All in one weekend: the leaning tower of Pisa, touring San Gimignano, dining in Volterra

Loved our touring blitz. I call it that because we have been renting a car and taking a day out of our weekends to explore cities other than our own. Three weekends ago we skimmed Montepulciano and Pienza, two weekends ago we soaked up the festivities in Bologna (see Anthony's post), and this past weekend we fit in Pisa, San Gimignano and Volterra. No worries: the boys actually had Monday and Tuesday off this week, so blitzing some cities over the weekend wasn't a complete loss of sanity---we had two days for putting up our throbbing feet.

And these are all cities that we have been meaning to visit.

Pisa's leaning tower was insanely expensive to climb... but we are here, so we bit the bullet and bought tickets. And how weird: climbing the stairs of the leaning tower felt awkward. While climbing, we were adjusting our bodily angles, putting our hands on the walls for extra support and 'vertigo' crossed my mind more than once... but the views were beautiful. Although it is early December, we enjoyed sunny, clear vistas for our Pisa experience (FYI travel in non-tourist months. Little lines, fewer tourists, no boiling hot sun. Add a coat and you are free to roam and enjoy at a pace all your own).

One other must-mention for Pisa: the cathedral was stunning. Just stunning. We all remarked that it was one of our favorite so far in Italy---an unexpected surprise.

In Pisa we also toured the Chagall museum (temporary exhibit). WOW. I want to go back and stare some more. I wish I could own one of the paintings, so it was permanently affixed in my abode and I could stare at length.

San Gimignano is famous for its towers. If I remember correctly there were near 100 and 17 remain intact (unusual for towers to retain their height; with all the fights and family feuds, towers were regularly lopped off). Because it is touristy, we dared not expect authenticity. But in fact, it was quaint and we were wowed by its streets (esp. San Matteo), markets and stores. The boys scored: Caleb found a store with gems where he purchased an amethyst gemstone, and Anthony bought a city tile (he is collecting hand-crafted small tiles from different cities). I bought a small ceramic pitcher and a 10 euro brown knitted hat from a market vendor, James bought wild boar and wine-cured salami---plus 2 bottles of Vernaccia white wine.

The Vernaccia wine is quintessential to San Gimignano; it was the very first wine in Italy to receive the DOCG quality stamp of approval. Stamps of approval, geography, grapes and processes are all very important in Italy. We went out of our way to taste Vernaccia, and bought 2 bottles of reserve... not to be opened until grandpa's birthday (Janelle's dad) in late January. (I wrote about Chiantis, DOC and DOCG labels on my other blog, talkoftomatoes).

We were running out of time (admittedly, it was hard to leave San Gimignano, as we were enjoying it immensely), but jetted to Volterra for a quick peek at the city and for dinner. It was dark upon our arrival. What you should know: Volterra is a hilltop city with amazing walls and stairs leading to the top. The stairs weave back and forth and incorporate a park---which was closed this time of night. We mean to return to better see the city, enjoy the park and visit their Etruscan museum---we had a great first impression of Volterra.

Volterra is seemingly synonymous with Alabaster (every other store sold carved and molded stone and gems). Who knew? We walked the streets long enough to find a place to eat, and were fortunate enough to find: Da Pina. We found this adorable restaurant by walking through a store and down into a wine cellar---full of cozy tables and barrel-made bookcases. I couldn't resist having my family experience tartufo: central and northern Italy's infamous white truffle, available just during the fall and championed at many a festival... We enjoyed tartufo salami, tartufo pork, tartufo honey and bacon fat smeared on bruschetta... tartufo pecorino... it was unforgettable. Our main entrees included pasta (James), wild boar (Janelle), meat in wine sauce (Caleb) and gnocchi (Anthony).

I have a hunch we will eat there again someday.

frolicking fridays, round 6

This past Friday was the beginning of a long, full weekend. The boys had Monday and Tuesday off (Dec 7 & 8), so we made plans to travel and rest. Friday James and I tackled a bit more of Florence, Saturday we buzzed to Pisa, Sunday we landed in San Gimingano and Volterra, so Monday and Tuesday we aimed for days lazing about our home (with regular visits to our nearby piazza, now filled with Christmas vendors).

Though we are all big fans of seeing as much of Italy as possible, we are also strangely possessive of our 'free time' at home. Down time is in high demand. No doubt much of it has to do with all that we absorb on a daily basis---Anthony and Caleb especially (e.g. Italian immersion at school).

Friday James and I had grandiose plans to visit Santa Maria Novella, a church full of famous paintings and artifacts---a must see when you visit Florence. Upon arrival, we found the church closed (closed every Friday, actually). Luckily, there is much to do, see, discover and explore in Florence. We pushed off to yet another church on our short list: Ognissanti (home church to Amerigo Vespucci, burial to Boticelli and canvas to frescoes by Ghirlandaio). Again our plans were foiled... it is also closed on Fridays. Naively hopeful, we swung by to peak at some of Ghirlandaio's frescoes in Santa Trinita---also closed.

