BLOGS FROM SIENNA TO MONTELCINO TO LUCCA

Tuesday 6th September

We packed up and left our accommodation and drove out of Sienna. This is definitely the easiest town that we have had to exit yet. We have given up on Maria now as she doesn't even know where we are although Jannie had checked out the map and found both our departure point and our arrival point. Our drive to Montalcino only took an hour and just before we headed up the hill towards the town we had a photo opportunity so pulled off the side of the road at an opportune place and took a series of photos. Montalcino is a town built on the top of a hill all brick and tile and cypress trees galore. In fact everywhere you look in Tuscany there are cypress trees planted in neat rows, up both sides of driveways along ridge lines on the hills and the look spaectacular against the backdrop of earthy colours. The land on the way from Siena to Montalcino had largely been plowed and there were large chunks of very dry earth the size of footballs all over the paddocks.

We proceeded up into the town and found a pay as you go parking area that was down some steep stairs from our first coffee stop. We then wandered up into the town and Jannie wanted to buy Maree something little to give her before the wedding. The streets here are also narrow and there are a lot of steep streets. There are dozens of wine shops and we went into a shop run by a girl artist and Jannie bought a tee shirt she had designed. She had been to NZ and also stated that there were too many wine shops in Montalcino. We then found a place for lunch outside a wine shop but we had a beer. We thought that we would head to Villa a Tolli and check in. No problems finding the road but the road was something else - dirt, not metalled and rough as. Slowly driving down this road, clouds of dust everywhere, vehicles coming the other way including a tractor so every time that happened I pulled off the road and stopped and even then the space was hardly wide enough to pass. Finally pulled into Villa a Tolli and was waved into a carpark by Andrew.

All of the Clelands were there as they had come from Florence which is only an hour or so away. Hugs all round and then we were helped by the boys to unload our stuff from the car to our room. We had to go back into town to get something for dinner so loaded up the three cars with James, Andrew, Dave (friend of James and Andrews boss), Colin & Sheryl (long time friends of Nan & Graham), Barbara (Damien's mother), Emma (Bridesmaid) - These were driven by Damien and Maree and Nan and Graham came with us. They all hadn't had lunch so we lead the way and slowly up the dirt road much to the pleasure of Colin, Sheryl, Nan & Graham. They enjoyed the slower pace of us oldees.

The supermarket didn't reopen until 4.00pm so Colin, Andrew and I sat on a bench under the trees yakking whilst all of the others wandered the town waiting for the supermarket to open. Having bought food galore we headed back to Villa for a swim. Lovely pool, Andrew bombed Jannie and said he did it for Stu who couldn't be here. Much hilarity and family fun. I spent some time in Andrew and James campervan chatting. James is busy working and saving - Andrew has a lady and loving it. Got the dinner call and went and had a family dinner around a huge table in the kitchen. The rooms are well proportioned and our bed was super comfortable.

Wednesday 7th September

Jannie and I decided to see a bit of the countryside around Montelcino this morning so we took off for the Abbey of Antimo where there is a monastery that is famous for the Gregarian Monks that run the place. The actual monastery dates back to 857 and has been replaced a few times over the centuries. The monks sing every morning and every night but we were too late rising to be there in time to hear it. The place was quite austere and is free of all the normal trimmings that we have seen in other churches. Outside in the grounds there are grape vines for miles and olive trees that had huge trunks that I would hate to hazard a guess as to how old they were.

From there we drove towards Poggio Rosa where we stopped for coffee. So far we had driven from hilltop town down into the valley and up to the next hilltop town. On we went through Castiglione d'Orcia and turned off to a spa village of Vignoni. In the centre of the village was a pond where the spring originates and was bigger than a couple of tennis courts. The temperature of the water was 49 degrees - so a lot hotter than we are used to at Hanmer. Originally this town was a mill town that used the temperature of the water to make the mill houses humid which helped in the grinding process. The waters were also therapeutic and people came here from Rome centuries ago to relax in the waters. It beats me as to how they got here because of all the hills and dales. It now caters for the rich and famous and has lots of lovely hotels which have their own hot pools and spas.

