141. Luminari di San Ranieri - Pisa

After witnessing the San Giovanni celebrations in Florence and in particular the fireworks on several occasions, this year we've decided to check out neighbouring Pisa's version of their patron saint's day, or evening to be specific, the lesser known San Ranieri.

We make the 80 km drive to Pisa after work and arrive at around 9.30 pm. Of course we are usually here to visit the leaning tower with guests, so it's interesting to see another side of the city. On this special day parking is a problem, but eventually we find a space! The centre of Pisa has been turned into a huge street market and the place is heaving with bodies!

We head to the river Arno, where all the action seems to be and are greeted with a spectacular sight... all along the river candles have been placed around doors and windows - apparently some 70,000 of them! illuminating the buildings. At just after 11 pm there is a firework display and we both agree it is a little better than the one in Florence!

The celebrations continue well after midnight and we stay soaking up the atmosphere...

Viva Pisa!

(Original journal entry 16/6/04)

95. Bernice and Laura

Day 1. Pisa

Our return home after 9 days in Sardegna and 1 in Rome is to a house full of wasps! So we sleep in Lucia’s spare bedsit.

Two days of cleaning and shopping ensue, in preparation for our first visitors of the summer, Annette’s niece, Bernice and her friend, Laura. We pick them up from Pisa airport at 3.45pm and then drive into town for the obligatory stroll round the Campo dei Miracoli. Only this time we actually get to go up the tower! They’ve finished restoring it and the limited number of people allowed to go up has been extended! It’s a surreal experience as the lean makes it appear as though you are walking down when infact you are walking up! We also have a peak at Pisa’s ‘other’ square, Piazza dei Cavaliere, which is slightly disappointing...

Home and dinner and we catch up on what’s new in Worthing! Rounding off a pleasant first half day.

Day 2
 

After 100 days without rain the heavens finally open! No problem as we're in Florence for the day and the girls get to see that big 'Dave' guy at the Accademia and I get to buy those new 'And1' trainers I've had my eyes on! Ice cream in Piazza Signoria and panoramic views up Piazzale bring day 2 to a close.
 
Day 3, Friday and the sun is back out for our trip to San Gimignano. We stop for a picnic lunch at our usual spot on the Francigena and spend a few hours in the medievil city - more ice cream in our favourite gelateria, with champelmo, vernaccia and chocolate and ginger flavours! Mmm
 
In the evening we treat the girls to a yummy meal at La Paglietta in San Polo
 

Saturday is beach day! A rather late start and we stop near the Villa San Andrea for some photos in this field of Sunflowers... well we are in Tuscany! Our next impromptu stop is in Bolgheri to see 'those' trees and means we don't hit the beach at Cala Violina until 1 o'clock... mad dogs and Englishmen! But the beach is beautiful, water crystal clear, the sun is out and the temperature is about 40° C. Unfortunately our stay is cut a little short due to a wasp invasion. It's just too hot even for them and so we head back to San Vincenzo for a sunset walk on the beach and shower. We stop for a wicked pizza in 'Number One' and at 10.30 pm the town is packed with young poseurs! We stroll around and buy some jumpers in the sales and the girls buy some gifts at the midnight market. This is the kind of evening it's impossible to have in England and one of the reasons we love Italy so much... We leave at 12.30am and get back home sometime around 3am!
 
Sunday and we all sleep till about 2pm! understandably... We have a lazy brunch outside in our woods and fall into our local pool at Greve for some 'waspless' swimming and sunbathing!
 
Monday and we spend all day at the pool, only tearing ourselves away for a pre-dinner aperitivo!
 
Tuesday and it's Bernice and Laura's last full day in Tuscany and market day in Florence at the Cascina park... We enjoy an early morning stroll with them and we pick up some plants and they buy some bargain clothes. We drive into the city and have lunch outside the Pitti palace and they get their first walk over the Ponte Vecchio. They are tempted by the street artists and so go in search of one worthy to immortaslize them in charcoal. Eventually they find an Algerian guy outside the Duomo and we spend a couple of hours in 42°C heat watching in amazement .
 

