful report! Reminds me of our two weeks in Italy in 2009 including Florence...Tuscany is such a magic place. Also a good idea to go there in an off-peak season...my only little criticism is that you have referred to Tuscany as "Toscano" (masculine) here in the report whereas it's actually "Toscana" (feminine)
Enjoy Italy!

 

[Jacques Vert]

...my only little criticism is that you have referred to Tuscany as "Toscano" (masculine) here in the report whereas it's actually "Toscana" (feminine)
Enjoy Italy!

Thank you for correcting me. One of the things about AFF is that you are always learning. If only I could go back and edit those earlier posts.

Since your post I have checked and noticed that Toscano is sometimes used as an adjective, presumably where the accompanying noun is masculine (similar to French)?

 

[sergeyvzn]

That's right e.g. il vino toscano - the Tuscan wine

 

[Jacques Vert]

what a wonderful report! Reminds me of our two weeks in Italy in 2009 including Florence...Tuscany is such a magic place. Also a good idea to go there in an off-peak season...

The crowds haven't been too bad; although there are still plenty of people about. I hate to think what it must be like in summer.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Day 17: Drive to Verona

From Siena we headed for Verona via Bologna. A fair day’s drive but first we cut across the mountains to the factory outlet stores called The Mall near the Autostrada at Leccio Reggello, SE of Florence.

I understand they run bus tours from Florence to here. In the Gucci outlet, +1 saw a nice handbag and discovered it had been reduced from EUR1,400 to a mere 800 – BARGAIN! Still there were plenty of Euros crossing the counter. Needless to say we didn't feel the need to buy one.

So we cut our visit short and headed to Bologna for lunch and a quick tour of the city. I wouldn’t go so far as to say grimy but it certainly was far less attractive than any other town we have visited so far.





A change of architect half way?





So after a quick walk around the main Piazza we continued onto Verona where we stayed at the Holiday Inn Verona Congress Centre. A fairly typical Holiday Inn, but right next to the exit from the Autostrada and the Regional highway into town, about a 15 minute drive. The Autostrada has a toll of 1-00 which is not much but the regional road is just as quick but perhaps a little less easy navigation-wise (remember the GPS).
Plenty of free parking here at the HI and there are some sort of discount outlets in the adjacent building, including an excellent discount shoe store; now how do I get all those shoes into my carry-on?

 

[Jacques Vert]

+1 has been fascinated by the small cars and parking.

This is the smallest we have found so far:



And the parking is even more chaotic than their driving:





No, this guy wasn't parked in; we actually watched him park it.

 

[Jacques Vert]

I liked Verona. Nice ambience, clean, light and airy, well maintained. We bought a 24hr Verona card (EUR15) which included free entry (and queue-jumping) to all museums and attractions. It also includes free public transport on the buses. Only thing is there are no buses! Well not in the old town where you spend most, if not all, your time; at least I didn’t see any. Not really a problem because the old town is not that big and is easy to walk around.







There is a Roman amphitheatre here too, but this one is in much better shape than the one at Volterra. In fact, it is still in use today and they were setting up for a concert of some sort while we were there. I’m sure the original shareholders would have gotten their capital back by now but the on-going maintenance costs must surely impact on their profits.

 

[Jacques Vert]

We also saw Juliet’s house and balcony, as well as her bed and tomb:





Something funny here, wasn’t Romeo and Juliet a fictional story? Well don’t let the truth get in the way when there is money to be made and tourists to be fleeced.

There are some wonderful vistas from the hill on the other side of the river, the Piazzale Castel San Pietro.



There is a lift to near the top of the hill but it is currently out of action and may have been for some time.

You know there was serious money in this town centuries ago when you walk over bridges and footpaths made from marble.

A lovely old bridge:

 

[ellen10]

Love the trip update and photos.
We spent 4 days in Bologna and really enjoyed our stay. Definitely a foodie haven, we did a great walking tour there and a food tour into the countryside.
Love the parked car photos. It is always worried me with parking our rental car. I've seen how those Italian drivers have no hesitation in backing to and fro into the car in front and back.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Love the parked car photos. It is always worried me with parking our rental car. I've seen how those Italian drivers have no hesitation in backing to and fro into the car in front and back.

Yes, we watched a couple of these "park by feel" operators. Definitely need to have rental excess as part of the travel insurance.

Then there was the lady in Nice who decided to park a full size station wagon into a space about half the size of the Panda; "she won't get that in there" I said. I went around the block so I could get the spot after she gave up. When I came back, there it was, parked perfectly; no idea how she got it in there.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Bellagio

Bellagio is situated on a point/headland which splits the southern end of Lago Como into two halves.

The Lonely Planet says the road into Portofino is narrow, winding and scary; it has nothing on the one into Bellagio from the east and the one to Como on the western side of the peninsula is worse! Now the Panda is not a big car, about the size of a Getz, but this road is so narrow that I turned the wing mirrors into the side of the car so I would not sideswipe the on-coming traffic or the buildings on our side of the road. And I left them that way for about 50km!

As a result, there were far less tourists here than one would expect and what a beautiful place:











After lunch overlooking Lake Como, we drove to the Crowne Plaza at Malpensa airport (Milano International) where we were booked for two nights. The CP here is OK but by no means the nicest we have stayed in. They did however give me both a free drink voucher and a 600 points bonus voucher so not all bad.