Arrivaderci Italy, you've been good to me. Early tomorrow, I begin the long trek homeward but I welcome the return to all people and things familiar. Thank you o land of sun, good food and drink for showing me your particular brand of hospitality and a way of further appreciating what I have back home.
Over and out.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
26 Sept - The Last Supper
For my final dinner in Firenze, I sat down at L'Giuggiolo. Started off with a tomato terrine on a bed of mozzarella strips doused in yoghourt sauce with a pine nut and basil topping. With it, they served a lovely savoury po-boy style deep fried dough that was a perfect companion to the yummy starter.
Then on to the house specialty, a tagliatelle made on the premises with a strong peppery sauce and a healthy serving of beef chunks. Hearty, filling, yumm.
My only complaint would have to rest with the wine. The actual Chianti itself was tasty enough but the volume was so miserly, I honestly thought it was the tasting portion and the waitress would return to top me up!
Called it a wrap with the warm pine nut custard tart. Respectable but not earth-shattering. All in all, a pretty decent last supper.
Then on to the house specialty, a tagliatelle made on the premises with a strong peppery sauce and a healthy serving of beef chunks. Hearty, filling, yumm.
My only complaint would have to rest with the wine. The actual Chianti itself was tasty enough but the volume was so miserly, I honestly thought it was the tasting portion and the waitress would return to top me up!
Called it a wrap with the warm pine nut custard tart. Respectable but not earth-shattering. All in all, a pretty decent last supper.
26 Sept - Ponte Vecchio
The "Old Bridge" is the last remaining vestige of its kind as all the other medieval bridges spanning the Arno were blown to bits in WWII. It used to house butchers, grocers, blacksmiths and the like until the late 16th C when Grand Duke Ferdinand I - of the mighty Medici line - found contemptable that his private passageway across the river ran atop such a plebeian collection of shops. He decreed that all the commoners be shown the door and the only trades permitted ever since have been goldsmiths and jewellers. That's one way of cleaning up the neighbourhood!
26 Sept - Lampredotto
I went off in search of some serious Florentine street food for lunch. The hunt was on for lampredotto, a panini of spiced - ummmm - tripe...yes, I did say tripe. Tried 4 different locations in the city but none of the carts were operating as it was Sunday. One shopkeeper told me it is a lunchtime favourite of working men so the carts rest on the Lord's Day. Also, it is very unusual for women to be seen eating lampredotto. Does this mean Florentines believe tripe is too strong for a woman's palette? I chalk it up to fate that my trip for tripe was foiled. Moohoooooo...
26 Sept - The David
Somehow it must be in their blood. I spotted a cabbie speeding down the street as he hollered with visible contempt into the cell phone he held in one hand while the other hand was busy waving frantically through the air. Minor deet but let me point out that no limb was anywhere near the steering wheel. Speaking animatedly with one's hands: nature or nurture?
What an achievement to jam so many serious works of art and architecture into a few square kilometres. There simply wasn't enough time to visit the Uffizi but the Galleria dell'Academia was a must. David with his gorgeous oversized hands, arms and head...Michaelangelo was no hack, he knew exactly what he was doing. The sculpture was originally commissioned at the height of the Renaissance to stand tall outside the Duomo where it could be spotted from afar. Michaelangelo knew he needed to make David's head and limbs disproportionately large so as to be visible from a distance. Anyway, these are the hands that grabbed Goliath by the Adam's apple, crumpled him into a little ball and spit him out in the gutter. It's only fitting those hands should be big, almost unwieldy.
In my humble opinion, the uncontested crown jewel of Firenze has got to be the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore, better known as Il Duomo. The huge cathedral is an astounding work with the exterior built of a stunning pastiche of green, pink and white marble along with an enormous assortment of fantastically ornate tools from the Gothic vocabulary of architecture. Started in the late 13th C, its construction spans fully 6 centuries, as hard as it is to fathom. The two sets of bronze doors alone took Ghiberti over 50 years to complete, a feat that earned him kudos from a fellow artist known to be very stingy with his praise: Michaelangelo was quoted as saying they were so exquisite they could serve as the Gates of Paradise.
