Day 1: The flight to Italy was uneventful. We went from Boston to Rome, then Rome to Florence. This is the countryside of Tuscany. We were just off the plane and were astounded at the beauty.
This pomegranate was growing outside of our B&B.
One of the buildings at our inn.
Of course, grape vines were everywhere!
This is Greve in Chianti. We found this to be a very quaint town and ended up spending most of our evenings there.
The piazza in Greve. This is a Sunday, so there are no cars in the piazza. During the rest of the week, the piazza was very crowded with parked vehicles.
Day 2: This is Montorigioni. It is a walled city on a hill (the hill looks much higher when you're driving on the road that surrounds the town). This is actually from a postcard, but it gives the best view of the whole area.
This is the main gate into Montorigioni.
After Montorigioni, we drove south to Siena. This is a great town, also walled. The streets are very narrow and surrounded by great little shops and eateries. This was one of my favorite stops on the trip.
A Siena walkway.
Nice architecture.
The cars in Italy are VERY small.
Ornate cathedrals.
Day 3: Florence. This is the Ponte Vecchia, a VERY old bridge. The walkway above the bridge was built by the Medici to be able to cross the bridge away from the commoners.
We had a bad experience in Florence. We parked in a lot and were charged $20 euros to park all day. It was expensive, but it was easy so we paid it and went on our way. When we got back to the car, we had a $35 euro ticket! Apparently the parking attendant wasn't a real attendant, he totally scammed us! Grrrr.
John in Florence.
Me in Florence. It was so warm and sunny.
Day 4: This is on a solo drive away from the inn. I left John behind just to get a little of that precious space I often need on a trip.
While taking this picture, a bunch of really large (and I'm sure, biting) bugs flew into the car. I drove off swatting here and there, and almost driving off the road. The roads in Tuscany are so curvy...it's amazing I didn't kill myself or someone else!
This is John in Panzano in Chianti, which was a village very close to our inn.
A walkway in Castellini in Chianti, likely the quaintest town on our trip.
From high up in the castle that Castellini is built around.
Day 5: Arezzo John and I went to a museum where there was a di Vinci show.
A lovely Mona Lisa.
A lovelier Mona Lisa?
These are the remnants of a Roman amphitheater from the 2nd century AD.
On our way home from our trips that day, we saw this castle from the road and drove up to see it. We were the only ones there and we walked all around the castle before we saw the sign that said No Trespassing. Oops.
