The Killer Photo

I almost forgot the killer photo of the trip! Here it is, taken in Castiglione d'Orcia

Sunflowers, Cats and Other Memories

I've created a couple of sunflower quilts in my time, and never tire of seeing a field of these flowers, or a sunflower growing near a well-aged wall.

One of my favorite memories of the trip happened the day we thought our GPS had led us to nowhere. We found ourselves driving down a narrow country road, and crossing a dry creek bed. Around the bend we saw the most amazing sight: a "sheep" dog leading a herd of sheep, with a modern-day shepherd following behind in his Toyota! We managed to capture photos and did eventually find our way back to San Gimignano.

We captured photos of cats and dogs wherever we went. Since cats don't travel well, I can be pretty sure these are "real" Tuscan cats. The dogs, on the other hand, mostly belonged to other European tourists.

Of course we have very fond memories of the friendly people and the food:

One of my most memorable meals contained figs stuffed with soft sweet cheese, on rocket salad.

I really miss the cappucino I had in every village I visited!

Now back to work!

Views, Windows, Doors, Walls, and Arches

It is September 1 once again, and in my mind that signals the start of a new year. Must be a hold-over from all the years I worked in universities and colleges, where the new academic year begins in September. For me it is a signal to get moving, get back to work, get my nose to the grindstone. In the next two weeks I have to finish Red Stool, make a piece to replace Exhale (for the SAQA Synthesis show), prepare to hang our joint show at the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum, prep for and teach two classes here in Ottawa, and get ready for my teaching trip to Nova Scotia. My sister has been visiting this past week, and now that she has gone home it is time to post the rest of the photos from Tuscany and get to the "to do" list above. Don't worry, I won't post all 1500 photos, just a selection of my favorites.

The following photos were taken in or between trips to San Gimignano, Castaglioni D'Orcia, San Quirico D'Orcia, Castellina in Chianti, Radda in Chianti, Volpaia, Vertine, San Gusme, Colle di Val d'Elsa, and Monteriggione. Most of these towns and villages are well off the beaten path.
Let me start with a typical Tuscan landscape, as we witnessed on many drives in the countryside:

In Castaglioni d'Orcio we captured this view of the Val d'Orcia (Orcia Valley). Many towns in Tuscany are named for the valleys they overlook.

Check out this gorgeous restaurant perched on the cliffs of Volpaia. Yes, we had dinner there, although all the tables upstairs were reserved so we had to eat on the terrace below.

Here are my collection of windows, walls, arches, and doors. Generally if you click on the image you will open a larger version and it will contain the title of the image, which will give you a hint of where it was taken, if you are interested.

No collection of Tuscan photos would be complete without the sunflowers. They shall come in the next post, along with one of my favorite memories of the trip.

A Week in Paradise

After two days in Florence we picked up our car and headed to San Gimignano. My husband seemed to fret for weeks about driving out of the Florence airport, but it was quite straightforward and we made it to San Gimignano without a hitch (the GPS we rented was invaluable!).

Arriving at our Agriturismo, Guardastelle, we found ourselves driving up a lane lined with cypress strees. An Agriturismo is basically a farm vacation, and there are such accommodations all over Italy. Susanna and Fausto, the young couple who run Guaradastelle with a passion, also grow grapes and produce wine.

We had a bedroom called "Sybile" in the main farmhouse. There are also several small cottages scattered around the property.

You can imagine my delight on my first morning at Guardastelle, when I woke, looked out my window and saw this paradise:

Each morning we enjoyed the Tuscan landscape while eating breakfast on this beautiful patio. I also sat here at night, under a Tuscan moon and stars, listening to the crickets sing while I checked my email.

The scenery everywhere around this area was classic Tuscany: peaceful, idyllic and beautiful.

We were so busy seeing the sights that I didn't even get into the pool until the last day. I wished I had had an additional week in which to relax at Guardastelle and use the pool daily.

From the patio, the town of San Gimignano with its medieval towers and walls was only a 1 km walk (3 km drive) away. Using my zoom lens I was able to bring the sight closer.

San Gimignano is a beautiful town, and you will see some of its doors, windows, walls and arches in a future blog post. Shopping there is also great, and I enjoyed it more than Florence because the shops are concentrated in a small area and geared at tourists. Although tour buses visit San Gimignano daily, there are still many quiet streets you can enjoy on any day, good restaurants, and lots of gelato and cappucino!

In my next post I will share some of the achingly beautiful sights we captured in the countryside and small medieval villages we visited.

Tuscany: Florence

I have always said that before I turn 50 I want to see Italy and Greece. Instead I have managed to see Italy twice before my impending 50th birthday. We just returned from a 10 day trip in Tuscany (two nights in Florence and seven nights at an Agriturismo in San Gimignano). My husband and I both fell in love with Italy last summer during our trip to the Amalfi Coast, and knew in a future trip Tuscany would be our destination. Virtually everything about the trip was perfect, although the weather was a little hot. Most days saw the thermometer rise to 36 degrees celsius. It is not unusual to see 30 to 32 celsius on a summer day in Ottawa, but I tend to stay indoors in air conditioned comfort on those days. Italy is just too beautiful to spend your time indoors. It helped that there was no humidity like we experience in Ottawa, and that we had an air conditioned car and room, and a swimming pool in San Gimignano. Still there were days the heat slowed me down but I tried to pace myself and cool myself with gelato :-)

We started out in Florence. Florence is not a large city (certainly not anywhere near the size of Rome) so it is easily walkable, and what I love is that much of it is blocked to cars so there isn't the intense traffic of Rome. There were, however, a lot of tourists in Florence!
I was thrilled to see Michaelangelo's David. While the original is housed in the Academia Gallery (which we visited, but were not allowed to take pictures), there are two copies of David elsewhere in Florence, this one in the Palazzo Vecchio. The sculpture stands over 14 feet, and took three years for Michaelangelo to complete.

We also toured the Uffizi Gallery, which contains many other Renaissance masterpieces, such as the Birth of Venus by Boticelli.

The Duomo (Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore) spans several blocks and dominates the skyline of Florence. I never did see the inside of it as I simply didn't have the patience to stand in a line of tourists that was several blocks long. Construction of the Duomo began in the 1200's, although it is built on the site of an earlier church.

The Ponte Vecchia (Vecchia bridge) is just as beautiful in person as in the tourist brochures. This bridge has been here since Roman times although it was rebuilt in the 1300's. It is the only bridge in Florence to have survived bombing during the second world war.

Florence is known for its leather products, and I was stunned at the number of vendors and shops selling a huge variety of leather products in all kinds of colours. The selection was overwhelming.

My husband gets credit for capturing this photo of a mime entertaining the crowds in one of the city squares.

I loved the architecture of these arches that run along the Via Vecchia.

I will be blogging with many more pictures over the next couple of days. Florence was just the appetizer of this trip. In my humble opinion, the best part of Italy is the countryside and the medieval villages, which are achingly beautiful. You can also avoid the tourist crowds there.