Back home to Greve and we cook up a late night meal and eat outside in the woods with some candles and scary stories to bring to an end a great week's holiday.
 
Wednesday and a 9.30am start for our drive to Pisa airport and last goodbyes, a very enjoyable week finishes where it started... However, rather than turn the car around we decide on another plan...
 
 
(Original journal entry 6/8/03)

21. 'Chas and Mave'

Spring is now in full bloom. Cream and purple Magnolia trees, bright yellow Mimosa, Forsythia, masses of lilac wisteria and wild irises have appeared along our driveway, although a passer by decides to try and pick some! Tiny lizards are darting about and I find a surprise in our wash room... 8 little chicks have just hatched!


Annette's mum and dad, Chas and Mavis, have arrived for a 10-day holiday to see where I could possibly have brought their beloved daughter!!!

They are just fresh from a 3 week holiday in Spain and this is their first time in Tuscany. It's Easter weekend and we have a week off work, so it should be a little more relaxing than when we had my mum.

It's an afternoon pick up at Florence airport, so before we drive back to Greve, just enough time to take them up Piazza Michelangelo, to build anticipation for the Renaissance city. The weather is great for their stay, 8 days of sun, 1 of cloud and only 1 day of rain!

Thursday and a nice leisurely day for us. We drive into Greve for cappuccino, followed by a picnic lunch up Montefioralle. We bump into a guy who offers to take us for a look around 'Casa Vespucci' Apparently the great explorer was born here!

 

Friday and Annette can't contain her desire to take Chas and Mavis to San Gimignano! We go by way of the Francigena, "look Mum! Don't miss the view!" We reach the 'many towered city' and head for 'that' deli, the Neapolitan 'il Ristoro' one and order the same huge bruschetta with the different toppings as last time. The owner recognizes us from last time and treats us to some wonderful 'Pastiera' Neapolitan cake! As we leave he also presents us with 3 enormous bags of pasta! We enjoy a stroll round this pretty medieval town and peruse the shops. We find a wonderful ceramic shop with a guy at the potter's wheel. They have these great mugs and we buy a couple. Also we spot another nice looking cafe, for another time...

Saturday and we have been invited to dinner by friends. In the morning we check out the market in Greve. We buy some plants for the house and I pick up a jacket for only 8 euro! We have a pleasant drive through to Panzano and Castellina and decide to have lunch back at home.

On Lucia's property there are some vineyards, an olive grove and small woods. In the woods there are a couple of picnic benches. So Annette knocks up a huge salad, inspired by the one we had at Baldovino's, with pesto, sun dried tomatoes and pine nuts and we enjoy a long, lazy lunch. Al fresco eating in March, now we kind of see why it was a good move coming to Italy!  In the evening we check out our closest restaurant, which is within walking distance up the hill, La Cantinetta. Chas and Mavis both have 'Ribollita' which is a kind of thick vegetable soup. Annette has gnocchi and I have Papardelle with a wild boar sauce. For main course, I have the sliced veal with peppers and porcini mushrooms, Annette has the rabbit and Chas and Mavis a char grilled veal and pork chop. All very tasty!

It's Easter weekend and Monday is bank holiday here too. It's called 'Pasquetta' or little Easter and the request is for a certain leaning tower... so Pisa it is then! The leaning tower is just outside the centre of the city of Pisa, which we haven't really checked out yet, although I don't think there's too much to see there. The 'Campo dei Miracoli', where the tower, church and Baptistery are is pretty spectacular though, a symphony of white marble and we have a pleasant time there.

