My all-Italian summer continues and we're welcoming some very special guests... It's my mum's second visit and my grandma is making her first ever visit to Tuscany, so I'm quite excited!
A very late 23.15 pick up from Pisa airport means we arrive home at 1am. Our landlady Lucia goes loopy the next morning...
San Gimignano
Thursday and it's straight down to business with a day trip to San Gimignano. We have lunch in the Neapolitan deli and would you believe it the guy tries to rip us off! So last time there then... We pick ourselves up and get back on track with ice cream from our favourite gelateria and wander round the medievil streets and browse in the shops. Very satisfied we return home and knock up some salmon and risotto Milanese for dinner which we enjoy with our San Andrea wine and catch up on Worthing gossip.
Antonio and Nilla - Ferragosto
My cousin Antonio and his wife Nilla have paid the 84 euro train fair (each) to come and see us from Naples for the day! They are staying overnight in Lucia's spare bedsit.
I drive the ladies into Florence and drop mum and Annette off at Piazzale. I then take grandma to the station to meet Antonio and Nilla. We all drive up to Piazzale for Antonio's first view of Florence... After dumping the car off we take the bus down to the centre. What follows is the quickest tour of the city I am ever likely to conduct. From the Pontevecchio to Piazza Signoria, the Duomo and San Lorenzo without catching a breath! Antonio is eager to see as much as possible! The temperature is close to 40°C and we are sweltering. We stop for a breather and souvenir purchasing at the Mercato Nuovo and a very hearty buffet lunch near San Lorenzo. As today is a national holiday the busses are taking ages to arrive.
Antonio and Nilla have brought copious amounts of food from Naples (obviously they were a bit sceptical about Tuscan cuisine...) including Buffalo mozerella, provolone cheese, salami and limoncello! Annette knocks up a pretty fancy meal while our guests relax in our woods, catching up on news and playing cards!
It's great to see Antonio, I haven't seen him in 7 years. We enjoy our dinner whch is crostini, two different pasta dishes, chicken, veg. and of course the ice cream. By 10.30 we are all completely exhausted and as I have to drive them back to the station at 7.30 am, so we hit the sack.
Saturday and after dropping Antonio and Nilla of at the station and bidding our fond farewells we decide to have a relaxing day. So we make a picnic, put on our swimming cossies and head to the outdoor pool in Greve for some serious sunbathing and swimming and even manage a game of table tenis. After a light dinner in the evening, we pop into Impruneta where they are staging some musical evenings (including the Reading Philharmonic!) and have put up an outside bar. They are doing Brunello wine by the glass... too good to pass up!
Siena
Sunday and mum and grandma have a lie-in so it's a late start to our Siena trip. We pack up the picnic bag and stop in Mercatale for lunch. After a coffee stop in San Casciano we're on our way to Siena...Yesterday we saw some of the Palio horse race on tv and the Caterpillar neighbourhood were victorious, so today their yellow and green flags are adorning buildings everywhere. I drop the ladies off near Piazza del Campo and get escorted out of the historic centre by the Polizie Municipale! I feign ignorance as a foreigner of course...
I park up and meet them in the Campo. We enjoy an ice cream and then wander up to the main cathedral. I take mum and grandma inside and show them the Michelangelo and Bernini sculptures and and we even get a peak at the Piccolimini library with the lovely Pinturrichio frescoes.
We've managed to book a table at a place we spotted last year, but couldn't get a table then, the Taverna di San Giuseppe. We make our way here and arrive at 8.30pm. It turns out to be a big hit! Very atmospheric and the food is wonderful... we enjoy gorgonzola, honey and pear crostini and some yummy aubergine, ham and pecorino cheese parcels. For main course we have wild boar, osso buco, a porterhouse steak in a Brunello sauce and pork with figs mmm... and we even squeeze in some wicked desserts! A monumental meal...
Monday is slightly more relaxing. Annette stays at home (still studying for her DELTA exam) while I drive mum and grandma to Radda, on a glorious afternoon. We take a very gentle stroll around this small, quaint town, finishing up at bar Dante. The ladies have an iced lemon drink and me, a glass of Brunello 'I Bricci' wine... what else!
