Yesterday was a travel day for us and it turned into a longer one than we anticipated. We caught the train out of Riamaggiore to La Spezia and then needed to transfer on to the Pisa Centrale line and this is where we came to a screeching halt. We sat at the station for close to two hours - apparently the train was being held up for a police investigation into an accident. Once the train got there it was on to the Pisa airport via the PeopleMover (shuttle) to pick up our rental. We were impressed that our Volkswagen Golf held all four of our big backpacks and four smaller bags. Bob had loaded an Italy map onto our GPS and he navigated while Randy drove. Sherri and I sat in the back and admired the views of the Tuscan hillsides (above). We have missed the sunflowers by a couple of weeks which is too bad because there were fields and fields of them along the way. It was a nice drive through some smaller, old towns that you could easily imagine how life was hundreds of years ago.
We found our place with only one turn around and settled in fairly quickly, tired from the long day. The view out the tall, old windows is nice and we will leave the shutters open, even in today's rain, to enjoy the tile roof and the hills beyond. The house we are staying in was built in 1901 and has stayed in the family, a fact this family is very proud of. We sauntered down the road for dinner and headed to bed early.
First thing this morning we headed down the street to the old town of Siena which was situated inside of these walls. It was easy to imagine this fortress being closed up and life being able to continue on inside while the enemy attacked. The stonework and architecture is amazing, as we expected.
It was not too busy as we started the day (Sunday morning) but by 11:00 the place was packed with tourists and locals alike along with many, many tour groups following along behind their leaders. The streets were narrow and windy and it will take a few days of exploring for us to see as much of it as we can. We happened upon the main square, Piazza del Campo, which was amazing and became even more amazing as the church bells began to toll. One day this week we will plan to spend the whole day and have a long, lazy, Italian lunch at one of the many cafes surrounding the square.
As with all of Italy, the images do not show the sounds of many languages, the smells of so many different foods and the little images tucked in our minds instead of in our camera lens. The picture in the middle below is of a wishing well inside of a little cafe inside of narrow curvy walkway. I love how the Italians display their fruit and vegetables. It isn't just that it is GOOD (and it is), it's that they take pleasure in the beauty of the arrangement as well. Bellisamo!
And to finish, wild boar is a real thing here - this guy ended up on someone's plate AND wall!
The promised rains have begun so it will be a quiet afternoon and evening with a good book.
Arrivederci!
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