Tuscany

Since leaving the Cinque Terre, mum has been unable to write any blogs due to the Chianti wine tour we took on Monday afternoon! A couple of tastes of delicious red wine and...

So I carried her to Florence, where she has been reecovering in a PALACE!! There are even frescoes on the roof! Mum's room is even named the Leonardo room. In Florence, I have introduced her to my favourite gelati shop in all of Italy (and the world), as well as the aperitivo scene.

With a 2hour break on the train ride from the Cinque Terre to San Gimignano, we managed to take some happy snaps of mum holding the Pisa tower. On the Chianti tour, we also visited 2 castle towns, along with the two wineries. We have fit a lot into our days, including a lot of walking. Mum should have known if she was travelling with me that it wouldn't be a laid back tour! St Peter's was 520 steps. The Duomo in Florence was 463. The tower of the town hall in Siena was another 400 or so. (We took the bus to Siena today). Our place at the Cinque Terre was 400 steps to sea level, a height we climbed many times.

So far in Florence we have been to see the Duomo, and also the David statue. Mum is convinced that we need it (or something similar) to adorn our backyard, by the pool. I hope she tries to board a flight with a 5.8 metre statue! (How might the airport staff respond? "I'm sorry m'am, no bombs, liquids or massive nude statues allowed")

Siena was a beautiful surprise today. The duomo (cathedral) there was amazing, both inside and out. The town hall is filled with frescoes dating back 700 years. The piazza is one of the greatest in Europe. Siena is a compact medieval town, and the 360 deg views were worth the wait and the climb! We deserved this afternoon's gelato though.

Pictures will follow when I get wireless internet access again.