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Posts tagged ‘Europe’

Sep 26

Under a Tuscan Sun

Choosing where to stay in Tuscany was difficult, every place I found sounded lovely. In the end, we opted for La Pieve Marsina, which is located in the heart of the Chianti region of Tuscany, midway between Siena and Florence.

We have find that in Italy and France you are often given the GPS coordinates instead of an address. We’ve plugged in the coordinates provided, except that our GPS wouldn’t take all the digits.

We don’t think this should be a problem, it will be out by ‘seconds’ and that (based on my school geography), should translate to a factor of meters, not kilometers.

Well, as we start to climb a narrow road into a forest, I’m thinking this does not look very ‘Tuscan’, where are the pencil pines and rolling hills?

I’m the one that usually insists on following the GPS, but the more rugged and isolated our journey becomes the more I think this is not looking right. We are driving through tiny villages where you feel like you are in someone’s backyard.

When the GPS finally says: “vous êtes arrivé à votre destination” (remember everything is in French) – we are in the middle of nowhere. Our expected 3 hour drive turned into 6, with the GPS sending us 40km in the wrong direction!

After a few telephone conversations with Gabriel (our host), we finally found our Tuscan villa. We did check, but the mystery of the GPS directions has yet to be solved.

In the end, it was well worth the effort, as the vista in front of us is Tuscan perfect.

The pebble driveway is lined with Cypress trees; a golden sun is dipping below the rolling Tuscan hills, stenciled with Chianti vines and dotted with the occasional villa.  The scene is everything you expect of Tuscany.

Even the GPS is forgiven. Before long, we have a wine in hand and are admiring our view from our own little piece of Tuscany.

The travel pace has been fairly hectic since Jane came onboard and we are all looking forward to staying put for a few days.

View over Tuscany
Tuscany
View from our Tuscan Villa

We have four nights in Tuscany – a mini-break within our touring holiday. We explore our surrounds either on foot, or by car.

The village of Monti is a 2km walk, where the one and only local store served a good coffee (you’d expect nothing less in Italy). A cappuccino is €1.20 – that’s the cheapest CPI we’ve had in a while.

We opted not to visit Florence; we couldn’t bring ourselves to tackle the crowds. We did venture to Siena, starting with a morning coffee – italian style (standing at the counter). We wandered around the town and markets, where we did manage to find a few bargains.

Jane and I refuse out of principle to pay an entrance fee for a church, let alone €18 (each) to go into the Duomo; charging people to enter a church is not very Catholic.  I’m all for leaving a donation, paying something to light a candle, but an entry fee?

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In the nearby village of Lecchi we find Enotica Rinaldi, a wine bar/bistro where we enjoyed a lovely rustic lunch in the sunshine.

On our last night we tried the local recommendation; Malborghetto, also in Lecchi, which was another excellent meal. How can you go wrong in Italy, let alone Tuscany for delicious food and wonderful wine.

The town of Radda is worth a visit; yes, it too is perched on a hilltop with wonderful views. We spot the place we think looks like ‘us’ for Lunch, La Bottega. It’s a full house (also a good sign) and the only empty table has a reserved sign on it.

As luck would have it, the booking is late, so they give us the table. At that moment it starts to rain and about 20 minutes later the booking does show up – they have to wait for the next free table.

It was, as you can guess, another superb meal. Jane takes credit for being our good luck charm, she claims the ‘rock-star’ parking spots we find, tables in restaurants, superb meals and all positive incidents are due to her presence. Who am I to argue?

As we finish lunch, the sun reappears and we have an afternoon to fill. We follow the signs on the side of the road to La Ceramica. The directions take us into a farm, where several men are preparing to crush grapes.

They direct us to a small showroom, where Angela Pianigiani makes and sells pottery. Her work is pretty good and we couldn’t leave empty handed. I’m lucky Jane has some room in her luggage!

We are trying to find a Cashmere Farm from directions on a brochure I collected at lunch. We know we must have passed it and the spot to turn around happens to be a winery. Well, we did need to stock-up and we also got good directions to the Chianti Cashmere Farm.

