ITALY: Final Day 14 Drive thru Toscana

Sniff:: Sniff::

Goodbye Siena....... I'll come back to you some day......
Well..... off to hit the Tuscan road in my Fiat friend and spend the day making my way thru beauty. Final destination Roma airport..... home.

This was my walk to the parking lot. Officially my last picture of my favorite stop on my Italian adventure..... bittersweet.

Let me introduce you to Fiat.... now sit back, relax and enjoy the view......

I packed a picnic lunch before leaving Siena. When I couldn't handle the hunger anymore, I pulled over, climbed on top of Fiat and enjoyed my lunch almost as much as the gorgeous peaceful quiet view....... *sigh*

I ended up stopping in Montepulciano to stretch my legs, explore a bit..... and eat some more. I was still hungry :)

This hill town is major MAJOR wine town.

Took a break to sit, ponder, listen to good tunes, bask more in the incredible beauty of Tuscan landscapes.... sat some more..... took a picture to prove I was there.

Here is a shot of the view you can't really see in the picture of me....

Walked back to my car and discovered a little bit of home....

Proceeded to drive the windy roads, all windows down of course, and music jamming thru my ear buds since there was no ipod connection in Fiat. Note to self- upgrade next time :)

What do you think?.... Did he fit?.......

Here are some of the last pictures I took of my adventure.....

The drive was incredible and totally worth the outrageous rental fee. It was an experience I wanted, and an experience I got. Priceless in my book. Gratitude in my book too!

Not a better way to wrap up my long time dream vacation.

Thank you Italy for your beauty! Thank you mom for all your help with Cooper. Thank you boss for the time off. Thank you blog readers for your patience with my slow as snot posting.

Ciao!

ITALY: Day 11-13 Siena

Siena.... Oh, Siena..........

How I love thee...... Let me show the ways.......

I take my little rented Fiat friend and head south towards Siena. City driving in Florence was awesome! I fit in well there... aggressive, fast thinking.... Countryside driving is easier than pie (can I just say how weird that expression sounds). Anyway, following THE sign that reads "SIENA", I make my way thru windy hills and on a whim detour to SAN GIMINGANO. Why not? Siena wasn't that far anyway, and I was thoroughly enjoying the scenery.

In San Gimingano, I parked next to this.....

I didn't stay there long. I got back on the road toward Siena. This is the beginning of a crazy lost adventure. Not so much lost, as repetitious. To explain, driving IN siena is near impossible because it is mostly a pedestrian only city. The cars that are allowed to drive and park within city walls have some kind of special access. There are many signs posting ZTL, or Limited Traffic Zones, and if you cross them a $100 fine will be mailed to your home address. So you can imagine the stress in driving slowly to make sure this doesn't happen, all on one-way roads so you can't back up if needed, and trying to find the one tiny little access way to temporary hotel parking. I pretty much looped the whole city 4 times before I could find that tiny little entrance. After I learned it was temporary parking, I then had to find the limited free parking lots and/or paid parking lots. I lucked out and drove up behind a reversing car at the right moment and pissed off a lot of other driving waiting to find a parking spot. I literally shouted in excitement to finally get out of the car and explore Siena. What an experience :)

I realized I hadn't eaten in awhile. Found a cute little store and ordered up a fresh from scratch sandwich.... picked the bread size, picked the meat for slicing, picked the cheese for slicing, and complete. Found a bench next to this beautiful ginormous old church (conveniantly a few steps from my hotel) and enjoyed a delicious lunch. Listened to my ipod. "Hallelujah" by Jeff Buckley was the one I remember most while looking onto a gorgeous Siena skyline. This was a memorable lunch :)

Made my way over to IL Campo in the center of the city, and instantly fell in love. It's pedestrian only, as you can see. Lining the center are several cafes and restaurants. If you are a people-watcher (like me), you've found your haven for quality watching.... everything from groups of students, friends and travelers, to lovers, to kids racing from one end to other, to individual ponderers like myself.

I stayed till night.

Layed flat on my back in the middle of the square, looking up at the stars, listening to music and falling more in love with the city.

