Il Giglio Hotel and Restaurant Montalcino

For the last couple weeks my Italian culture class has been on and off again because my professor was hospitalized with pneumonia. This week she finally resumed lectures, however we are in a different class room that is literally right across from her apartment so she doesn't have to walk a long way in the cold. And it is getting really cold in Siena right now.

This, unfortunately, means ...

... white sheets separating the large room into two spaces. My bed was in the back room, where I would sleep alone for a few days. The other two women, a 32 yr. old Canadian slept in the front room with the Slovenian woman and a 60yr. old Austrian had the private room on the other side of the bathroom.
I put my stuff down, excited to stay in one place for longer than three days. Mira, the woman from Slovenia, was preparing food in the kitchen. I sat ...

11.28.09 A Much Nicer Day Trip To Siena

[First, a shout-out to our dear dad Perce, who is recovering from surgery today in Sydney. We love you and are sending you and Jan our thoughts and prayers!]

Murray and I are feeling much better today, thank you very much, so we are headed out today to attempt another day trip from Florence that, hopefully, will be an improvement over yesterday's quicky sicky day trip to Pisa!

After ...

Siena photos here:
http://www.facebook.com/album. php?aid=164853&id=613699523&l=d 7d2db6b42

Thursday caught a bus to Siena with Nonie and Kerrin.
The Duomo there is one of the best and most beautiful churches I've seen inside and out - and I've seen more than enough churches to last ...

... was built with defense in mind -- on a hilltop, surrounded by a wall, a large fortress at the entrance, narrow windy passages throughout. Oh I pity the ancient attackers.

The area surrounding in Montalcino is filled with wineries and many have tasting rooms. This place is what Napa wishes it was. Our first and best experience of the day was at Casato Prime Donne where a lovely woman named Antoniello gave us (just Tim and I because we were ...

Italy Day 13

We got up for breakfast and then off to the Riders meeting. Many riders were either tired or not feeling well so a hand full decided not to ride. We joined the club but decided to take the bus into Siena. On the ride in we missed our bus stop and ended up a few km out of town. We walked back into town taking in the neighborhoods on the way. Just before entering the old city walls we stopped for pizza then started to explore old Siena. Our first stop was to the ...

(Amy) After three months of no television, we found that our Tuscan villa had several hundred satellite channels. Determined to find a handful in English, we diligently scanned each one. To our amazement, we found that a great many of them contained call-in porn shows-- many soft, some not-so-soft. The latest fashion out of Milan that we've heard so much about was nowhere in evidence. Just to compound ...

... Philly. Saturday night we waited for Tom and Kate Serano to arrive. When early evening rolled around with no sign, we began to panic. We realized I'd given Tom the wrong phone number for the villa, and he'd never given us his worldphone number. What had happened? Were they wandering lost, cold and hungry on the twisty Tuscan roads? We called various friends back home, trying to get in touch with ...

... siesta they love to stroll, eat gelato and visit. This is also walking time for the dogs. If a fax doesn't come in, oh well. The women wear beautiful shoes with high heels and pointy toes and walk up and down the cobblestones!!!!!!! The men too like their shoes. The Italians love their dogs! And their dogs are very well behaved, I guess because they go everywhere with them. They love their sunsets. They drive very fast ...