We left here and headed for Pienza another lovely hilltop village but as it was nearly 1.00pm we didn't stop and continued on to Montepulciano for lunch. This was different to other villages right from the start. We parked in an undercover carkpark that was basically the basement of a building above. There were lots of these parks and it was a one lane road that led in and out of these parking buildings. We paid for our parking ticket and headed up to the streets above. There were different shops here and again we were in a section of leather shops and art galleries. We staggered up the steep streets and came to the piazza. There always seems to be two or three churches and a castle in these hilltop villages and they all are different.

We sat at a table outside one of the two cafes in the piazza. We managed to get a menu and waited and waited but the woman didn't come back. After about 20minutes I went into the café with the menu in hand but was told in no uncertain terms that if we wanted to sit outside you have to order from the waitress who looked after these tables. I went and sat back down and Jannie was now breathing fire and we along with other patrons up and left. We headed back down the hill and eventually found another restaurant with an empty table and were served straight away - beer and pizza. The drive back to Villa was uneventful as we took the main road back.

Back at Villa a Tolli the women were preparing the meal for this evening as we were having a barbeque. Swim in the pool first (very nice pool and quite cool so very refreshing). Five o'clock came and we all went for a wine tasting as Villa a Tolli is a winery and about to harvest this year's crop. The barbeque was started by Andrew with lots of twigs and branches and eventually he added the c harcoal. I then got the call to actually do the cooking as Jannie told Andrew that I was a king barbeque man. I got smoked out several times as the sausages kept squirting fat onto the fire and flames leapt everywhere. Still we got the job done and the 26 or so people got to eat. Nothing was left so must have been ok. Red wine flowed all night as Colin and Graham bought a five litre flagon that cost €4.45 - it was ok too. Off to bed after 10.00pm. Wedding day tomorrow!

8 September 2011 (James' birthday and Marie's wedding day)

We all rose reasonably early and had a communal breakfast in the large kitchen. Our apartment houses 3 couples, Nan & Graham, Colin & Sheryl and Kev and me. It has two bathrooms each with a toilet and shower so it worked pretty well for us all. Nan was expected over at Marie's apartment at around 12 to help her prepare (3pm wedding!) and the rest of us made ourselves as useful as we could doing little bits & pieces to help. Sheryl was putting a mixture of dried grasses and lavender into jars for the tables so I helped her as best I could. They turned out not too bad and Damien mentioned it saved him €600 not having to buy flowers so he was happy! The boys put up Nan's lovely home-made bunting and Kev hung up our NZ flag bunting ex our canal trip. Some of the people at the villa went off into town for lunch including Damien's mum Barbara and one of the bridesmaids. It was all very relaxed. The day was stunning and consequently very hot! Back at the apartment I decided to make some sandwiches to feed anyone who needed feeding and we set the table up with a few bits and pieces to nibble. By this time people were starting to need clothes ironed so after lunch Sheryl and I set about doing our good deed and ironing shirts, trousers etc. Afterwards a group of us went down and had a swim to cool off and it was really delicious. Then time to get ready and we all made our way back to start prettying ourselves up.

By 2.30pm a number of people had started to arrive so Kev went off to do his thing and make everyone welcome. He looked ever so handsome in his new trousers and new striped linen shirt! The garden had been set up so that the bridal party would walk up through a pathway fringed with lavender bushes and then up a grass isle with cane chairs on both sides. At the top of the pathway there was a wrought iron pergola which the bridal party would assemble in front of and where the ceremony would take place. We eventually made our way to the chairs and the boys in the wedding party made their way to the front and took their places. The music started and Graham escorted Marie through the garden and down the isle. I could feel myself getting very emotional at this point and glanced across at Nan who was only just holding herself together. Not so Graham who unashamedly cried all the way to the front.

Marie looked beautiful. Her dress, her headgear and her whole demeanor was gorgeous and Graham had every right to be proud. Nan made Marie's dress out of the most beautiful lace material encrusted with crystals and a light cream colour. It was a princess style with square neckline, little lace capped sleeves and two layers of skirt material scalloped at the bottom with a train at the back which one of the bridesmaids carried down the isle. The headgear was made of net and lace and sat slightly forward on Marie's head with a 20's look. Nan did such a wonderful job of making not only Marie's dress but also the bridesmaids' ones. They wore retro style dresses each in a different colour with boquets (also made by Nancy) containing flowers coloured to complement each dress colour.