On this night, I got hit on by a waiter (hahaha- you had to be there), met two Germans dudes (Lars and something), two Californian lovers, got lost in pouring rain for 30 minutes with no umbrella and no coat, and then met Led who helped me find my hotel. Good Times!

I was staying at an old church turned hotel.... Hotel Alma Domus, or something.

I had an incredible view! (Not shown here haha)

I woke up with no agenda except to explore more of the Tuscan hill towns and stay where ever I ended up. Rather I decided I loved Siena so much that I didn't want to leave, and opted to stay another night. My room was available for another night. yay!

I checked out an enormous market (didn't take any pictures), did some laundry, ate some lunch, and proceeded to find my car. I was still going to explore the countryside this day. My attempt at finding some of the famous drives for scenic pictures was a frustrating one. Didn't really find what I was looking for. And the rain didn't help. Almost got stuck in mud once. Called it a day and headed back to Siena.

What do you know?! I got lost trying to get into the city again. Except this time, major lost!!!! I think the problem was I was coming in from the south versus from the north, and it totally screwed me up. Which says a lot for this good sense of direction girl. Anyway, eventually figured it out..... about an hour or so later. BUT...... I absolutely don't regret it. Little did I know that if that didn't happen, then neither would have the incredible evening I was about to have.......

*I couldn't decide which one, so you get both*

So.... for those of you who don't know me, I picked up a tradition from my parents. I always make sure to pick up a magnet from every place I've traveled. My twist on the tradition is I like to match the magnet to a picture. Sometimes the magnet comes first, sometimes the picture. Anyway, I was passing thru IL Campo when I realized I hadn't taken my magnet picture yet. And the sun was setting fast. In a quick moment's notice (and I almost hesitated), I propped my camera up on a pillar and set the timer. I was getting tired of the arms stretched out pictures of myself. In another moment's notice, I struck this silly little pose. Well...... this silly pose was the start of a freaking fantastic night! People up in a balcony behind the camera started waving at me letting me know they were making fun of me. I waved back sheepishly and set my camera to take one more picture. Except this time I wasn't so enthusiastic because I was kinda embarassed. When I was finished, I packed up my camera and waved goodbye.... letting them know I appreciate the humor in it all. They invited me up. Without really thinking, I accepted their invitation. It all happened really quick.

So.... in the restaurant/bar, I was greeted by Scott, a lawyer living in London but originally from Australia. I was just happy he spoke English. He explained how he and his friends were thrilled to meet someone who can make fun of themselves and is game for meeting complete strangers on a whim. He introduced me to his long time friends and old co-workers Adam ("Tourist"), Emily and Hailey. They were all from Australia too. They opened a seat for me on the patio, THE BEST VIEW IN ALL OF SIENA, and we just started having great conversation.

We all realized how hungry we were and opted to get dinner. The girls had spotted this quaint little hole in the wall restaurant earlier that day. Well, this quaint little hole in the wall restaurant turned out to provide the best meal of my entire life. The details were all so incredibly memorable. I know this is saying a lot, that words certainly won't be able to describe, but what a meal! And what perfect company to enjoy it! This is the only picture I took to remember it, because I really just wanted to REMEMBER it.

In short, I wanted everything on the menu (which never happens). We all did! We each had our own appetizer, main course, and our own dessert. We all dipped and shared and moaned to the deliciousness of it all. The ambiance was incredible, the food presentation so beautiful, the kindness well received, the bill very affordable..... and the company- FANTASTIC!

This place is called La Taverna di San Giuseppe

"To old friends and new friends...." and mostly to great experiences. The kind that happen on a whim are the best kind. It still puts a smile on my face. I mean.... I wasn't even supposed to stay a second night.

Sadly it had occurred to me that this was my last real night in Italy. But what a fantastic one at that. By the way, my friends here love the word "fantastic" and it sorta stuck on me. It's where I picked it up and I say it a lot now :)

But hold on folks, the trip isn't quite over...... one more day of exploration coming soon.....

ITALY: Day 10 Firenze

I alotted one day/one night for Florence because I really wanted to see it and I couldn't decide on what to cut if I wanted more time. I figured it was doable. Unfortunately, the best day to plan for Florence (to make all my other days fit the itenary) ended up being a Monday. The reason for the misfortune is because the two biggest things to see (The David @ The Accademia and The Uffizi Gallery) are closed on Mondays. At first I was bummed, but it ended up working out.

