We decide that we’ll go on a Tuscany run today, to Pienza and then back to Montepulciano for lunch. Then home to Cortona.

The country side is all versions of green and plenty of versions of brown with ploughed fields in various stages of getting ready for crops to go in. It’s the Tuscany of the paintings and photos, pencil pine avenues up to stone villa’s, olive trees and shedding grape vines, the sun is out but a biting cool breeze takes the warmth out of the day.

The Mechanic is driving again, and driving well, a few moments of panic on skinny roads with Italian would be rally drivers doing twice the speed limit. There are speed cameras everywhere, and the limit changes regularly from 30 to 50 to 70. You only get over 70 if you’re on a freeway or 130 on an autostrada.

Tomorrow morning we leave for Rome before we fly out early Saturday morning.

I’m looking forward to getting home next week and staying still, roomy hot showers, my own chair, driving my own car and having a coffee at 179 Darling St with Dave and John.

Ciao for now

Pauolo

The piaza, the breeze is cool and the sun on the steps of the Communale warms me up. The others are walking up to the basilica Santa Margarita. I’m feeling a little short of breath, others might say lazy, however I decide to loiter downtown and drink coffee. There are very few people out and about, mostly American accents, and locals.

Michele (pronounced Michael)  from Hill Town Tours is booked for the ride to the train tomorrow morning. Enzo made an error, but I’m guessing he may not do it again, he has been great in the past. I think he either forgot or ditched us for a bigger job, anyway it’s water under the bridge now.

The Visitors Centre is closed, I can’t complete my one job for The Navigator, to get a local map to replace the one she lost.

The others come back down the hill, and The Mechanic takes the keys and he pilots us to Castiglione del Lago. The only mistakes are mine as defacto navigator, the real Navigator sits in the back seat, mostly quietly. CDL is like a ghost town, one cafe/ restaurant open, no shops nothing.

So we drive, sorry The Mechanic drives, to Passignini on the other side of the lake, it’s quiet but we find a little place open for a late lunch. The low sun over the lake makes for some dramatic photos.

The drive back gives The Mechanic some bum clenching moments but he does well and gets us safely back to the free carpark without a scratch on the car. There may be some marks on his underdaks though, it’s tight driving up the mountain to Cortona.

Dinner tonight is a Trattoria Dardano, simpler food than last night. We met a family from Sacramento in the USA sitting at the next table, Kevin and Sue and their daughter Megan. Their first time in Italy and they are blown away, if the travel they mostly go to South Korea where Sue is originally from. However they have a fish and chip shop and it’s hard to get away. One the pleasures of travel is meeting new and interesting people.

Ciao Bella from Cortona

Pauolo

The view from our patio this morning

We take the Toyota CHR hybrid for run to Panicale in Umbria. It’s scary, I haven’t driven in Italy for a few years, the first part is it’s all weird, not sure where the edge of the road is, nor the mirror. But you get better as you drive more, and it’s as requested an automatic. I nearly had a nervous breakdown driving a manual around these hills and skinny roads the first time we hired a car years ago. No more manuals!

At Panicale we have a coffee and some food, then overland up hill down dale to Orvietto to check it out. Had some struggles with the toll booth but my fault, I didn’t get the car close enough to the machine and then couldn’t get out to fix my error. I needed help. The Navigator and The Mechanic came to the rescue.

Orvietto was so so, same stuff as other hill towns, tourists, school kids hitting you up for money, but it does have an interesting history. It’s not a walled town because it is surrounded by cliffs pretty much. But the cafes, restaurants and craft shops look very similar to other places. We parked in a 30 minute car space at the train station and got the funicular up the hill/ cliff. No fines when we get back!

We scoot back the autostrada for the cost of a €5.90 toll and get back up the hill and into a free carpark at Cortona without bending the Toyota. A miracle.

Dinner tonight is a Ristorante La Loggetta above Piaza dela Republica. It’s a bit more expensive than we usually do for dinner but the food is good. Some Americans are sitting beside us, not wanting to spend more than €200 on a bottle of wine! Good to hear their economy is fairing well with Donald back in the driver’s seat.

Ciao da una cittadina collinare toscana

Pauolo

Today is The Mechanics 40th birthday. He arrived into the world just after his brother, just after midnight 40 years ago in 1984. Unfortunately only The Mechanic is here with us, his brother is here in spirit. So, we’re celebrating it today in a Tuscan hill town, with a small dinner tonight.

It’s a slow start to the day, one of our quieter days. The view over the lake and Camucia from our patio makes it hard to leave, but we do. The Navigator is on a mission.