The ceremony was short but nice with the couple adopting a celtic custom of having their hands bound with ribbon while the vows were made - which was very romantic. After the nuptuals everyone made their way to a grassy area in the garden where the group photos were taken. Damien's brother and his wife were both involved in taking photos and did an excellent job of making sure no one missed out - a difficult task at the best of times. Cocktails followed where nibbles of crostini and small squares of pizza were handed out. We all sat and enjoyed the afternoon under the trees - probably drinking too much but enjoying the camaraderie and catching up with people from all parts of the world. We were the ones from farthest away but there were people from everywhere including Damien's brother Cameron who came from Montreal where he has recently signed as a professional footballer. Everyone looked so nice in their best attire with lots of colourful dresses for the ladies and equally nice shirts for the men. The setting was amazing with the vineyards in the background and the sun setting in the sky!

Nic, Thanks for the help with Jannies dress, she looked absolutely stunning and I loved her all the more seeing her against the backdrop of the vineyards - thanks, Kev.

Eventually we got the word that the dinner was about to commence and we all trouped up to where the 22 meter table had been set up in the driveway to the villa. The table had candles down the centre and with the flowers and lavender it looked quite spectacular. Nan's bunting crisscrossed overhead as well as coloured lights. The caterers had also made cut out paper bags containing little tea lights and these were placed along the pathways and in the trees. Quite a unique setting!

Kev did a great job of MCing and kept the speeches flowing. The speeches were very moving and the boys did a great job. Food and wine flowed after which we all retired to poolside for bubbly and to cut the cake. The cake was a huge square mille feulle which was absolutely delicious! Following the cake ceremony the guests returned to the driveway area for dancing and more sweets.

A lovely special day and particularly nice to be there with Nan and her family - very cool I am so glad we could do it. We missed all the rest of the family but of course it was not that easy for the others to get there and realistically it might be the last big trip we get to do. It is a very long way from NZ as we are constantly told by Europeans we talk to. They are impressed we have come so far!

By the way in the middle of the night there was an earthquake. Kev and I were both awake at 2.50am and the house shook quite significantly! Not really what I was expecting or wanted!

Friday 9 September 2011

It was time for us to say goodbye to Villa a Tolli and to Nan and Graham and family. It was very sad to be leaving but time to move on again but lots of tears anyway. Today we headed off to Lucca taking the road back towards Sienna, Florence, Piza and then on to Lucca.

On the way we stopped at a carwash to get some of the grime off the car. The road to Villa a Tolli was shocking - unsealed and very rough and the car suffered significantly with the dust. It was good to get it washed! We headed off towards Buonconvento and lo and behold Maria decided to join us! Unfortunately Maria thought we should take the most direct route which was probably not the quickest way but EVENTUALLY we found a Lucca sign and knew we were on the right track. Most of the way we travelled off the Autostrada (for a change) but it was a narrow road and had lots of traffic so was probably just as stressful. Kev did a good job driving but once we got to Lucca he was b*****ed!

We had no directions for our apartment, just a phone number and unfortunately my phone was not working so we found an information centre and persuaded the guy there to ring the number for us. We made contact with the agent and found out where the apartment was situated. Lucca is a walled city and our apartment is within the walls. The area within the walls is 1km by 2kms so is quite a long walk and the streets are so narrow. There is absolutely NO driving allowed inside the walls for anyone other than commercial vehicles and residents. The closest parking was about 1.5 k's away so we were in rather a quandary as to what we were going to do with our bags. In the end we walked to the apartment and met Sonia there and arranged for her to ring us a taxi so Kev could go and collect our bags and have them brought here. We also arranged for a cab to pick us up on Thursday morning next week to do the reverse trip - so that was good.

Our apartment is 77 Via S. Giorgio (we think Via is street or avenue) and as I said before is within the city walls. We are only a walk away from all sorts of shops including the Co-op which we headed for. On the way we stopped for a beer having not had lunch (3.30pm). Having done our shopping and filled the fridge for the next week we retired to the couch for a red wine and a cracker and cheese. Tomorrow we will explore but tonight we will be relaxing. It is tiring travelling from place to place and by the time we get established the day is gone. We have been told there is a festival on in the city next week and there is a procession that meanders its way through the city at 7pm on Tuesday night. Apparently there will be candles along the way and we are looking forward to it. We also think we will take a bus or train and visit Florence for a day so that will be good.

Hopefully we can find an internet café tomorrow to download some of our blogs and try and bring our photo albums up to date. Ciao for now we miss you all!