Autumn leaves

On Monday we had another lazy day at home in front of the fire but, feeling a bit antsy in the early afternoon, decided to go for a drive through our hills.....

We drove up the windy roads, through Pietrapiana, Saltino, Valombrosa, climbing up, up, up through the clouds over 1000 meters to the highest point of Monte Secchieta (1500m above sea level). The kids all jumped out of the car and we ran around amongst the satelite/telecom towers....

Amazing scenery en route!

The camera does not capture the vivid red of the leaves and the vibrant green moss, nor the fog... nor the cold!

Why would you come here in summer when you can have this and the roads all to yourselves in November?

The Mall

Sunday 21st it rained and rained. We lit the fire and cooked up a big farro e fagoli soup and stayed indoors playing board games and keeping warm.
In the afternoon, George and I took turns in hitting The Mall....a designer direct-factory-outlet 10 minutes down the road....
We'd checked it out earlier in the week to see if it was worth a proper visit; Chiara and I had been dropped off for a quick look.....and picked up a very reasonably priced Gucci jacket for her!

George picked up a great Todd jacket and me some Gucci pants and a casual Armani jacket for the cold!
Very conservative and some things still overpriced, but the odd good item amongst the rabble.
Good shopping!

Back to Florence

On Sat 20th we hit Florence again and again got lucky with the weather, not having to use our new umbrellas once!

We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the museum unfortunately. This was taken in the external loggia on the first floor with one of the bronze bird sculptures in the foreground and the pic below in the central courtyard with the many Florentine coats of arms on display above our heads

We hit the Bargello; once a Florentine prison and now predominately a sculpture museum.
The kids seem to prefer sculptures to painting and loved the many Michelangelos and in particular the extensive collection of 15th century armour and weaponry. (Very Merlin).

After our culture hit, we found a restaurant and settled in for a good 3 course lunch.
I had an unexpectedly good 'Ribollita'; a black cabbage and bread soup and a Tuscan speciality.

Pic and recipe courtesy of this website

We then wandered the streets until dark and headed back to our farmhouse in the Tuscan hills.

Pisa and Lucca

Thursday was a rainy rainy day, but we braved the elements and set off to do some touristing.
And it was well worth it.
We skirted Florence and stopped in beautiful Lucca to wander the streets and have lunch.

We parked just inside the amazing old city walls and wandered up via Vittorio Emmanuele towards the Palazzo Ducale and the Cathedral.
It was raining heavily and we bought two fantastic big umbrellas from an umbrella vendor in her stall to replace the two bad ones we'd bought from Roman street vendors a couple of weeks prior which had of course broken within days of purchase.....
The town was beautiful and the shopping looked great....unfortunately the town closed for lunch just as we arrived at 1pm..

Then after a leisurely lunch, we piled back into the car and headed for Pisa and rainbows:

PISA

It stopped raining just long enough for us to enjoy the sights; the beautiful baptistry, the Duomo, the Camposanto and of course the leaning Tower. So much white marble and beautiful stonework.

You had to be 8 years and older to be permitted to climb the leaning tower, so we pretended just a little with Eve and she, Cas, Chiara and I climbed the 270 steep and slippery steps to the top. Pretty precarious. And at 15 euro a head for the 20min climb, it wasn't cheap.....

It poured all the long, dark and scary trip home.

Horseriding

Wednesday 17th the sun appeared and we called Laura at the Fattoria degli Usignoli in San Donato...we arranged to meet her at 10am to go horse riding.
5 minutes drive from our farmhouse, we arrived at the magnificent estate and spent the next 20 minutes trying to find someone....finally located the horses...

and cats, a dog and a very playful goat....and Laura.

 Eve with Nico

The horses had been rolling happily in the mud and our first task was to clean them! The children happily obliged.....then we mounted went for a ride through the olive groves....

Annick stayed back with the non-horse riders and the ponies...

Rainy days

It's been pouring with rain in Italy this week with floods in the north. On Tuesday 16th we lit the fire and had a quiet day watching the rain pour down outside our windows and the rainclouds rolling over the Tuscan hills.
Everybody found something to keep themselves busy....
Cas locked himself up in his turret and wrote a poem:

FINDING THE YIONTIS IN ITALY....

Somewhere, with a map in palm
Within a large, wet olive farm
Down a thin and bumpy ridge
Turn the corner, across a bridge....
Somewhere, far away from Rome
Is where you'll find the Yiontis home....

Socks are what my Mother is knitting
Drinking tea and quietly sitting.
Father's working out the map.
Or if not, taking a nap...
Sister #1 is on 'Facebook'
Replying or just having a look...
Sister #2 is mostly crying
Then tells on me and is always lying...
Sister #3, she just loves singing
The toilet is where her voice is ringing...
Now I've told you about my family.
See now if you can find me...

All wool farms are out of stock;
Mother's made Italy a sock...
Father's lost and can't get home
Calling everyone on his mobile phone.
The power's gone without a doubt...
Sister #1 has run it out.
If you find us you'll need a boat
Because Sister #2 has cried a moat.
All restaurants have kicked us out...
because Sister #3 will non-stop shout...
And now somewhere in Italy
I'm sure you'll find my family.

By Casimir Paul Yiontis

beautiful Firenze

On Monday, we awoke to find a horse in our garden which the kids thought was fantastic....

 

We've had visiting cats and dogs too; all of which the children have duly given a name and claimed for the day.

After the morning's excitement we jumped in the car and headed for Florence. The 25km distance took at least 40mins to navigate due to windy windy roads....we wandered the streets, crossed the Ponte Vecchio and ate lunch in the Piazza in front of the Santa Croce

Tripe stand

Lunch - Margherita pizza and spaghetti al pomodoro a staple for the kids....

On the Ponte Vechhio

 ......And got home in time for dinner......We'll be back...