On the way back we spot this tower on a hill and the road signs tell us is San Miniato... so we decide to investigate. It turns out to be a very pretty hill top town. The tower turns out to be the tower of Fredrick. Built in the 13th century, it was destroyed by the Germans, but reconstructed in 1958. There are some spectacular views of the Arno valley and we spot a cafe with an outside terrace overlooking the view. An interesting little detour.

Palazzo Medici Ricardi

Well it's the last day of our holiday (Not Chas and Mavis') and at last we bring them into Florence! Apart from Sunday, when we had a peek at the Cathedral, Gates of Paradise and Piazza S.S. Annunziata. Annette takes them over the Ponte Vecchio, while I park up. We book tickets to the Uffizi for tomorrow and then celebrate with an ice-cream! Chas orders a huge cone and manages to get more down his face than in his mouth, but then he is 78 bless him!

Annette takes them to see David in the Accademia, while, as I saw him a few weeks ago, opt for something new. The old Medici palace is my destination, after I negotiate buying a ticket. This is the spiritual home of the once great Medici family, before they took up residence in the Pitti Palace and where Michelangelo lived during his sculpting apprenticeship. It was built by Michelozzo in 1444, in favour to a more elaborate Brunelleschi design. It's a huge palace and in the grandiose courtyard a great sculpture of Orpheus by that artist hated by Michelangelo, Baccio Bandinelli.

The big draw here are the Benozzo Gozzoli frescoes. They are in a tiny chapel and you can only fit about 30 people in at a time for about 10 minutes. They are very impressive though. On three of the walls is told the story of the three wise men, but in a rural Tuscan setting! And including portraits of the Medici family. In addition to these lovely frescoes there is a pretty Madonna and child by Fillipo LIppi, a frescoed ceiling by Neapolitan artist, Luca Giordano, some medallions carved by Donatello and at the moment a temporary exhibition of Greek marble heads! Obviously a shadow of its former self, as many of the works of art that once adorned its walls are now in the Uffizi or Pitti Palace, but the Gozzoli frescoes were worth coming in for!

Wednesday and I have been hired as the unofficial guide for the Uffizi, seeing as it's my 3rd time in here, only slightly more qualified than the others! Chas and Mavis are suitably impressed, however I do notice that some masterpieces are absent, either being restored, like Caravaggio's Medusa and Raphael's Madonna with the Chaffinch or out on loan at other exhibitions.

For their last full day, Mavis is determined to visit Radda, as she met a woman on the plane whose daughter owns a bar there... so we drive up to Radda and lo and behold we find the bar and the daughter! I am rewarded with a very pleasant glass of Brunello wine and Mavis is happy.

We finish up with a visit to the castle of Verrazzano on the way home. This is the one time residence of Giovanni di Verrazzano, discoverer of the Hudson Bay in New York and look we can see our house at Olmastrino from here. Job done!

(Original journal entry 5/4/02)

19. Mum! - Our 1st house guest.

We've settled in nicely and after four months we're finally getting our first visitor. My mum is the first to break! She's booked a ten day trip and although she's half Italian and has been to Naples many times this is her first time in Tuscany. Obviously we're both still working, but with our unconventional timetables there will still be plenty of spaces to fit in some nice excursions... After catching a raucous 2-2 draw between Juventus and Inter at the Irish pub in Santa Maria Novella, I dash out to nearby Peretola airport for the 22.40 pick up, emotional welcome and the 1 hour drive back to Greve.



 Piazzale Michelangelo

Sunday and we're in the city, so our first port of call is Piazzale Michelangelo. This is the big square above Florence, it's one of my favourite spots and where you can see the whole city. It's the perfect place to start your tour of Florence, as you can point out all the landmarks and get an idea where everything is before you tackle it.
It's a nice sunny afternoon and the nearby ice cream parlour proves too much of a temptation!

Monday we're both working all day, so Mum gets a chance to relax in our olive grove and take in a bit of that glorious Tuscan sun!