By the time I got to Florence on the rainy early afternoon, I was just tired and not even down for touristy things. I ended up just walking around the city the rest of the day, soaking it in, taking pictures, and meandering. It was perfect. I saw exactly what I wanted to see... the city itself.

This was a cool trend I noticed in both Florence and Rome.... Locks.

On most of them are written names, or lovers, in permenant marker or just etched. I guess it represents these peoples' love locked together forever.

This is just one of many beautiful statues lingering outside and around the Uffizi Courtyard. You see... who needs to go inside?! Just kidding... hopefully one day I can make it there.

My favorite of the whole city was the Duomo, also called the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore. And the reason for it, is because it was the first time I could remember having my breathe taken away at first glance of arcitectual history. These pictures really don't do it justice. And I couldn't really squeeze in both the size and the detail.

But it was awesome..... I turned the corner and bam! I wasn't even looking for it. I just happened upon it while aimlessly walking the streets. It was incredible!!! The thing I like most about it was the unique and characteristic colors. An unthinkable pastel-ish green, pink and white.

I lingered around here for awhile and eventually went inside. I tried to go to the top of the Duomo, and even saw people up there, but I couldn't figure out how to find the entrance, even upon asking. It was enormous and walking all the way around it was time consuming. I gave up and continued strolling ever so slowly.

The character above is prominent figure in the streets of Florence. They have a name, but for the life of me, I can't remember. They basically get up in people's faces, obnoxiously making smooching noices and trying to give (or sell) them roses. It was funny to watch people politely trying to ignore them. I thought the sight of one taking a smoke break like a normal human was even funnier. So I took a picture of it.

After the Duomo, I continued to explore, and happened upon some live jazz music in the archways or an enormous open square. Definately my kind of ambiance to a mellow-overcast-no-plan-or-direction-kinda-day.

The day was nearing it's end and I decided to head back to my hotel to freshen up and make my way back out for dinner, or more exploring, or people meeting, or whatever. No plan. Just going with it. Well, I went back up to my room, rested for a bit, grabbed my sweater and heading back out for food. As I was leaving, and don’t ask me how, but a short farewell greeting to the night shift receptionist turned into a long conversation in the small hotel lobby... before I knew it, it was time for bed and I completely forgot to eat dinner. His name was Marco and he was freakin STRAIGHT OUT of Boulder, except pure bred Italian haha..... with a full head of long dreads. Definitely something you almost never see in Italy. I tried explaining to him that where I come from, he would fit in very well. I think he thought I was making fun of him and calling him weird. His English was fairly good and by the end of the night, I was his official English teacher. I also tried practicing my Italian, but I wasn't as good at it, as he was his English. Trying to translate and understand each other was like playing a word game. It was fun. Anywho...It was a total fluke where-did-the-time-go?- moment that resulted in great conversation (especially given the language barrier). He's super genuine and we are still occassional chit chat friends (he practices his english and I correct him hahaha).

This is why it's great to have no plan sometimes. You meet or happen upon something you normally wouldn't expect or find, simply by avoiding a detailed itenary and just embracing the flow.

The next morning, I trekked over to the Hertz car rental place and picked up my little Fiat. The plan was to drive up to the top of Piazza Michealangelo (since I didn't make it the day before), check out the incredible view of Florence and continue on my way to Sienna. The Michealangelo statue at the top of the hill is a replica of the one at the Accademia.... a wee bit weather worn though.... and greenish.

The view was incredible and I was thrilled it wasn't raining either. I was getting tired of it, especially with limited clothing selection from packing light.

This is the famous Ponte Vecchio bridge over the Arno River. Why it's famous or well-known, I have no idea. But it did end up being the focal point of a lot of my pictures haha.

I loved these artists at the top of the hill, drawing the Firenze landscape.

Well, after a quick and pleasant trip to the top of the hill (awesome by car!!! and quick), I continued my adventure southbound to Sienna.... just followed the signs....