A brass band plays through via Nationale, we’re not sure why. The peace and errant pedestrians are kept in line by a stylish female copper in tight pants with a big gun.

This place is very wanderable ( new word?) Pizza on out patio in the sun for lunch. A chill afternoon then The Mechanic and I go to meet the beautiful Laura ( a local contact we met at the Bar in Nessun Dorma restaurant here many years ago) to pick up our hire car. A stylish little Toyota plug in hybrid, I hope it knows what side of the road its meant to be on!

Then it’s to dinner at La Dolce Maria for his birthday dinner. Paola makes a beautiful dinner and a rich chocolate birthday cafe. Bravo Paola. Her husband doesn’t say a word but distributes food and beaming smiles.

Tomorrow we’re driving to Orvietto and a few other places.

Ciao from Cortona

Pauolo

The 12 midday bell of Basilica San Lorenzo ring loudly over the cafe I’m sitting at sipping an Aperol Spritzer to follow a nice cappucinno. The legs and feet are sore so I opt out of walking to Santa Croce and Pitti Palace with the others for  shopping and things I’ve seen a number of times before. Santa Croce in my view is more for the inside ( built 1385, burial place of Michaelangelo, Machiavelli, Galileo and others) versus The Duomo which is spectacular on the outside but that’s about it.

I wander the leather markets looking at things I like but don’t need and would hardly ever use, so the Reid restraint gene kicks in hard. The Mechanic, I think, has inherited this gene. The mercato takes up time, I love wandering in these local Italian food markets where there’s not much in food options you can’t buy. And it’s quiet, I’m on my own time, no suggestions about what I should be doing.

The coffee is for energy, the spritzer is for hydration, the cap for shelter and the church food for soul. I reckon I’ve got it all covered for the moment.

The Navigator and Simone do some leather shopping, proper Italian leather, not Indian copy stuff from the markets. A share of the national debt is spent on leather.

Our train is on time, we’re on time, and we’re in Cortona on time. Our driver Enzo isn’t there to meet us, so I phone him to see when he’s coming, he said he wasn’t coming, he was on a job somewhere else. So f…k you Enzo, you’re sacked. There is another guy in a van, we thought he was waiting for somebody else but he wasn’t so €30 gets us up the hill to our front door in Cortona. We’ll use him again, we have his card now.

Our apartment is great, stunning views over Lake Tresimeno, Cammucia and the valley. Very happy with it. Our host Guilia is lovely and very accommodating.

I watch the Wallabies beat England impressively while the others do a quick food shop. Sadly Molesini where we had shopped before is now shut, the owners retired and nobody has taken it over.

Dinner is at Trattoria Dardano up on via Dardano. Beautiful dinner.

Cortona is beautiful is it always has been, but the season is closing down, we’ve been warned things will close down for the season from now on and to make sure we book for dinner at the restaurants that are open.

Tomorrow is a relaxing day, pick up a hire car from Laura at 5pm.

Ciao from Cortona

Pauolo

We’ve been through Bologna many times before on trains and buses but never stopped there so it will be interesting today.

The train is chock full, we’re sort of in our seats, negotiations go on all through the carriage about who owns what seat. It’s a bit frustrating, but the train cracks 300km/ hr, through a tunnel, boy that is quick.

Bologna station is underground, after some hustling we find the Burger King meeting point for the Ferrari tour for the Mechanic and Simone. We then use Google maps to find our way to Piaza Maggiore which is the centre of Bologna. We walk via a market ( the N is not impressed – cheap Chinese stuff) and a Cafe with a loo is a priority. We purchase our return tickets to Florence before we leave the station.

We eventually find the nice centre of Bologna, a far cry from the dog shit and vomit covered footpath, graffiti walls etc on the walk from the train station. The “good” starts with a jewellery shop ( Vestopazzo) that sells recycled aluminium jewellery. The Navigator finds some stuff and the pretty shop attendant separates her from some Euros.

The Basilica San Pietro is large, beautiful and more austere than a lot of Catholic churches we’ve been in. The Navigator lights a candle for Tim, cheap at €2.

The lane ways are beautiful, lovely shops, 2nd hand watches, bags and shoes made of old carpet, food markets (fashion, veggies, fruit, pasta etc) and restaurants, you could wander these narrow streets for days and not get bored.

We eat in a lovely little restaurant, the food is great, the Navigator likes the food so it’s a win win.