Florence
Tuesday it's down to business. I drop Mum at the Cascine market, a seemingly 10 mile-long outdoor market in the Cascine park which sells absolutely everything. I pick her up after work and we enjoy a leisurely stroll through the historic centre of Florence and we take in some of the main sights, the Cathedral, bell tower and baptistry and Piazza Signoria. We walk over the Ponte Vecchio and finally end up at the Galleria del Accademia, where after a very short queue we are in to see Michelangelo's David, arguably the world's most famous statue. It's my second time here, but a chance to get re-acquainted with the big naked guy again!

David                                                Of course David is the crowning glory of one of the world's greatest artists. Sculpted from a piece of damaged marble that nobody thought was possible to recover. A 26 year-old Michelangelo crafted this 17 ft  masterpiece in only 3 years. Originally it was outside in Piazza Signoria, but in 1860 it was brought inside and can be seen alongside some of Michelangelo's other sculptures, the dying slaves and Madonna.

Wednesday and we've booked tickets for the Uffizi art gallery, yes Mum's going for the whole cultural experience!  We meet up with Annette and buy some sunglasses, as the sun's becoming unbearable.

I'm quite excited as this is only my second time here.

The Uffizi
The Uffizi is the kind of art gallery you can come back to many times... and today the Caravaggio room is open! Our pre-booked ticket allows us to jump the queue and we spend about 3 hours journeying through Renaissance Florence...

There are so many masterpieces here it's quite overwhelming , and so many different styles and personalities and wonderful stories behind the paintings. You can witness the progression and developement of the Renaisance style from the 13th to the 16th centuries. Obviously too many to mention here in one go, but I'll highlight a few of my favourites.

Two of the most famous and beautiful are 'the birth of Venus' and 'Primavera' painted in about 1482  by Sandro Botticelli.

The two paintings depict pagan and mythological themes influenced by a love of Greek ideologies.

Venus emerges from the sea upon a shell that is pushed to the shore from the winds produced by the Zephyr wind-gods amid a shower of roses. As the goddess is about to step on the shore, one of the Nymphs reaches out to cover her with a purple cloke. The model for Venus, Simonetta Cattaneo Vespucci was the niece of Amerigo di Vepucci, the discoverer of America and was a popular 'muse' at the time and a favourite of Boticelli. She died very young and Boticelli requested that he be buried at her feet.

Botticelli was a craftsman in his own right. His “Venus” was the first large-scale canvas created in Renaissance Florence. He prepared his own tempera pigments with very little fat and covered them with a layer of pure egg white in a process unusual for his time. He had fantastic results. His painting resembles a fresco in its freshness and brightness. It is preserved exceptionally well: the painting today remains firm and elastic with very little cracks.

The Primavera is a painting filled with mythological and symbolic meaning and has been the subject of much debate. Venus is standing in the center of the picture, set slightly back from the other figures. Above her, Cupid is aiming one of his arrows of love at the Three Graces, who are elegantly dancing. The Grace on the right side has the face of Caterina Sforza, also painted by Botticelli in a famous portrait. The garden of Venus, the goddess of love, is guarded on the left by Mercury, who stretches out his hand to touch the fruit. Mercury, who is lightly clad in a red cloak covered with flames, is wearing a helmet and carrying a sword, clearly characterizing him as the guardian of the garden. The messenger of the gods is also identified by means of his winged shoes and the staff which he used to drive two snakes apart and make peace; Botticelli has depicted the snakes as winged dragons. From the right, Zephyrus, the god of the winds, is forcefully pushing his way in, in pursuit of the nymph Chloris. Next to her walks Flora (said to be a portrait of Giuliano de Medici's mistress Simonetta Vespucci), the goddess of spring, who is scattering flowers.

Leonardo da Vinci is well represented in the Uffizi with three pieces and probably my favourite painting in the whole gallery is his annunciation. It's a very early painting by Leonardo, originally thought to be by Ghirlandaio, x-rays have shown it to be the work of two artists, Leonardo and his master, Verrochio. Leonardo's attention to detail in the landscape and flowers in the foreground show an incredible understanding in his extensive studies of nature. His extremely light brush stroke is just breathtaking!

