From here we headed for Sienna. It is most famous for holding the world famous horse race - the Palio. The reason it is world famous is that it is run in the town square - the Piazza Del Campo - between 10 of the local city wards or "contrade". The riders ride bareback & the only rule is that they are npt allowed to interfere with the other horses reins. The Piazza is on quite a slope so apparantly the most challenging part of the 90 second race is not sliding over in the corners & hitting the deck. The coolest part is that the winner & their cantrade are basically given bragging rights in the city. Their colours are hung from every flag pole, fence post & inanimate object possible & they party in the streets for days afterwards. It should be noted that we missed the race by only about 4 days....bugger!!
Photo: A corner of the Piazza Del Campo, the site of the Palio Horse Race
So we were staying in another camping village in Sienna but this time it wasn't quite as hard core as the others in Venice & Rome. We were at least in our own "mini-caravan" with ensuite so it was quite posh! The campsite also had an amazing pool but the funniest thing was the pool boy!! He was a dead ringer for "Are you for scuba?" guy, Claude out of Along Came Polly. He had the typical shoulder length, straight, super-greasy hair & the oiled up, bronzed body & he strutted around the pool area infront of all the woman like he was Hercules. Unfortunately for him the sunbakers consisted mostly of middle aged, pasty English housewives or snotty nosed kids. Funnily enough it didn't seem to put him off though....it was so nice to see someone who so clearly LOVES his job!
There wasn't much to do in Sienna which was good cos I was still sick. Can't seem to shake this rotten cough & cold. We wandered the medievil streets...it was a Sunday so all the shops were shut (much to Andrew's relief!). Just when we thought it was time to head back to our super-lux caravan we rounded a corner & were confronted with a mini version of the Duomo we had seen previously in Orvietta. Here we were thinking it was a completely unique style & less than a few days later we came across the same thing. I really do like this style of architecture & decoration though. The gelati in Sienna wasn't bad either...just incase you were wondering :)
After our couple of days relaxing by the pool in Sienna we headed to Florence. No sooner had we checked in that we headed out on an evening walking tour of Florence culminating in a 4 course meal & karaoke. (Can't tell you how thrilled I was about karaoke....some would describe it as my worst nightmare!!). The walk was ok, the old town is quite pretty at night & we went to a leather shop where we were shown that running a lighter over leather to see if it is real doesn't work....turns out that if you hold the flame still for long enough, the poor cow, she burn!! I have to admit, it was the 4 course meal I was most looking forward to. Apart from gelati & the odd pastry, we have been living out of the supermarket for the last 2 months so a cooked meal has become a luxury. We arrived at the restaurant & ate: 1 tiny bruschetta, 1 small plate of pasta, one tiny piece of chicken & a couple of chips & one scoop of gelati....oh, & a thimble of beer. It was quite tasty but we were still all starving afterwards....oh well, it was a hot meal......how I miss hot meals!!
Then it was on to the finale....karaoke! The karaoke bar was called The Red Garter & the karaoke master likened himself to David Hasselhof, swivelling his hips & crooning away with his eyes shut. It was absolutely horrendous. First of all, nearly everyone in our group went up to sing only to find that despite thier song choice being on the list provided, The Hof couldn't find it so most just gave up. Then 2 massive Contiki buses arrived & the Banarama & Billy Joel got going. Needless to say that when the table announced it was time to go, I was the first to the door!
Walking around in Florence during the day proved to be rather uneventful. It's only a relatively small city (compared to the likes of Rome etc) but we managed to fill in a day wandering around checking out things like the Ponte Vecchio, the traditional bridge that dates back to the 14th century, lined with jewellery shops & souvineer stalls. We had also spoken to Shawn & he had recommended an Aussie bar he had been to a few years earlier. So, we went out on a mission. We did manage to find the bar...unfortunately it was closed...bugger! We also found a really cool gelati bar where they did different flavours in merangue texture...so it was like eating raw pavlova flavoured with chocolate or strawberry & kinda frozen. Sounds strange but it was delicious.
We also saw Michaelangelo's statue of David...well, the modern day replica but don't tell anyone it wasn't the real thing!! It was a lot bigger than I was expecting....the statue not the noodle!! The Duomo in Florence is also quite stunning, with it's pink, green & white marble....& scaffolding. The Duomo was started in 1294 & is the 4th largest dome in the world. I will never cease to be amazed by how old everything in Italy is & how far back their documented history spans. Of course Florence is also famous for holding some of the most stunning artworks & sculptures of anywhere else in Italy but we were saving our cash for the Chianti wine tour on our last day in Tuscany.
It was worth the money too! We left Florence on a coach & were introduced to our local Florentine guide - Irene.....not pronounced I-rene....but more like E-len-i...or something!! She was an absolute clown & kept us all thoroughly entertained for the drive into the Tuscan hills of the Chianti region. They are exactly as you picture them....rolling hills covered in vines & olives, acres of sunflowers & the odd terracotta roof of a Tuscan villa dotted the countryside. We stopped at our first winery, Torciano, & sampled olive oil, truffle oil, white wine, 3 red wines & a dessert wine with biscotti. We were taught the art of the swirl & sniff.....& spit, but we chose to ignore the last step. Now, neither of us are wine drinkers but between us we loved (& bought) a red, a white & the dessert wine plus both the truffle oil & olive oil. These people are smart, they get you drunk on their wine & then flog you bottles of it while you're still sozzled. We are both looking forward to cracking it all open when we get home....assuming it survived the post. At this winery there were also heaps of cats strolling around so although I managed to drink a fair bit of wine, most of my time was spent having cuddles. I miss my baby at home sooooo much...can you tell??
So we rolled on to the next stop.....another winery & lunch. Lunch was in a courtyard overlooking the families vineyard...spectacular!
What's more, the lunch was as equally delicious as the view. Slices of ham, cheese, salads, bread, pasta...nomnomnomnom. After we had gorged ourselves on food, topped up on wine, bought more wine, visited the horses in the paddock & walked through the vineyards we scrambled back on the bus for our final stop of the day - San Gimingano, a medievil Tuscan town boasting the World Champion Gelati maker...yes, I was going to love this place. The town was indeed lovely & the queue for the gelati shop was in direct comparison to how exquisite it was. How can the gelati just keep getting better & better? I also had another reason to love this town...it was here that I spied the most beautiful, handmade, Italian leather (no, I didn't get my lighter out) satchel I had seen in my life. Inside the same shop hung a sign that said "If you don't take it, you'll cry when you be back at home thinking about it". The sign was right & for 30Euros it was a bargain.....that's what I told Andrew anyway!
Before we knew it, it was time to head back to Florence. What a lovely way to spend a warm Summer's day in Italian the countryside...drinking wine, having cuddles with kitties & buying handbags....Perfecto!!
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