We all now know a lot about Cashmere and why it’s soooo expensive. We also know the negative sides of the industry; cheap cashmere is usually a product of poor quality and the result of unorthodox practices, goats that are just slaughtered for wool and cashmere that can contain anthrax due to poor processes.

Nora Kravis, has spent years mapping out breeding lines to cultivate high quality wool. Her products are beautiful, with a price to match. After that visit, I’m not sure I will ever be able to buy Cashmere again.

The walled city of San Gimignano dates back to 63 BC, it is one of Italy’s most spectacular medieval towns. As such it’s overwhelmed with visitors everyday. We put aside our aversion and join the masses of swarming tourists – it’s well worth the compromise.

Over 70 Towers once stood around the walls providing protection against invading enemies, today only 14 remain. The narrow paved streets that wind up the hillside are full of charm and character. The town also lays claim to the worlds best ice cream, which we can happily agree with!

After 5 days it was time to get back on the trail.  Tuscany was everything we expected it to be and more.  We will definitely have to come back for more.

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Sep 22

Lago di Garda

After a bit of ‘googling’ we decided to make Lago di Garda (Lake Garda), our first stop in Italy. This will give us time to go via the Swarkovski factory in Austria on the way.

We are not there for the tour, just a little bit of shopping! Several hours and $$$ later, we meet Don back at the car. He quickly got bored and had retreated to his kindle (electronic book for you non techie’s). We can see from a distance that he has also taken the initiative to hang the wet washing out the windows of the car (lucky we hadn’t been washing underwear)!

Exhausted from our shopping expedition we stop at Hall in Tirol to refuel. It’s a quaint Austrian town (note, I’ve moved from picturesque to quaint), with typical half-wooden houses trimmed in white with red, yellow and pink, alongside a beautiful old church.

There is a wedding coming out of the church and we watch the guests, dressed in traditional garb, parade down the street into the town square. They are greeted by a brass band – we couldn’t have organised anything better to show Jane.

Back to Swarkovski for a bit of shopping
Hall in Tyrol
Wedding at Hall in Tyrol

By mid afternoon, we arrive at the town of Riva del Garda, positioned at the Northern tip of Lago di Garda. The lake is the largest in Italy and is encircled in the north by the Dolomite Mountains, providing a dramatic backdrop.

We navigate around the north western side of the lake. To our left, Italian style villas elegantly perch along the shoreline, to our right; olive groves, vineyards and citrus trees cling precariously to the steeper slopes.

The village of Gargnano sits about midway along the western shore of the lake and is where we have decided to stay. The Italians are pretty relaxed, we’ve made a reservation at the Hotel Garni but no pre-payment was required and they are happy for us to decide how long we will stay when we get there.

The hotel is right on the waterfront and we have water views from our rooms. The aromas of fresh pizza and pasta waft in from the restaurants below. It didn’t take long for us to agree that two nights here would be lovely.

You haven’t really eaten pizza until you have it in Italy. Of course, sitting on the edge of an Italian Lake as the sun sets makes for the perfect ambience, but there is something else; the paper-thin crusts, the local tomatoes and the fresh herbs. Who knows why, it’s just better.

We have a relaxed day strolling around the village, afternoon siestas and reading by the shore.  Late in the afternoon we venture up the hillside to Muslone, which is hosting a village fete.

On the way we have to stop off at Campiona in honour of Katrina and take a photo for her. At Muslone we were expecting the fete to be something similar to those we had been to in France.

This one turns out to be a little more low key.  The village is decorated in red and white bunting and the open town square has been covered for the night. There is a lovely sense of community as the young and old sit and chat at tables. We join one, but our poor Italian makes conversation difficult.

We are quickly making-up for the somewhat lacking cuisine we’ve been eating in Germany and Austria. Dinner is at Le Tre Oche; there is a story about a priest and geese which I couldn’t decipher. The food is superb, we all had fresh pasta and deserts – I can already feel the waistline expanding!

Tomorrow we are back on the road, the destination is now Tuscany. We didn’t think we would get to Tuscany this trip, but having scratched the Danube of the list we now have plenty of time. We are all excited, Don and Jane have not been and I was there 15 years ago and loved it.