One of the gallery's most erotic paintings is this gem by Titian. I remember seeing his rather portly ladies in the National gallery in London, when I was a child. However the Venus of Urbino is a more slender young woman with very pleasant curves! In this very suggestive pose the naked Venus is looking straight at the viewer. The painting was comissioned and painted in 1538, probably as a wedding present and we can see the maids rummaging around for clothes to cover her up. Dogs were usually a symbol of faithfulness, so the fact it's sleeping suggests she may have been 'unfaithful'.

My last homage is to Caravaggio. I love Caravaggio's paintings. They kind of go against the grain, he was a rebel artist and painted dark canvases with low life people as the subjects. There are several Caravaggio paintings in the Uffizi, one of which is this Bacchus, god of wine. It was a favourite theme of Caravaggio, he could probably relate to his dark and mischevious nature. He generally painted him as an adolescent, using as a model his young assistant (and probable lover!), Mario Minniti. His pose is almost languid, with the over ripe fruit signifying the transient nature of pleasure. If you look closely you can see Caravaggio's portrait in the carafe of wine. 

There is also a special temporary exhibition dedicated to Massaccio, on the re-discovery of perspection, which I whizz round at the end! 

San Gimignano

After a day to recover from our cultural extravaganza, which mum spends relaxing in our local town Greve, we're off on our travels again. Todays destination is San Gimignano, with a stop at Castellina. It's a bit foggy this morning, but we head out anyway. 1st stop is Castellina, where we have a chance to taste some local Chianti Classico wine and a 4o year-old Brandy! By the time we reach San Gimignano the sun has reappeared and we are able to enjoy a pleasant afternoon. We stumble upon an underground grotto Cafè/Deli run by a Neapolitan family. We tuck into big bruschetta with truffles and porcini, some home made lasagne and ribolitta (a local vegetable soup) We wash it down with a very nice local white wine called 'Vernaccia'. I spot a bottle of limoncello liquer on the way out and we get chatting with the owner. When he finds out we have family from Naples he offers us a free taste along with some chocolate truffles!  We enjoy a pleasant stroll in this beautifully preserved medieval town with the big towers and Mum enjoys all the leather shops!

Fiesole and Baldovino

Saturday morning and Annette and I are working so we arrange to meet up with mum in Florence and head up to Fiesole. She's brought a picnic and we walk through the woods at Mt. Ceceri to that spot we only found a few weeks ago! In the evening Mum has invited us out to dinner and we have chosen a restaurant in the Santa Croce area of Florence called 'Baldovino'. Although we haven't booked, the waiter just manages to squeeze us in on a table near the entrance. During the evening countless people are turned away, so a very popular place! The food is amazing. Mum has an incredible salad with pesto, pine nuts and mozerella. Annette chooses a carpaccio of swordfish with juniper berries and I go for a chunky wild boar papardelle. For main course mum has a creamy linguine, Annette a chicken, pesto and sundried tomato affair and I have a swordfish, scallop and prawn kebab and we share some yummy pumpkin cooked with sage and black olives. No room for dessert... and all for a great price.

Pisa                                           For mum's last full day, Pisa is the chosen destination. It's only an hour's drive away and the temperature's up to 23°C.  We find some free parking 100 metres from the 'Campo dei Miracoli' it's a symphony of white marble, with the Cathedral, the Baptistry and of course, the Leaning Tower. We enjoy our picnic on the lawn and Mum buys some souvenirs from the many stalls lining the streets.

Annette and I are working all day on Monday, but we meet up in Florence for a farewell ice cream. An appropriate end to a very pleasant 10 days, Mum has been a very good house guest, we are all totally exhausted, but I think she had a good time!  

(Original journal entry 9/3/02)