What an achievement to jam so many serious works of art and architecture into a few square kilometres. There simply wasn't enough time to visit the Uffizi but the Galleria dell'Academia was a must. David with his gorgeous oversized hands, arms and head...Michaelangelo was no hack, he knew exactly what he was doing. The sculpture was originally commissioned at the height of the Renaissance to stand tall outside the Duomo where it could be spotted from afar. Michaelangelo knew he needed to make David's head and limbs disproportionately large so as to be visible from a distance. Anyway, these are the hands that grabbed Goliath by the Adam's apple, crumpled him into a little ball and spit him out in the gutter. It's only fitting those hands should be big, almost unwieldy.
In my humble opinion, the uncontested crown jewel of Firenze has got to be the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore, better known as Il Duomo. The huge cathedral is an astounding work with the exterior built of a stunning pastiche of green, pink and white marble along with an enormous assortment of fantastically ornate tools from the Gothic vocabulary of architecture. Started in the late 13th C, its construction spans fully 6 centuries, as hard as it is to fathom. The two sets of bronze doors alone took Ghiberti over 50 years to complete, a feat that earned him kudos from a fellow artist known to be very stingy with his praise: Michaelangelo was quoted as saying they were so exquisite they could serve as the Gates of Paradise.
25 Sept - Eating and Breathing Futbol
How disappointing when I discovered that the restaurant I'd settled on was closed weekends. What food biz closes weekends? So in lieu of haute cuisine, I began paying attention to the buzz about a big Milan-Genoa game this evening. I'd already overheard a few Florentines talk about it so had someone point me in the direction of a "futbol tavern" and settled in.
Not even 6.30 and the place was full...of men and me, the token woman. They didn't give me too much attitude, they were too caught up in the game. Whoa, soccer is some kinda religion for Italians. It was pizza or bust in that joint and even that was a lucky gambit. Well, the atmosphere and Moretti beer made the experience worthwhile.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
25 Sept - Sienna
Rained cats and dogs all night long but my little tent somehow held up. Magically, the clouds moved away at dawn just in time for me to pack up and hike the remaining 10km into Sienna.
If you had to pick a single unique thing about Sienna, it would have to be The Palio. Held in Il Campo, Italy's largest and most statuesque piazza, The Palio is a biannual bareback horse race in which each of Sienna's 17 neighbourhoods is championned by a horse and jockey. The riders proudly sport their hood's crest and colours and fiercely loyal residents slug it out with friends in adjacent neighbourhoods.
Anything goes in this race. It isn't unheard of to have a jockey ambushed on the morning of the race. Jockeys are even allowed to lash out at one another and their horses in mid-race. Animal activists have a hey day.
Hung out in Sienna over lunch at Trattoria Papei where I indulged in the hand-made spaghetti with duck and bacon. Mamamia, que belleza! Knockout dish with a glass of Brunello and very attentive service.
On a different note, I realize I have become an avid consumer of maps. I devour them, absorb their goodness then spit them out. Why I don't already have a GPS is simply beyond me. Note to self: early Xmas gift.
Firenze. At this point, all I cared about was a shower. Ahhhhh, to be reunited with clean, non-hiking clothes and latte on demand. After rubbing the grime off (wooohooo, no more filthy feet!), I devoted my day to a complete effort in cafe-hopping and people-watching. Perfectly respectable and exactly what the doctor ordered after my somewhat active pace.
If you had to pick a single unique thing about Sienna, it would have to be The Palio. Held in Il Campo, Italy's largest and most statuesque piazza, The Palio is a biannual bareback horse race in which each of Sienna's 17 neighbourhoods is championned by a horse and jockey. The riders proudly sport their hood's crest and colours and fiercely loyal residents slug it out with friends in adjacent neighbourhoods.
Anything goes in this race. It isn't unheard of to have a jockey ambushed on the morning of the race. Jockeys are even allowed to lash out at one another and their horses in mid-race. Animal activists have a hey day.
Hung out in Sienna over lunch at Trattoria Papei where I indulged in the hand-made spaghetti with duck and bacon. Mamamia, que belleza! Knockout dish with a glass of Brunello and very attentive service.
On a different note, I realize I have become an avid consumer of maps. I devour them, absorb their goodness then spit them out. Why I don't already have a GPS is simply beyond me. Note to self: early Xmas gift.
Firenze. At this point, all I cared about was a shower. Ahhhhh, to be reunited with clean, non-hiking clothes and latte on demand. After rubbing the grime off (wooohooo, no more filthy feet!), I devoted my day to a complete effort in cafe-hopping and people-watching. Perfectly respectable and exactly what the doctor ordered after my somewhat active pace.