We have a leisurely 3-4 hour drive ahead of us, so are taking our time following the west side of the lake. Our hosts at Lake Garda recommended stopping at Sirmione – an islet at the south west end of the lake, with a well preserved medieval town.

It’s also a very popular tourist destination with day trippers pouring in by ferry, coach and cars. Guess what we did? We came, we saw and we quickly left it to the tourists.

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Sep 20

The Romantic Road – Germany

Nestled at the foot of the Bavarian alps is the quaint town of Füssen. The Gasthof Zum Hechten is a big improvement on our previous nights accommodation.

The thing that declines in quality is the food.  The Germans do not excel in gastronomy, they seem to prefer stodge!

Heavy black breads, sliced cold meats, cheese and a boiled egg are the usual breakfast options. Things like goulash, Spätzle, potatoes, schnitzels and sauerkraut feature for lunch and dinner.  It’s not really our thing.

Füssen marks the beginning/end of the ‘Romantic Road’ and is close to two of the most popular castles in Germany; Hohenswangau and Neuschwanstein. We have a ‘one castle a day’ tolerance and opt to visit the more infamous!

Neuschwanstein looks like it is straight out of a fairytale, which is not far from the truth – since it was inspiration for Disney when designing Cinderella’s castle at Disneyland and it’s the castle they fly over in the movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

The castle is the legacy of Mad King Ludwig II of Bavaria, he had a passion for building picturesque castles. They are scattered across the Southern German countryside, the most famous is Neuschwanstein.

Ludwig was an eccentric King and probably preferred the company of men, more than females (if you get my drift). He spent lavishly and accrued considerable debt from his obsession for building castles.

In a coup orchestrated by his greedy relatives, Ludwig was declared unfit to rule. Three days after his dethroning he was found dead. Ludwig supposedly drowned in the lake, even though he was a good swimmer and no water was found in his lungs!!

The Mad King would probably now be a wealthy man – his castle is now one of the regions major tourist attractions, the destination for hundreds of tour coaches every day.

We arrive early hoping to avoid the crowds, however tours are scheduled in languages and the next English tour is 50 minutes away. Plenty of time to walk up the hill to the castle – at least we can tick off getting some exercise for the day!

I can’t bore you with many photos as they are not allowed inside. The tour is an interesting insight into the flamboyant fantasies of the King. He seemed to have a fetish for Swans and in one room they feature in everything, from wallpaper and fabric to furniture and figurines.

The floor of the grand throne room is a mosaic of over two million stones. A painting on one of the walls depicts another castle that Ludwig designed but never built. The castle was never finished as poor Ludwig spent only 170 days living in his dream home.

Our journey continues to Salzburg. Famous as the birthplace of Mozart, it’s a gorgeous old town. Today though it’s a bit too touristy for our liking. It may not have helped that we had timed our visit on the day of St Rupert’s fair. The town is bustling with people and plenty of activity; musicians, market stalls and rides for the kids fill the town square.

Many of the local men and women proudly wear the traditional dress: lederhosen and dirndl’s. I later discover that Salzburg is the traditional dress capital, which explains why there are so many dirndl shops.

We are not good at being tourists and after an hour or so taking in the sights and perusing the shops we are done. Over a coffee we quickly agree that we’ve seen enough of Salzburg and decide to explore further afield.

We stop at the tourist office to ask for some suggestions on a lunch location. Jane and I are flabbergasted by the lack of hospitality and assistance the girl in the tourist office provides. Clearly in the wrong job! Begrudgingly she did give us a map and directions to a lake within an hours drive.

We arrive at the small lakeside town of Fuschl am see. The girl in the tourist office had at least pointed us in the right direction. It’s a lovely sunny day and this is a perfect spot to enjoy a lazy lunch of ‘fresh from the lake’ trout. Now, this is how you discover Europe!

On our way back we stop off at the scenic town of Mondsee, unbeknown to us, the church of St Michael’s was used in the Sound Of Music wedding scene. My sister is ecstatic, the movie is a family favourite that her and the girls (not sure James is into it), have watched many-a-time.

Tonight we now need to make a decision on our next destination. The original plan was to head across to Passau, pick up some bikes and do some cycling along the Danube. This is something that’s been on my bucket list for a long time.