For our final dinner grandma knocks up her speciality 'pasta e fagioli', our veal and finishing up with vin santo and cantuccini of course!
Tuesday and it's their last day... Their chosen destination is Arezzo. Again Annette is staying behind to study.
Badia a Coltibuono
First stop is Badia a Coltibuono, an 11th century Vallombrossan monastery, where I've heard the wine is quite good! We find the enoteca and drive up to the abbey. It is a beautiful setting, with huge cedar trees and incredible views towards Gaiole. Grandma pops into the chapel to say a prayer and light a candle and I check out the restaurant which looks rather interesting, for another time... We drive back down to the shop and enoteca for some wine tasting and I purchase a bottle.
Arezzo
After failing to find Castello di Brolio we head on to Arezzo. Somehow I manage to find a parking spot right next to the main square. We find a nice little place for lunch in the shape of a little deli which has a few tables and chairs out the back. So we tuck into pannini with prosciuto and pecorino, anchovies and pepperoni all washed down with some local red wine. Grandma gets chatting and makes friends with 3 ladies working in the shop.
Afterwards we walk into the Piazza Grande, made famous by the film 'La Vita e Bella', they both enjoy themselves and we take a stroll down 'Corso Italia' and stop for a disappointingly lukewarm cappuccino at Carraturo...
I park up and meet them in the Campo. We enjoy an ice cream and then wander up to the main cathedral. I take mum and grandma inside and show them the Michelangelo and Bernini sculptures and and we even get a peak at the Piccolimini library with the lovely Pinturrichio frescoes.
We've managed to book a table at a place we spotted last year, but couldn't get a table then, the Taverna di San Giuseppe. We make our way here and arrive at 8.30pm. It turns out to be a big hit! Very atmospheric and the food is wonderful... we enjoy gorgonzola, honey and pear crostini and some yummy aubergine, ham and pecorino cheese parcels. For main course we have wild boar, osso buco, a porterhouse steak in a Brunello sauce and pork with figs mmm... and we even squeeze in some wicked desserts! A monumental meal...
Monday is slightly more relaxing. Annette stays at home (still studying for her DELTA exam) while I drive mum and grandma to Radda, on a glorious afternoon. We take a very gentle stroll around this small, quaint town, finishing up at bar Dante. The ladies have an iced lemon drink and me, a glass of Brunello 'I Bricci' wine... what else!
For our final dinner grandma knocks up her speciality 'pasta e fagioli', our veal and finishing up with vin santo and cantuccini of course!
Tuesday and it's their last day... Their chosen destination is Arezzo. Again Annette is staying behind to study.
Badia a Coltibuono
First stop is Badia a Coltibuono, an 11th century Vallombrossan monastery, where I've heard the wine is quite good! We find the enoteca and drive up to the abbey. It is a beautiful setting, with huge cedar trees and incredible views towards Gaiole. Grandma pops into the chapel to say a prayer and light a candle and I check out the restaurant which looks rather interesting, for another time... We drive back down to the shop and enoteca for some wine tasting and I purchase a bottle.
Arezzo
After failing to find Castello di Brolio we head on to Arezzo. Somehow I manage to find a parking spot right next to the main square. We find a nice little place for lunch in the shape of a little deli which has a few tables and chairs out the back. So we tuck into pannini with prosciuto and pecorino, anchovies and pepperoni all washed down with some local red wine. Grandma gets chatting and makes friends with 3 ladies working in the shop.
Afterwards we walk into the Piazza Grande, made famous by the film 'La Vita e Bella', they both enjoy themselves and we take a stroll down 'Corso Italia' and stop for a disappointingly lukewarm cappuccino at Carraturo...
It's time to go and I rescue the car and meet them down the hill and we make our way home.
A quick wash and change of clothes and we're out for our last evening on the town... La Paglietta is the destination and as usual we order far too much food, but as usual it's all fab! Grandma takes a fancy to one of the waiters, who looks about 90 years old! Grandma asks us whether we think he still has all his beans??? I think she has had rather a lot to drink! Afterwards we drive into Greve where there is a band playing some traditional music, everyone is in a dancing mood and mum and grandma join in! I think they've enjoyed their holiday? Only the 9am departure from Pisa airport and a safe journey home...
(Original journal entry 20/8/03)
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