24 Sept - Grunt and Snort
A "nature day", that's how I would characterize today. Got myself to Monteriggione, a lovely well-preserved medieval village south of San Gimi where I lunched on some fannnnntastic wild boar stew and a beautiful olive-arugula salad. Oh yeah, hit the spot.
Throughout lunch, a falcon demo was taking place on the ramparts of the castle walls. The falcon, it would appear, had a different agenda and was not in a cooperating mood. His master whooped and hooted loudly for quite some time while the falcon enjoyed his 15 mins of fame and freedom.
Picked up another hiking map for the mountains surrounding Sienna and began tackling them. Must admit, I didn't expect the kind of solitary and rugged terrain that I found (still part of the Via Francegena family). High up in the mountains on a tight rocky trail, when I heard a loud grunt and some mad rustling not 20 feet from me, I knew it wasn't a couple of high school kids making out.
Yikesss, what do I know about wild boars? Just how does one protect oneself from a charging boar? Hmm, I'm certain I've asked myself this very question during social soirees before! I figured like bears, they scare easily so I called out in the most booming voice I could muster "attention les sangliers, je suis la!" Why in French, I can't say. It just came to me that way. Kept going, just a bit unnerved...Upon coming to a clearing, I heard another similar commotion, so I rushed by only to realize a few 100 metres later that there had been a fork in the path and I'd been so preoccupied with the wildlife that I failed to watch for the trail marker (is that a blaze or is the tree suffering from some arboreal fungus?) So I had to freaking return to the scene of the crime to make sure. The whole scene repeated itself yet again. I was hoping my snorting friend didn't take personally that I'd lunched on his second cousin mere hours before. Seriously though, I have not felt more alive all week. For the rest of the hike, I was belting out "Allez les sangliers, j'arrive."
Called San Colomba home for the night. Their church sure is kickass gorgeous.
Throughout lunch, a falcon demo was taking place on the ramparts of the castle walls. The falcon, it would appear, had a different agenda and was not in a cooperating mood. His master whooped and hooted loudly for quite some time while the falcon enjoyed his 15 mins of fame and freedom.
Picked up another hiking map for the mountains surrounding Sienna and began tackling them. Must admit, I didn't expect the kind of solitary and rugged terrain that I found (still part of the Via Francegena family). High up in the mountains on a tight rocky trail, when I heard a loud grunt and some mad rustling not 20 feet from me, I knew it wasn't a couple of high school kids making out.
Yikesss, what do I know about wild boars? Just how does one protect oneself from a charging boar? Hmm, I'm certain I've asked myself this very question during social soirees before! I figured like bears, they scare easily so I called out in the most booming voice I could muster "attention les sangliers, je suis la!" Why in French, I can't say. It just came to me that way. Kept going, just a bit unnerved...Upon coming to a clearing, I heard another similar commotion, so I rushed by only to realize a few 100 metres later that there had been a fork in the path and I'd been so preoccupied with the wildlife that I failed to watch for the trail marker (is that a blaze or is the tree suffering from some arboreal fungus?) So I had to freaking return to the scene of the crime to make sure. The whole scene repeated itself yet again. I was hoping my snorting friend didn't take personally that I'd lunched on his second cousin mere hours before. Seriously though, I have not felt more alive all week. For the rest of the hike, I was belting out "Allez les sangliers, j'arrive."
Called San Colomba home for the night. Their church sure is kickass gorgeous.
Friday, September 24, 2010
23 Sept - La Via Francigena
Breakfast was provided this morning by way of a strategically positioned fig tree. Mmm, tutte bene, grazie! Popped into San Gimi for my morning latte to get the motor running, then south to whatever small roads my feet might want to take me.
On my stroll out of SG, I witnessed a car accident. Here is where the Italian good nature breaks right down. Driving on these winding roads with little visibility and even less shoulder would tend to make one extra-cautious. So one would think. Instead, put an Italian behind the wheel and he'll be tailgaiting you in seconds flat. The result: one big bang. People are in too much of a rush to get too much in. Breathe, relax, chill. This is my take-away. Oh and safety first, of course.
Hail to the hiking Gods who saw fit to stick me on a road that just happened to intersect with la Via Francigena, a very cool hiking trail. It meant a little back-tracking but who cares when it means gorgeous scenery and zero cars?
The trail will see me hit Monteriggione tomorrow, perfect for a final trek into Sienna.