The plan is under threat for two reasons 1) the weather is looking dodgy in that part for the next week and 2) we are all a little over the food, do we really want to spend another 4/5 days eating stodge?

So what’s the option…..find some warmer weather?  Tuscany is looking good and the food has to be better.

And, so the Danube stays on the bucket list…….

 

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Sep 17

3 x 3

The three of us have three weeks to travel, we have a vague plan to cover three Countries; Germany, Austria and a bit of Italy.

‘Derek’ our Renault Captur, who had looked after us so well for 153 days and some 18,750KM, was left behind in Paris to begin a new life – probably one at a more casual pace.

We take the TGV to Strasbourg, a relaxing 2 hour journey across to the eastern border of France.  We are collecting new wheels tomorrow and overnighting in Strasbourg.

Finding the small town remarkably expensive, I took a gamble and booked another Airbnb. Greeted by the owner on arrival, Jane and I take a rattle lift up to the third floor whilst Don and our host take the stairs (they won’t fit in the lift).

The apartment is spacious with two bedrooms and a lounge room, all contain numerous beds – yes, including the lounge room.  I think the owner was surprised that there was only 3 of us and not 10!

Between pidgin English and pidgin French, the owner explains he needs to finish making the beds and cleaning-up. From the state of the kitchen – he’s got a bit of cleaning up to do!  Perhaps we set the benchmark too high at Pierrefonds. We leave our things and walk into the old town for lunch.

When we return, the place seems clean; sort-off, as long as we avoided eating in the kitchen we’ll be fine.  We could only find one coffee cup and took turns in the morning to share it around. Not trusting the cleaning effort, our showers are all very quick in the morning.

The positives are that it was well located – an easy walk from the train station and close to the historic parts of Strasbourg.  But, not somewhere I would recommend to anyone.

Jane asked us if this was the worst place we had stayed, without hesitation we both replied in unison “no-way, this is pretty good.”  I think we have her worried about what’s next.

Petite France is the heart of the old town, it’s straight out of a fairy tale; half-wooden houses line the canal, flower boxes adorn the buildings and explode with colour.  The area is bustling with Alsatian taverns, restaurants, boutique hotels and of course gift shops.

The cathedral is a striking feature of the town.  Construction started in 1015, though it was not completed until 1439. For over 200 years (until 1874) it was the world’s tallest building.

Strasbourg quickly became a prosperous merchant city, dating back to the days of the Roman Empire.  It is a town that has played a significant role in French – German relations throughout history.

Today, Strasbourg is a blend of franco-german culture and the host of several European institutions; including the Council of Europe, the European Court of Human Rights and the European Parliament.

In 1988 the entire city centre of Strasbourg was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Jane is happy to be a passenger on this holiday, she has designated us as her “Secretaries”; relying on us for decisions on the next destination, sourcing accommodation (which she might now be a little nervous about), doing the driving and paying for everything along the way – don’t worry, she gets a bill at the end!

We are heading east to Passau where we plan to pick-up some bikes and do some cycling along the Danube.  Taking a couple of days to get there and explore a bit of Germany and Austria.  We’ve picked Füssen as our next destination and find a hotel online – we will leave the AIRBnB’s alone for a while.

We purchased a GPS in France only to find that the car includes one.  It’s in French, but we manage to get it working and at least we know tourner à droite and tourner à gauche to get us on our way!

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Sep 16

Paree!

I could bore you with a diatribe of how lovely, beautiful and wonderful Paris is.

But, Paris is a city you have to absorb; by sight, smell and taste, all on your own.

We had three glorious days to explore Paris.  We Stayed at the Best Western near Gare de Nord, nothing to rave about, it was convenient and clean.

We had two great dinners; the first at the traditional french Brasserie Flo, the second, more cutting edge french cuisine at Chameleon.

We took the city bus tour – a lazy way to see Paris.  It’s a great way to get orientated and see all the sites in a short amount of time.  We walked and walked, exploring the left and right banks.  You could spend months in Paris and still not have seen it all, we did well for three days.

I don’t think Paris can be adequately described in words (or, I am simply so far behind in this blog I’m taking the short track on this one). I’m going to let the pictures tell the story!

 

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