Pardon my immodesty, but I really do know how to plan a vacation in Italy that can be everything I wanted.
We flew into Rome and took a taxi to Siena, our first sleepover. What a feeling getting off the plane and having the Alessandro Brigante Taxi Service waiting at the exit. Fabrizio was there waiting with a sign, we boarded his car, and off we went on the 3 hour trip to Siena. What a nice guy stopping for us when the need arose and driving flawlessly while we relaxed in the back seat sleeping and watching the scenery dropping us off right at the front door of our hotel, Palazzo Ravizza, in Siena. The price of $360 euro was well worth it for us - no driving for me (ahhhhh) and no finding my way around Italy and into a big city. The hotel was spectacular with a garden in the rear with magnificent views of Tuscany. Both our rooms ( we had to switch due to a prearranged conflict in room occupancy) had views of Tuscany and were spotless and beautiful. Siena is a nice town, but we proved conclusively once and for all, not one of our favorite places. Florence has better food, better museums, and of course, no fault to Siena, our dearest friends. So we could see the countryside without my driving, Lidia and Luca came down to meet us and take us to Volterra and Monteriggioni (3rd time for me, 2nd for Laura) and the val d'orcin region with lunch at San Quirico d'Orcia, both wonderful days with loving and fabulous friends. Had ok food except for the Osteria Nonna Gina in Siena which was amazing. Saw the Campo and Duomo which are great famous locations and the Pinacoteca (art museum) which has Sienese art, not my favorite kind of art, but interesting anyway. We befriended a member of staff at the hotel, Francesco, who gave us a superb 20 minute interview while seated in the back garden.
After four nights it was taxi again to Florence door to door and again a wonderful experience. Same room at Croce di Malta we have had for quite a while now with balcony overlooking back garden. Lunch at La Grotta di Leo, our favorite lunch place with excellent pizza, and dinner at La Spada with great food. We dined with Lidia for practically every meal. We had Bistecca Fiorentina two nights in a row!!!! Best steak ever. One day Lidia took us with her wonderful friends (and now our friends as well) to see the newly restored Cenacolo (Last Supper) by my favorite artist, Domenico Ghirlandaio, located at the Monastery at Badia a Pasignano, where we were the year before. Then they took us to a small town in the area, San Donato, a great small town I never heard of. The moral to this story is, let your friends take you wherever they want! Then we went back to Sabrina and Giulio's house for lunch cooked by Giulio and had several hours of our fun and great food. They told us of the best pizza place in Florence, Santarpia which did indeed have great pizza. We bid farewell to them. While in Florence we visited the Pitti Palace Galleria Palatina for the great works by Raphael. Slight mistake here - not nearly enough time in Florence. Once again met our friend Prof Roger Crum who brought with him to Florence 54 students and 6 faculty members. We dined with him and brought him back to our hotel Croce di Malta to show him the 360 degree view from the roof which was opened just for me. Once again bumped into one of the owners, Simone who greeted me warmly. Bought some leather products in Lidia's store including a new wallet, 3 belts, and a new side bag for me.
We took the train to Orvieto, a lovely town in Umbria, much nicer for us anyway than Siena. Dinner with Franco and Nina. Then next morning Nina drove us back with her to Civita di Bagnoregio where she works with Franco at his fabulous restaurant Trattoria Antica Forno. Civita is a 2800 year old Etruscan town accessible only via a long walkway which is at several points virtually a 45 degree angle up to the town perched high above the Alto Lazio valley with Lubriano on the eastern side. We walked around the town again filled with several times the number of people we usually see, then dined at Antina Forno. Laura went into the kitchen to video Franco cooking what turned out to be close to 70 meals (pasta mostly) and learning some new things about Italian cooking. We now have about 20 minutes of his cooking brilliance on video. We then watched the twice yearly donkey race patterned after the famous Palio of Siena. What a hoot with immovable donkeys "strolling" around the town square, a fraction the size of the Campo in Siena. Franco then drove us back to Civita for our last evening in Italy. We strolled the eerie, dark, and empty backstreets of Orvieto before trying to get some sleep as we were awakened at 4:30 AM next day for the taxi back to Rome Airport.
A memorable and exciting trip to Italy which will be elaborated upon during about 8 - 10 shows over the next year. I will probably miss Friday evening's show as I prepare myself mentally for my double cataract surgery coming up first next week and then two weeks later. Not certain when my next show will be.
No comments:
Post a Comment