Relais Borgo Scopeto Castelnuovo Berardenga

... tea, she had a tray of ceramic tea pots sitting out at her table with cream and honey and lumps of sugar. There was also some cookies and a plate of brownies she had baked. These she cooked with olive oil instead of vegetable oil because she ran out so we warned us that they might be slightly salty. But they were still very good.

She even lent us some books from her collection that ...

... over the rocks into the pools and the first Roman designed showers. Since it was night time it was hard to make out everything but I could easily see the mist and fog rising off the hot waters. Hotels and fancy restaurants and shops have now built up around the baths. He also took me to visit Monticciello, Montipuchiano and Pienza, all are etruscan hill towns. The streets are narrow stone paths built on a slant winding up between the connected ...

... room – the Libreria Piccolomini, built to house the ancient books of Ena Silvio Piccolomini, better known as Pius II. This room was magnificent – the walls contained brightly-painted frescoes, and the ceiling was outlined in vivid gold.

After the Duomo, we continued walking around Siena, spending more time snooping through its streets and shops. Late afternoon, after a quick stop-in to an Irish pub (hey, don’t judge us ...

... un prix pour s'assoir a une table! ici c'etait 2 euro par personne! mais sa en valais la peine, les bruchettas., les gnocchis et l'osso buco etaient tous delicieux.

ensuite, la piazza del campo ou il y a un gros chateau avec une tour tres haute, pui une visite a la piazza du duomo pour y voir la seul eglise completement baroque ...

Apres une heure de bus dans un paysage montagneux remplis de vignoble et de plantattion d'olivier, nous somme arrive a "Greve in chianti" en toscane. Malheureusement pour nous, la saisons des visites de vignobles est terminee. Nous avons quand meme marche jusqu'au chateau montefioralle. Une fois en haut de la cote, on avait une belle vue sur les environs et puis apres avoir marcher au travers du chateau, nous avonas repris la route du village ...

... a little tired. By coincidence I have met an American guy who once lived in Mildura! He heard my accent when speaking with the Youth Hostel Manager and asked what part of Australia I was from. It turned out that he came over to Sunraysia for a Rotary exchange - he is from Colorado - and stayed in Gol Gol for his duration of a 1 year and a half. We have exchanged addresses, emails and phone numbers and Ian has given me a few letters to hand to people when I ...

So, now I'm in Florence. I was a bit worried at first about the hotel I booked (online from Venice), as it doesn't have a normal hotel entrance. You have to be buzzed in, like for apartments you see in American movies. But the inside is nice enough, and my room has a double bed, so it isn't too bad. The shower is really weird, though. There's no....umm ...

... re always finding new things, even when you think they have it all figured out! After the David, we walked around a bit in a market area and got a little lost around Florence. We bought some little gifts and cute t-shirts, and made our way back home as it started to sprinkle. That night we hung out at the hostel again and met some more of our hostel-friends. We went to bed early because we had to get up to make our train to Naples/Sorrento! Now, read our Sorrento entry! Ciao, bella!

... working there and citizenship is usually revoked when a persons employment expires. I'm not sure if I had the right pre-requisites for working under the Pope, so I handed the application back to the clerk and went on my way. We walked around the St Peter's plaza and cathedral, paid our £12 entrance fee to roam around the Vatican museum, and looked up in amazement at the Sistine Chapel. The next day we traveled to the ...

... Gelato place, got a huge cone for 2 euro with choc and pistacchio. Walked back to hostel and saw a funny sign for animal cruelty, had to take a pic. I went to a market and bought some stuff for sandwiches and a beer(paulaner). I tried to call ahead to the museums to get reservations, but i could not get through. Hostel Pio X seems boring, clean and far from stuff.