The library is a treat, Roman ruins below the glass floor, a well. Its quiet, there is a toilet, a lovely refuge for a shirt break

The Seven Churches of St Stefano complex is a short walk from the main area, we sit and rest our feet and backs. It’s very old, built between the 10th and 13th centuries combining seven churches into one.  It’s run by the Franciscans who are also tied to the Franciscans in Bethlehem.

We wander back to Bologna Centrale, checking the odd shop and market out. The train station is heaving with people, and we wait for The Mechanic and Simone to return from the tour they have been on to Ferrari, Lamborghini and Pagani.

A 45 minute train journey back to Florence, dinner and bed.

Tomorrow, my favourite place in Tuscany, Cortonal

Ciao

Paulo

Another early start, The Navigator is up at 5.30am, f…….k I’m looking forward to a few sleep ins in Tuscany.

We meet The Mechanic and Simone outside at 7am, walk to the canal, and leave some of Tim’s ashes, he’ll be in the Adriatic when the tide goes out. Our train leaves right on time at 8.02 and follows the coast heading south to  Florence. Down in the sea there’s a guy on a sail board, I bet his family jewels are tucked high because it’s about 8deg outside, a few ships are  anchored offshore and a whopping great 3 masted high tech looking yacht. Very pleasant start to the day.

Business Class train car is roomy, a bit of a step up from 2nd Class but not too much. We’re on here for four hours so a little space and comfort is welcome. Not many people in our car yet but I guess after Venice, Papua and Bologna it will be full.

What did we think of Trieste? Very nice place, nice quiet vibe after the swarms of people in the other places we’ve been. There’s the sea, restaurants, shopping, cafes, history and other interesting things.

The heart of Italy is foggy and grey as we speed towards Bologna and cross the Po River. This is rich farming country, the tractors are out, rotary hoes, ploughs and fertiliser spreaders. The Po River is the longest in Italy (650km) flowing from the Italian Alps to the Adriatic, it’s a big river where we cross it. The Po River was the centre of  the final battle of WWII in Italy ( April- May 1945) when the Italians finally saw they were stuffed and surrendered to the Allies.

I’m listening to one of my music Playlists, currently playing The Dead Kennedys ” Holiday in Cambodia”, Phoebe Killdeer & The Avener ” Fade Out Line”, The Fumes, plus a few other obscure bands and others known.

As we come into Tuscany, the sun comes out. We were looking for a little ultra violet light after the last week or so.

Lunch is at the mercato, just near us in San Lorenzo and the leather markets. The Navigator stays disciplined in the markets as we pass through.

This afternoon we do the Pitti Palace and gardens, more importantly it does me. Climbing up and down and walking so far I’m stuffed. The old Medici family headquarters linked to the Uffici ( their other palace) by the Secret passage on top of the Ponte Vecchio.

Art at Pitti Palace Museum is a huge range of work from old Italian masters like Caravagio, Van Dyck, Tintoretto, Tiziano, Gentileschi, Rubens and many others. Names that Daniel Silva’s character Gabriel Allon is familiar with. The walk back to the Globus Hotel is torture. My feet and ankles are killing me.

Dinner tonight is going to be close by at Il Grande Nuti, a renowned pasta restaurant and it lives up to its reputation. The pasta is great, the panacotta wobbles like a …. not sure I can say it.

Tomorrow we’re  doing a day trip to Bologna. The Mechanic and Simone are doing a Ferrari, Lamborghini and Pagani factories, The Navigator and I chilling in Bologna. We get a train back tomorrow night.

Ciao from Florence

Pauolo

Early to bed, rise at 5.30 to do a last minute pack, a cup of tea and a nibble of breakfast.

The traffic is flowing in the city already.

Text from Sonya tells us Zoltan is our driver, he arrives right on time, young bloke mid 30s, very chatty, good English and a very nice red Ford mini van. Very comfortable for the 5-6 hour drive via Slovenia to Trieste in Italy.

There is a slight frost on the ploughed up country  it’s -.6 deg C but as we head south towards Slovenia it get up to 7 degrees. There is a mixture of farming, industrial, thick forrest and communications towers everywhere which could be military, not sure. We have pit stop about 2 1/2 hours out of Budapest, not long before we cross the border into Slovenia – the home of Count Dracular. Ironically as we near Dracular  country a thick fog appears.

Zoltan is a good driver, we’re making great time. We cross into Slovenia at 9.50am, 2 3/4 hours away from Budapest, about half way to Trieste.

Zoltan’s little red bus somewhere outside Ljubljana in Slovenia.

