Il Viaggio di Marco a Italia
Peacocks, Plums, and Barbers
1-9 Agosto 2005
I spent the beginning of August biking around Tuscany and hanging out
at the villa. Here are a few more pictures of the villa locale. I
found some hiking trails that go up the mountains behind me, and I
took these pictures from there.
I went and rented another car for the rest of August, and finally ended the Autostrade saga. After biking to Florence and getting the car, I stopped at Firenze Sud (a Punto Blu). This one had no nice tunnel, so I had to dodge uncoming traffic to get to the building. At first, I thought there would be another way, but then I saw some Italians doing it, so I joined it. A real live game of Frogger!
Once inside, I presented my case like an old pro. I didn't even need my letter anymore. "Mi Scusi, signore. Ho biglietto irregolare..." Ten minutes later, I'd paid my 5.80 euro, had written docs that the 38 euro ticket had been nullified, and I was back on my way!
My friend Joy with her friend Laura came for the weekend. Laura left for Rome and the States, but Joy stayed for a few days. She's off to cooking school on Elba now. We hung out for a few days going to wineries, markets, lakes, and such.
We tried to go to several nearby wineries, but it was a Sunday, and
they were all mostly closed. The locals did come out at greet us at
one of them.
During some of the hikes around the villa, we encountered lots of fruit
trees: apricots, plums, peaches, peas, etc. Here's one that was just
out of reach (some weren't!).
Plums Ready To Eat!
On Tuesday night, we drove to San Gimingnano, had a great dinner, and watched The Barber of Seville in the central piazza of the town. It was well done, and the surroundings couldn't be beat.
Rosina with her great smile
And, of course, Figaro, the barber.
One evening, Joy and I cooked a nice dinner complete with stuffed
squash flowers, roasted peppers, pesto, and vino! (Okay, she cooked;
I mostly followed orders. I didn't even know one could stuff (or eat)
squash flowers.)
Joy Fixing Up Her Plate
Our yummy dinner on the terrazza. By the way, it seems that good vinegar goes well on just about everything!
Joy left Tuesday morning so I'm back on mia bicicletta (bici for short).
I found an awesome twenty-five mile loop: two big climbs, one smaller
steep hill, and two really long windy downhills! But not so curvy that
I can't go blindingly fast. Just for completeness, here's a picture of
my bike.
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