Post No7 - 2012 Trip - And then there was Tuscany

So here we are back in the Tuscany region with the two Australians keen to explore its delights!  We seem to spend a lot of time in this part of the world these days as it seems to be right in the midst of one of our usual paths through to France from Greece. No complaints from me though!

This time we rented a lovely house in the hilltop town of Barga, in the northern part of Tuscany, just north of Lucca, and it proved the perfect base. Barga's crammed with lots of tiny narrow streets, some great restaurants and it felt like it was there for the Italians, not the tourist! Another plus was that the house was high up in the town, tucked just under the large church with its intriguing bell ringing (which we later sussed out!) and looked over the town's rooftops and over to the distant mountains - hours and hours of sketching at our fingertips.

The house was owned by the lovely Frank (peeking through the door), an American Italian writer, who was a fountain of knowledge, so when we weren't out exploring we were picking plying him with questions.

So after a day of well deserved 'down time', we first headed off to Lucca, one of my favourites since I stayed there a few years back  - and yet another place we've passed so many times on the freeway and never stopped at.

Lucca is another town full of curving narrow streets, with a wonderful circular piazza in the middle of it. It appears full of large cathedrals that need exploring... next visit.

Siena was on the agenda as well and was once again worth the visit, though it was a tad disappointing not to fall in love with yet another handbag there.

Pisa was well and truly checked out as well. This was a first for me, and that Leaning Tower is truly quite amazing and still very much leaning despite the recent 'fix up' job. Campo dei Miracoli (Field of Miracles) surrounding the tower and the massive Cathedral was incredibly packed with tourists, but this didn't take away any of the grandeur of these beautiful buildings.  There was lots of entertainment value watching the tourists posing for their photographs, with them leaning in various directions with the 'photographers' furiously waving their arms about - it looked a little like some version of tai chi!

Ahh and then there was Florence. Such a beautiful city, but one again, oh so many tourists......

I'm always fascinated with Pont de Vecchio. It's such a colourful jumble of buildings, windows and shutters,

 yet walking over the bridge itself, you're lost in an amazing collection of gold and jewellry shops.

After our fantastic week in Barga, we headed  off to the south of Tuscany for our two last nights in Italy, alongside Lake Trasimeno in the tiny town of Castiglione del Lago.  On our way we stopped off at San Gimignano, but it was an Italian public holiday, and alas nowhere to park!  We did manage a walk through the town though whilst Peter waited in a shady spot in the car on the outskirts.

As a said in my recent Art Weekly Blog, I just love discovering lines of any sort in the countryside, and this is certainly the place to find them.

Whilst there, we managed to visit the beautiful Assisi 

 where we came across an interesting array of religious-ness!

Firstly, an angel

 then a pilgrim

 and lots of happyy nuns

We also visited Multipulciano, well known for its wine. A lovely spot set high up on a hill overlooking the Umbrian countryside.

The wine was sampled whilst sitting on a teensy balcony outside a cafe

and it seemed a good time to try on some of Rita's purchases!

Before long though it was time to leave the beautiful Italian countryside. It had been an amazing few weeks of exploring, eating, drinking, laughing, and even sketching.......

But wait, not quite finished yet, after a brief and well earned respite in Koroni, we're off to Crete for a week.... Next blog entry.......