We arrive in Italy, no border checks, then drop down the mountain into the city centre. It’s a pretty place. Our rooms are beautiful in the Palace Suite (part of the Hotel Continentale about 40 metres away)

We walk the streets and then a late lunch on the canal. The Navigator needs food, but she doesn’t know what she doesn’t want – it’s complicated – when she has finally made a decision where to sit, I’m still not sure she’s  happy.

We walk to the old Roman theatre, then start up the steep hill to the castle, The Navigator and I pull out and wait, it’s too steep. We then circle the main pizza, walk back along the water and Mark  and Simone do a bit of shopping.

Trieste is a really pretty place, I like it. It’s at the northern end of the Adriatic Sea, a population of about 230,000.  Originally Julius Cesar built it as a strategic port, over the milenia it has been governed by the Romas, Hapsbergs, The Austro Hungarians and was fought over fiercely as a strategic area in WWII.

We finish the night with a gellato. Good to be in Italy again.

Another early start tomorrow starting with a 14 minute walk to the train station

Ciao from Trieste

Pauolo

Sleep is OK last night, breakfast early and then wait down the street for the HOHO Bus to get over to the Buda Palace on the hill over the river.

We’re a bit early, The Navigator messed up her timing. We say nothing of it.

We spent most of the morning at the different levels of the palace, the basilica is pretty spectacular. Some guy with pigeons is trying to sell photos of you holding his pigeons on your hand. It’s not my idea of fun handling lice infected pests. I decline his offer graciously.

We see the Fishermans Bastion, the Basilica, the castle and all with great views over Budapest. The Buda Castle is worth half a day, probably no more. At the moment, it’s a gigantic construction site, a lot of work building, repairing, renovating before winter hits and next season gets under way.

By the way the Danube is green or brown, not blue. But who am I to spoil a good story.

Budapest has plenty of tourists in this period leading into winter, but nothing like Vienna or Prague.

We walk the whole length of the Chain Bridge, and lunch at a cafe in the city. Then we head off, do a bit of shopping and finally dinner at the same Italian restaurant as last night.

Tonight we pack and tomorrow we leave at 7am by mini bus for Trieste in Italy. Can’t wait to get back to my favourite country.

Ciao

Ma Budapest, holnap Trieszt.

Pauolo

In house breakfast at the hotel is good, we did a deal with the concierge when we checked in for a €12 buffet breakfast.

First is the HOHO bus, we do a lap of Buda and then Pest, explore their magnificent parliament house, drop some of Tim’s ashes from the Chain Bridge, back on the bus, then a river cruise on the Danube, then dinner in the main shopping area then home to recover.

So highlights of the day were the beautiful buildings, the beautiful Albanian girls that sat near us on the bus, the amount of vegetation in the city is impressive and the copious number of Thai Massage places located in Budapest. They look ridgy didge proper places but I’m not sure of the legislation here.

The weather is crisp with a capital “C”, f….g chilly, with the sun not helping much. I think it gets to about 10degC. The Mechanic had to buy himself a beanie last night and The Navigator has actually been wearing her beanie (purchased especially for the trip with the comment ” but I don’t like things on my head!”) Beanie 1 v The Navigator 0.

I saw a poster on a streetside wall on the Pest side advertising Manfred Mann’s Earth Band – surely it can’t be real, they should all be dead by now? Google tells me they had a hit album in 1984 called Budapest Live, and were active 1971-1987  and are still going 1991 until now. Wow. News – they toured Budapest in July 2023 and are currently touring Europe with dates booked until late 2025. I was blinded by the light!

A little Hungarian history, a simple version, in reality it is very complex, and I might get it a bit wrong. The Austro – Hungarian Empire was powerful up until the end of WWI when the empire was carved up. They picked the wrong team to play on. In WWII the Germans occupied Hungary ( a bit of a friendly takeover by Hitler), the Germans ( maybe with a little local help?) killed 400,000 or thereabouts Hungarian Jews. A lot were lined up on the bank of the Danube, by Hungarian Fascist militia, ordered to remove their shoes ( so they could be sold), then shot. The bodies washed downstream in the Danube. There is a moving memorial of steel shoes on the Danube bank near Parliament house where the executions happened.

The Russians relieved the Germans of Hungary and imposed Communist rule. That is until 1956 when students revolted and were supported by some of the Hungarian soldiers. The 1956 Revolution is a big deal here. But it was still a very socialist country until in 1989 (when the Wall came down) and the country voted for free elections and in 1990 the Russian military left. The country appears to be pretty democratic. It’s a landlocked country, population 9.5m, and mostly Catholic Christians.

OK that’s it for day, if you’re not asleep from reading that pile of drivel then you’ve learned something  maybe.

Jó éjt emberek,

Pauolo