Three strikes, but far from out. While skipping from church to church like frogs on a series of lily pads, we found a few 'flowers.' First was an outlet clothing store on Santa Maria Novella's piazza. No, we didn't buy anything, but it was fun to browse and mentally bookmark a store for future indulgences. We walked through Palazzo Strozzi, learning more about this formidable family. Inside the Palazza ticket office, there was a little room with a model of the original palazza and background information and inspiration re: the Strozzi family (free!).

Other Friday highlights included a visit to Dante's house---a museum that we had walked by what feels like a hundred times. This time, we finally went in (James is actually reading Dante's Divine Comedy). Truth be told, we wouldn't recommend it. If you are a Dante aficionado and/or family-line history buff, perhaps. But otherwise I would skip it, mostly because there are so many impressive museums and artifacts and sites in Florence that would be a better use of your time.

We peeked into a few stores, hid under our umbrellas and found a quaint little spot for lunch: Enoteca Coquinarius (Via delle OChe, 15r). We took our time. The kind of time chatting and vino-drinking and food-sampling that leads to losing track of time. It was packed, and cozy and we tried braseola and ravioli and dense chocolate cake. Perfectly memorable.

On our way home, James popped into the Paperback Exchange (to buy some books), and I swung by the grocer. The latter wouldn't be so interesting, except I came home with some red wine glasses and a Christmas table cloth. Add a few well appointed candles... and our home is now humming of the holidays.

Bologna: Lights, Porticoes, Food, and Towers.

This last weekend (November 28-29) our family visited Bologna. The main reason we made this trip is because Monday was a national Tuscan holiday, and we did not have school. So our family scheduled a trip to Bologna. We ended up leaving just after my soccer game, where we hopped into a rental car and took the "shortest route" to Bologna. First of all, we did not take the train due to my game timing and train timing to Bologna---we would of had to wait 4 or so hours after my game, so instead we went by car. Second of all, I put shortest route in parenthesis, as this on our GPS meant avoiding toll roads, as in no freeway. So we took a ride in the country, found a WWII memorial, with foxholes---along with a bomb hole or two---and a small hill Santa Lucia, with Mary and Jesus on the crest (which we decided to walk up to). Along with some amazing views, we all enjoyed our trip to Bologna. When we got to Bologna we checked in to our hotel, dropped off our bags and walked downtown.

Now for the first thing on my list: Lights. We left Florence at midday, took the long way around, arrived in Bologna at night---and enjoyed the Christmas lights throughout the city (similar to Florence it has a new style of lights in every street). Almost immediately we were stunned by the curtains, arches, and globes of lights, which spanned across each road. We walked around and shopped at the expansive shops. Bologna is not a really touristy city like Florence, but seems more business oriented, between good food, and actually a lot of clothes.

Second item: Porticoes. The city is known for these, and even though it was rainy while we were in Bologna... we didn't really care. We were always under cover, because every sidewalk had a portico (see picture). Other than the little back roads, every single sidewalk in the city central seemed to have porticoes. It may sound overly costly, and takes forever to put up, but the funny thing is that, this city has been a large city for hundreds and hundreds of years. So the people running it today have not paid for porticoes to be built, they only pay for maintenance. They were amazing, and for me added an entire new level to the city.

Now for the third thing: Food. For the night that we were in Bologna, "The City of the Fat", we went out to a restaurant called "Antica Osteria Romagnola" (ranked number 3 of 147 in Bologna on Trip Adviser) it was amazing. I ordered a delicious Parmesan tortellini for my first course, then a reduced wine sauce pork chop for my second, and a finish of a delicious chocolate mousse, which was great. For me, you can't for wrong with mousse. Overall for me a 5 of 5, absolutely delicious... I might as well have rolled home. The restaurant had a really great atmosphere, and the staff were really nice. Other than that meal, the other food in Bologna looked appetizing, and as it is not a touristy city, the food was not gross, overpriced, and greasy. The sandwiches were a competition, and you could go to many delis and find a good sandwich for lunch.

And then number four: Towers. When you say leaning towers, what do you think? Well Pisa of course, but then you realize towers, Pisa is only famous for the leaning tower of Pisa. Well, Bologna has two large towers that also lean. The taller tower is 8 feet off center and the shorter tower is 12 feet off center. The shorter one actually had its top lopped off so that it would remain standing (48, and 97.2 meters). Anyway, we climbed the taller tower (498 steps) and were constantly foiled by landings that looked like the top, but in reality you still had to keep climbing. Caleb and I made good use of our soccer fitness. After the climb we reached the top, where we enjoyed a stunning view of Bologna. We saw the roads reach out from the towers, to where the ring wall used to stand.

We also saw the church of Bologna; it was huge, and was going to be larger than Saint Peters in Rome but the pope vetoed this notion. Although we have not seen Saint Peters yet, we were awstruck by the ornate church, in all its godly grandeur. Overall for me Bologna: 10 of 10. We hope to return later this year with grandparents, and it is definitely a great place for families to visit. One possible bummer is that we did not see a single ceramic shop, and we often like to browse in these shops---my parents for table ware, me for a tile of the city.