On my stroll out of SG, I witnessed a car accident. Here is where the Italian good nature breaks right down. Driving on these winding roads with little visibility and even less shoulder would tend to make one extra-cautious. So one would think. Instead, put an Italian behind the wheel and he'll be tailgaiting you in seconds flat. The result: one big bang. People are in too much of a rush to get too much in. Breathe, relax, chill. This is my take-away. Oh and safety first, of course.
Hail to the hiking Gods who saw fit to stick me on a road that just happened to intersect with la Via Francigena, a very cool hiking trail. It meant a little back-tracking but who cares when it means gorgeous scenery and zero cars?
The trail will see me hit Monteriggione tomorrow, perfect for a final trek into Sienna.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
22 Sept - San Gimignano, Medieval Manhattan
One thing I have to say about Italian paths: they could be better marked. Then again, maybe its a nation-wide conspiracy forcing visitors to let go of any preconceived notions relating to itinerary. Once I figured out the many (faded, verrrry faded) ways in which the trail was (or not) blazed, it all worked out well enough. Anyway, good to have San Gimignanos hulking towers on a hilltop in my crosshairs from afar.
This trail is actually pretty cool. Part paved back road, part dirt road, part gravel path and part serious hiking trail, I made my way to San Gimignano often with no other sound other than the gravel beneath my feet and the whistlijng wind in my ears. Now thats exactly the kind of peace and quiet I was hunting for.
San Gimi. A town that started off as a muddy Etruscan village back in 200 BC. Its claim to fame is the rivalry between two wealthy landowners who sought to outdo each other architecturally. The result: a Montague-Capulet style feud in the midst of keeping up with the Joneses. By the time they were done, San Gimi boasted of 70 towers that could double as an escape route when the rival Volterra lords paid them an unwelcome visit. Today, 14 of the towers remain standing but it takes little imagination to conjure up the majesty of the skyline as it must have looked back in the day. Dante even visited in 1300! No wonder they refer to it as the Medieval Manhattan.
A late lunch was sounding pretty good but I caught the staff between meals. Sadly, I had to forego the house specialty: wild boar in chocolate sauce! My pecorino ravioli with a Moretti chaser made for a respectable stand-in however.
San Gimi is a fine spot for people-watching, I could think of much worse hangouts. Already have my camping digs scoped out for the night. Now need to figure out where to next.
21 Sept - Are the tourists leaning or is it the tower?
OMG, you have never witnessed anything more hysterical than the sight of the virtual circus around the leaning tower of Pisa. Hoardes crowd in to stand on short pillars in the towers foreground and strike a pose capturing its exact 3.99 degree tilt. Spontaneous photo shoots erupt everywhere with rookie photographers belting out commands: "drop that hand 5 cm, chin left, more bend." What would aliens think if they were to tune in to this scene of collective kung-fu poses and conclude this is what the human race is all about?!!
Apparently the original architect made a booboo when he conceived of a mere 3 metres of foundation for what was meant to be a bell tower. Add to that the instability of the soil underneath and what you get is a perfect storm for a lean right off the bat. The builders tried compensating with more weight on the upper floors but guess what? The lean shifted in the other direction. Imagine yourself as one of the builders. You show up for work one morning: "Wasn't that...I thought...The lean, wasn't it...??" Kinda like Marty Feldman's ever-shifting Quasimodo hump in Young Frankenstein. Had it been me, I would've decreed off with the architects head...but thats just my Queen of Hearts shining through.
Over the years, a number of brilliant minds have tackled the problem. From the original 5 degree tilt, the tower grew dangerously top-heavy so it was closed to the public for a good decade. In 2001, a feat of engineering saw it re-open at its current 3.99 degree lean. As the pinnacle of Pisas economy and a world landmark, I doubt they'd venture to completely right it even if they could.
A few modes of transport later, I was in Volterra. If you like Montepulciano, then Volterra will also tickle your fancy. The fortified town dates back to the 11th Century and it shows. They've been careful about using the old methods of masonry for repairs so everything looks just as youd imagine it a thousand years ago...minus the Monty Python jaberwock of course.
Had a case of itchy feet so wasted little time and set out walking. The Volterra tourist office kindly pointed me in the direction of a couple of good walking-cycling trails so off I went through the mountains.
Here I sit now, snug as a bug in a rug in my tent somewhere halfway to San Gimignano. No sign of rain in sight, the sound of crickets and crop cannons all around and a tasty pecorino salami panini. What could be better? Well a beer couldn't have hurt but I won't press my luck!
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