10 June, Friday
Rain forecasted. No rain
Walk out to the main North gate, and into the multilevel escalators down the side of a very steep hill. Defensive tower reminded me of an impossible similar climb where Hadrian had a wall bullet to keep out the Picts.
Planning session for the next three days of Via walking.
9 June Thursday cloudy forecasted, looked outside and it is pouring. Trained on and off all day.
Move to Sienna with T&R. Via bus,o k bumpy ride.
Public plaza with civic museum. Large plaza used for the annual neighborhood horse races. Sienna has 20 separate neighborhoods and each compete with their horses but with jockeys, professionals, from Sicily, chosen by lots.
Great Duomo in Sienna. Magnificent, on scale with the great French and Spanish ones.
Floor details, crusader scenes.
Music books for Mass, hand illumination with music.
Church of saint Catherine. Much more modest in design.
San Domenico church, larger than Catherine, wide, no columns.
View from window.
Today is a good day to check Flickr of this date. Lots of pictures.
Thunderstorms not forecasted but arrived late afternoon
First stop: Bargello museum. 13th century prison and barracks converted to an excellent exhibition space. Some truly fine Donatellos. His original David with a strange hat.
Visit to and lunch at the Mercado. Usual closed market with multiple eateries upstairs.
Vending machine for pasta, pictured
Beefsteak place for dinner. We passed and had pasta, not as good as last evening.
7 June thunderstorms forecasted; blue sky in actuality.
Breakfast beauties.
Met T&R at the apartment, a two bedroom four or five floor walk up with fab views from the roof.
Then off to piti palace and it's gardens, the Boboli Gardens filled with statuary.
Extreme thirst took over and went for water.
Fine dinner at Santo spirito, best dinner overall of the trip to date.
6 June scattered thunderstorms forecasted scattered rain delivered.
A visit to and and venerable pharmacy. Started in 14 th century. Wonderful space with frescos and a tea room as well as massive body lotions. No strong teas.
Wandered shops and alleys. QB might have had shopping success.
Champagne ritual at the hotel.
A very good restaurant find. Well rated and it deserves the good ratings.
Osteria Vini e Vecchi Sapori
Sunday 5 June
Rain forecasted.
QB prevaricated about having a mud treatment at the Term,excelsior. Went not to miss the experience.
QB added the following:
"With considerable procrastination, signed up for a spa mud treatment (as opposed to a medical mud treatment for liver and kidneys) at Montecatini Excelsior Terme. Jeff walked me in to prevent a craven turn of tail and waste of money.
Escorted into a long treatment room containing a massage table, a bathtub and shower. Removed all clothes and put on a shred of paper with strings that might generously be described as a "thong." (Not by me)
Flopped on table, eyes and face were smeared with goo. Covered with salt like salt-baked chicken, or bacala, then scrubbed with sandpaper (maybe a loofah). Then ordered by mostly nonEnglish-speaking person: "bath."
Oozed into a typically Eurotepid (probably an EU reg.) jacuzzi bath until prune like. It emptied itself and I was told "mud."
Back to table to be slathered with special thermal mud. Much hotter than the bath. Photo of bucket 'o' mud exists. Other photo suppressed by censor. Roasted in mud covered with plastic tarp for some time. Like clay pot chicken. After mud, told "shower." Given supermarket sponge and entered cheap Euroshower to rinse. Mud surprisingly difficult to remove.
Then even tepider bath to remove rest of mud and "relax." Rose prunelike from bath. Back to table for final slather with pleasant smelling grease. Brief massage of legs, back. Short rest, then done.
Mud still stuck to toes."
–––––
Funicolare to Alto Montecatini:. Perched high on a hill of course.
http://www.welcometuscany.it/tuscany/pistoia/montecatini-alto-high-town-funicolar-station.htm
A ride up to the old town. Medieval of course. Two churches of three 12 th to 15 th century. Massive hills and many other Sunday tourists.
Dinner in the main square. People watching more than cuisine. QB ordered a negroni.
Saturday 4 June
Moving towards Firenze with a stop for two nights in this spa town.
A ball of string town. Surprisingly interesting. Many grand hotels; a total of 200+ hotels in all. Hotels and spas. The reason to come here.
Wonderful hotel that upgraded us to a spa suite. Modern renovation done charmingly.
Terme: seven places to drink the waters. May have to have a doctor check you out first. At least two places for all types of massages, hydrotherapy, mud treatments, spinning bike in hydro pool,etc.
Tried the local Montecatini waffle,a flat, thin, filled, disk, lightly sugared. Called Cialda.
Hotel spa: very Italian. Sauna, not nearly hot jacuzzi, cold room with ice to splash on after sauna, emotional shower, turns colors as you stand there and get rinsed from several directions.
High end restaurant at the hotel.
Friday June 3 rain forecasted, only a small amount arrived.
Possibly but only possibly substituted gorgonzola.
Laundry day. Mop up day for items missed in town. QB with italiano coccolare posti
Afternoon QB bruschetta ordered with gorgonzola. No blue veins, mild to no blue cheese taste. Substituted or served the dolce version? Restaurant insisted it was gorgonzola, just gorgonzola.
Dinner at Celide : a fine Chianti with fine food.
Thursday 2 June
Rain forecasted, delivered intermittently, but heavy at times.
Both the lemon and the chocolate versions of this rice based torta. The filing makes an excellent gluten free snack.
Tuscan bread soup, perfect with some extra olive oil, even without.
Tagliatelle with white truffles, better for devine aroma than taste. Somehow the pasta is made so that an extraordinary amount of butter adhere to the surface. Mopping up pictured.
June 1 Wednesday
Rain forecasted delivered.
Lucca wall from last evening.
Parmigiana at $8 per pound at the supermarket.
A local pastry: bucellato is pictured. Has Bobby made one? Now on QB list. A favorite confirmation gift as well as a favorite of the ancient Roman army. Apparently made, at times, the size or a Roman cartwheel.
The southern route on the Via Francigina :. Followed the signs and my .gpx file to head towards Rome. Urban path until one gets to the lovely path along the river. Very peaceful and scenic with a lovely pedestrian bridge for the river crossing.
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