We got talking about Italy at our bookclub last night since Heather is heading there next month. I looked back to see what I had written about Italy and was surprised that I hadn't written very much and now can't remember the other Tuscan hilltowns we visited other than San Gimignano. This was just before I started blogging and that has ended up to be such a good record of our travels and it just seems so easy to write this way.
This was also before I got my first digital camera so don't have a lot of photos either. It had been a long trip and I guess I was tired. 2002 was the first time Jim taught in France and we had been away mid-January to mid-April.
April/02
Italy met expectations but didn’t exceed them. I guess part of it is we are francophiles to the core. The Italians were wonderfully warm and welcoming and Florence, Rome, and Venice (even though it was flooding when we were there, it is a fascinating place that you can’t imagine the feel of until you actually experience it) were all spectacular in their own ways. Other than Rapallo, the Italian Riviera can’t compare to the French....too many long expanses of beaches with very uninteresting places around them...no neat little French villages like Bandol, Sanary, Carqueiranne, etc.
Rapallo was just a lovely, stepping back in time place where we stumbled fortunately on just about the last room to be had as it was Easter. And what a room! We would have taken anything at any price, but when we opened the volets, we had this fabulous view and balcony right over the water in the port and overlooking a medieval castle to boot. After the mainly retirement community (in the winter at least) of Carqueiranne, it was wonderful to see so many children and families strolling the promenade.
We were under budget as we spent about half what we had planned for our six days in Florence. We booked a place through an agency that books places of private individuals. Anyhow, we had this 60 sq meter one bedroom apartment with a big back garden in central Florence. So, of course, when we reached the hilltowns of Tuscany we splurged on a classic old style hotel in Siena with a fabulouse view of the Tuscan countryside. It included breakfast and dinner.
The dinners were wonderful and we took advantage of their excellent wine list to sample some very good wine of the region. We really enjoyed the European style cooking and service as dining in Italy is quite different than France. Although the Trattoria experence is cheap and entertaining, the Italians(at least the ones we saw) tend to scarf down their food in no time flat and the courses are thrown at you at the same rate. You have to seek out a good restaurant, not like in France where they come to meet you at every step. There was a positive side to having a quick panini and beer for lunch when there is so much to see in the major places and we had limited time.
Even in the cheaper places we did get some wonderful food although a lot of it was too salty. Amazing the amount of salt the Italians must eat when you think of all the cured hams and meats and cheeses. I got a gnocci and a minestrone to die for and in another one (not so cheap) we got the local specialty of T-bone steak...absolutely fabulous except for one part that was overcooked. They serve a whole slab for two on one platter and the meat was unevenly cut. The handcutting aspect is part of the deal I think.
I wasn’t that inspired by things to paint in Italy. Shutters are all in dull colours of brown, green, or gray, and the stuccos are drab as well compared to the bright pinks, yellows, etc of the south of France. I was inspired by the old bicycles so many people seem to use and took lots of pictures so will render something out of that. An amazing difference from France is that in Italy many people are riding very old bicycles and small motos. Only seemed to be racing type bikes in France and high powered motos that are going like bats of hell and scare the life out of you on the road. That was nice to be away from in Italy. Also, Italy seems to be making some progress in restricting smoking and it’s actually working. The French seem to be content to smoke themselves to death.
