Tenuta Torciano San Gimignano

... could use for our research papers on Italian culture. All in all, it made me think how that was exactly how I would like my apartment to be when I get my own one. Tea set and all. I've become surprisingly addicted to tea since I came here. The English variety, of course, with milk and sugar, but I'm still rather surprised that I've come to enjoy tea so much in Italy. Rather than, say, coffee.

... in Europe and specifically Italy it consisted of this plate, bread, vegetables and some wine. My stomach grumbled waiting for more food to be presented. Vilmo, I think, sensed this and brought out some leftover lentils from lunch. Thank god, I thought, and helped myself to a huge serving. Vilmo grows these lentils on his farm. They were spicy and satisfying. Mira and I stayed for a while chatting with Vilmo. Vilmo didn't stop at the lentils but went into ...

... and tiny, weaving streets that are closed to traffic (the first European city to banish vehicles from its center, in 1966).

We started our tour of Siena by walking through town and coming across the Piazza Salimbeni, which contains the interesting Palazzo Spannocchi, a Gothic building from which 29 finely carved busts stare down at you from under the palazzo’s eaves! Pretty cool.

We continued walking through interesting ...

nous sommes rester a florence pour terminer notre visite la ville en allant aux jardins boboli et bardini, situe dans la cours du palais pitti. Deux grand jardins qui a cette date n'ont plus autant a offrir qu'en ete. il n'y a plus de fleur, et la moitie des arbres n;ont plus de feuille, mais on a pu constater l'ampleur de la propriete en passant tout l'apres midi a ...

Cinque Terre photos here:
http://www.facebook.com/album. php?aid=163678&id=613699523&l=b ae7645b89

Stayed at Affittacamere Patrizia Hostel in Rio Maggiore in Cinque Terre and wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
When we got to the Hostel it was just an office and no one was there. Our keys were stuck to the door with instructions on how to get to our dorm room. There was another set of keys there too so we could have taken those too and ...

... see a panoramic view. Here we got a nice view of the beautiful Tuscan countryside. We continued on to the two main squares. There we bought a ticket to climb up the tower. We climbed up a number of steps and at the top got a view of the town. My dad is afraid of heights but we were proud of him because he made it to the top, although he did not stay as long. After climbing the tower we were ...

... in my room, I met a guy from California, for the next several of days we experienced Florence together and made a buddy-buddy system out of it, it felt as if we traveled to Florence together and were going to leave together. That night we hung out in the common area and drank with the plethora of other backpackers and joined up with another one of our roommates from Argentina, we shared some of the best Matte I have ever had together. The roommate from ...

... out a bit at the top, a well deserved rest I thought, taking a few more piccies. Managed to spy a park in the distance, so thought I would check that out later, turned out to be some gardens that you have to pay €6 to get into, so thought I'd save that for Thursday. So I headed off on another wander around the city, and then as my feet got more swollen, over ponte Vecchio back to the campsite. (I still have loads more piccies to upload to this.........)

... Overall, I was at least as impressed with the Pitti Palace as with Versailles. Sure, it doesn't have the Hall of Mirrors, the Chapel, or the Opera House, but it does have amazing artwork, interior decorations, gardens, and way less crowds. Next, I headed back towards the Ponte Vecchio to head towards the Uffizi Gallery. Approaching the Ponte Vecchio from the south, you don't even realize you're on a bridge until you're halfway across and it opens up and you're ...

... our luggage in the airport first before going back to the city, but after stopping in pisa city, it went straight to Livorno, a port town! so we had to go all the way back to Pisa city again after Livorno. It was the first time we missed a major stop in our trip, I felt panic for a moment! Actually halfway in the train trip, we were laughing at some american tourists who werent sure how to go to Pisa ...