May 6, Pienza

Had an early start today, and stopped first at the tiny hilltop walled village of Monteriggioni for a quick walkabout. The complete wall is still standing, and it took only about 5 minutes to walk from one end to the other. Our next stop was at a Benedictine Abbey where we walked down a steep roadway to get to a cloister decorated with 36 frescoes by Signorelli and another Italian painter whose name I can't recall. We had lunch there as well - homemade ravioli with cheese and spinach filling, a salad, and two slices of old and young local Pecorino cheese.

Our final stop was the charming hilltop town of Pienza, which will be home for the next 2-3 days in a lovely hotel. We wandered around the rather upscale town this afternoon, and enjoyed a wonderful dinner out this evening at a small restaurant. Raining heavily tonight, but maybe it will clear up for tomorrow. Will try to post some other photos in a separate entry.

May 5,Saturday, Florence

Lovely day again, in Florence. We did the Accademia museum and a walking tour of the city in the morning, then the Uffuzi in the afternoon. Great dinner tonight at our hotel in Pistoia. We are a very friendly and compatible group. Some scenes from our day in Florence. Tomorrow on to Pienza.

Lucca today - Friday

We walked and walked and walked today.....15,000 steps by my pedometer! Spent all day in Lucca until late afternoon. A very old, interesting town with a Roman amphitheater that has been converted to living space encircling a beautiful oval piazza. Many nice shops with lots of leather goods.

For dinner we rode up into the mts. North of Pistoia and had a delicious pizza dinner with
Prosecco -a sparkling white wine - and Ribilletto, a peasant soup with beans, bread, and vegetables. Back to the hotel and to bed very soon as we are tired and our wake up call is scheduled for 6:30 am. Florence all day tomorrow! Too tired to post any photos tonight.




Sent from my iPad.

3 May, Pistoia

Have had a wonderful day. Luca, our tour director, and Tiziano, our driver, met us at the Florence airport and drove to Pistoia, a major Tuscan city that makes train engines and specializes in plant nurseries. After a filling lunch at the Hotel Cappugi, where we are staying for the next 3 nights, Bryant and I took a walk into the modern part of the town. At 5 pm our group of 15 (9 from the US, 4 from Australia, and we two Canucks) boarded our small bus and then did a walking tour of the Centra Storico, or historical center of Pistoia, which dates from Etruscan and Roman times, but is basically a Medieval walled town.

After about an hour of free time - read shopping- we met for a welcome dinner at Osteria, a prize winning restaurant. You will see the steak with mushroom and caper sauce below. This course was preceded by cheese and artichoke tart, risotto with cheese and asparagus, and spelt and white bean soup, and followed by a light and tasty tiramisu. All this accompanied by white and red wine, with espresso for those who tolerate caffeine at 9:30 pm.

Tomorrow we are off to Lucca at 9 am. All is BETTER than well!

In Florence

Met successfully in Rome yesterday, in Florence hotel last night. WiFi is iffy.....all is well.

Sent from my iPad.

We're Leaving' on a Jet Plane

About 31/2days to go before we leave for Italy. Here is my luggage for our three-week holiday. I'm learning to pack lighter with each trip. Aren't you impressed? In the red suitcase is my day pack and my telescoping cane, just in case, as well as clothes and all the other miscellaneous stuff one carries along on a trip.

First email post

Good morning!

Still trying to sort out posting methods to our blog. Please bear with me as I may have to do this several times.