It's 10pm and you've been in Chianti for a few hours now, well settled in at the beautiful hotel of Il Borgo de Vescine. The hotel is a winery with a resort type accommodation complex set amongst the vineyards of the Tuscany region and complete with a good sized swimming pool, bar, restaurant and accommodation complex of private brick lined villa's with excellent facilities. There are only a few guests, maybe four or five couples, families and a ggroup of four young guys from the Netherlands who we shared a wine tasting session with a few hours ago. Another couple from Norway joined us for that and we shared a few good laughs together trying to flumox the wine tutor and guess her country of origin - it ended up being Hungary. Good fun and I think you'll enjoy it here even though it's several kms from any town or shops.
The rental car drive from Pisa was guided by a GPS system. Without it we would have turned an hour long trip into a day. The road signs are super confusing, the roadworks and detours along the way would have had us going backwards, but the GPS was continually "re-calibrating' our destination and giving us audio instructions on how to get back on track. It's a must for any wannabe drivers in Italy.
After midnight the last night in Riomaggiore. A few wines to end the night, this was after a dance party at one of the villages up the coast, you all walked back along the coastal trail some 20 minutes away. The fan was desperately needed each night and still wasn't enough to keep the temperature at a sleep-able level.
Girls dragging bags up the train station stairs.
A little congested in the rental car. They don't come much bigger than this and you wouldn't want any bigger than this the roads are very narrow and finding parking is next to impossible.
Watch out for deer!!! 10 minutes later we almost hit a large deer that jumped across the road!!! OMG!!! It's true!!! There are no fences in the countryside. Deer run freely everywhere. Now tell that to NZ Deerstalkers Assn and Howie Morrison on Hunting Aotearoa.
This sign means that it's a slippery road and you're heading towards the point of a triangle with 2 transformers chasing you. What do these two stars mean????
The entrance to the township of Colle d'estella that is a fortified town just 10 kms from where we are staying. Another example of amazing architecture and a rich ancient history, that the locals treat as everyday normal stuff.
Colle D'estella a small town in the middle of the Tuscany region. This was the fortfied part of the town, surrounded by a moat and was fiercely defended against invaders. In 1400's it was sacked and the close relationship it had with neighboruing Firenze was severed.
Wine tasting at Il Borgo de Vescine complimentary and very fulfilling.
A meal at the restaurant to end the day. Wine, ravioli, spaghetti, salad, mixed grill, dessert, amarillo and then downstairs to write this blog while the girls go to bed and prepare for tomorrow next adventure.
We are writing this while having a few beers at the bar below the restaurant. You and I are the only English speakers in the bar. We're sharing a few laughs with the 4 guys from the Netherlands, one girl from Hungary and the Italian bartender.
Tomorrow is Sunday and hopefully we'll get to church in Firenze/Florence and check out some of the art galleries. Michaelangelo and many of the other great artists learnt their trade in Firenze.
Ciao and arohanui mi famiglia, mi amico. (family & friends)
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