A modest home Today was our big driving day. We bid a reluctant goodbye to lovely San Gimignano and headed off on winding regional roads north. The pretty vineyard covered hills gave way to flat, more urban regions as we drove through the Empoli area but them rose again as…
Breakfast under the vines The sun came out today, which was such a nice change after the last few grey days and it dappled the ground under the vines as we sat in the courtyard to eat our breakfast. It was nice to have a slower, lazier start to our…
Is it possible to fall in love with a landscape? I hope so because that’s how I feel about Tuscany. I know it sounds corny and I know we’ve all heard the stories about people bragging about staying in a villa in Tuscany….but now I really get it! This whole…
Manarola If you’re hoping to visit the quaint and unspoiled Cinque Terre, you’re 10 years too late! If you’re happy to visit the Cinque Terre with hundreds of other tourists then you’re in luck. At 8am this morning we arrived promptly outside the Cafe Paskowski in the Piazza Della Republica…
Breakfast in a ballroom Florence is a nice place to feel crook. My cold has been making things a little tough but the historical centre of town is so small that we haven’t had to walk far to see the sights, and its been easy to pop back to the…
A comfortable ride Roma Termini station was buzzing when we arrived to catch our train to Florence. The high speed Frecciargento train was wonderful, definitely the most comfortable train trip we’ve ever had in Europe. We watched the Tuscan countryside flash past as at 245 km per hour it only…
Albergo Cesari – our hotel We had to skip breakfast on the terrace this morning as our tour to Pompei & the Amalfi coast was due to start very early. However being ready so early gave me an opportunity to take a photo of the hotel without the usual crowd…
Cycle race past the Colosseum Bike races seem to be a recurring theme of this holiday! Before leaving home we already knew that we would be in Florence at th same time as the International Cycling Championships, but as we walked down the road this morning towards the Colosseum we…
The local train We were the first ones on the terrace this morning just after they opened for breakfast. We only had 10 minutes to wolf down our fruit and croissants before we had to hit the streets for the 25 minute (according to Google) walk to Roma Termini station,…
Neil eating breakfast on the Roof terrace We ate our breakfast this morning with the quintessential Italian view of ancient terra cotta roof tiles, roof terraces draped with greenery and a picturesque church in the Background. The hotel serves breakfast on their roof terrace which we shared with chatty Americans…
It seems to becoming a habit for us to have a bit of a drama at the beginning of each trip. The first flight of our Italian tour was an evening one, and i had thought I would have a relaxed day getting through those last minute things – the…
I have just realised than in all my posts about travel technology, I haven’t yet mentioned one of my favourite little programs – Phantim3 . Phantim3 is a tiny little program that I’ve used repeatedly over the last 6 years to help build the excitement before a holiday – it’s…
