Seven go to Tuscany

Seven go to Tuscany

Tuscany, Italy. 22nd to 29th of April 2000.

Our trip started on the 21st with a delightful meal of venison served up at Alison and Kevins gastronomic gormet garrison after which we all kipped down for a few hours sleep. Our hosts for the night had also booked a villa in Tuscany for the following week and made all other arrangements.

At the normaly unseen hour of 5am on Saturday morning we all rolled out of the house and into a mini-bus to take us to Stanstead for our 7:30 flight to Genoa, Italy. At Genoa we picked up two little cars and spent the next four hours in a traffic jam on the motorway before we finaly arrived in Lucca. Our villa was a few kilometers north of Lucca at a village called Brancili in the hills surrounding the town. We were not supposed to arrive before 5pm so we whiled away an hour by wandering into the town, tasting the coffee at a local cafe and picking up a parking ticket.

Our Villa. 26/4/00, 7:34pm

The road to the villa zig-zaged sharply up the hillside, climbing quickly up into the cool heights where the air is clean and the roads are quiet. Our villa was one of a few clustered arround a little church that was nestled into olive groves and vineyards on the slopes.

The front door to our villa. 25/4/00, 11:20am

The building was in uncharacteristicly good condition with most of the plaster still on the walls and even a fairly fresh lick of paint

Even the inside was nicely laid out and furnished. Large rooms adjoined other large rooms in a confusing layout with stairways as far appart as possible leading to two other floors. Later on we discovered from the outside a basement that we could not reach from the inside.

The reception room inside the front door. 27/4/00, 9:25am

The garden door. 23/4/00, 11:11am

The dining room on the ground floor opened out to a lovely garden with many plants, shrubs and trees to shelter us from the midday sun. We spent many a lazy hour snoozing, reading or drinking tea whilst admiring the view out over the lush green valley.

This is similar to the view from the garden of our villa but taken from just up the road. Other large villas are dotted over the hillside. Some have gardens that we can see from the road, most seem to be crumbling in the way that seems fasionable throughout southern Europe.

The view from the garden at our villa. 27/4/00, 3:42pm

The house to the left belongs to an artist who has painted murals on the front wall and arround the windows to make it look more grand than it is. The wall to the bottom right separates the road from the drop into our garden. The side of our villa is in the centre with the spire of the church just visible between ours and the artists villas.

Motorists have an anoying habit of leaning on their horns rather than their brakes as they hurtle round the blind bends. This they do at all hours of the day or night. Fortunately the traffic is light most of the time.

Our villa and garden wall. 25/4/00, 11:18am

Our bedroom. 27/4/00, 9:13am

There seem to be more bedrooms than we bargained for but all seem to be decorated in a simple but pleasant way. We settle for a large room with two small windows which let in a proportionaly small amount of light. Single beds pushed together seem to be the Catholic way, just in case.

San Michele Square. 22/4/00, 4:14pm

Lucca turns out to be a very nice town brimming with character and of course, churches. The older part of town is surrounded by a defensive wall outside of which runs a ring road. Most of the traffic is kept out of the centre and outside the wall making the centre a sanctuary of clean, peaceful living.

Lucca from Torre Guinigi. 23/4/00, 6:42pm

We climb the tower of 'Torre Guinigi' to see the views out over the town. Many unkempt buildings have weeds growing out of them but this one has olive trees purposely growing on the top. Presumably one could shelter from the sun whilst admiring the view, if there were sun to shade from of course.

Lucca from Torre Guinigi. 23/4/00, 6:43pm

In one of those hills nestles our villa, but I can't tell which one.

Lucca from Torre Guinigi. 23/4/00, 6:44pm

Red roof tiles are all the rage!

The best thing about climbing towers is that you can peer into other peoples back gardens. 5000 Lira well spent.

Lucca from Torre Guinigi. 23/4/00, 6:45pm

Piazza Anfiteatro Romano seems to attract lots of attention. Perhaps because it is a round square.

Piazza Anfiteatro Romano. 23/4/00, 6:24pm

The main square of San Gimignano. 24/4/00, 5:28pm

San Gimignano is aparently famous for its towers of which there are about ten. Its not exactly Dallas but it does present rather a picturesque view from a distance (even though it was raining at the time).

SanGimignanoFromCastle2.jpg

SanGimignanoFromCastle2. 24/4/00, 6:02pm