We are heading home!!

We have returned the rental car and made it through security at the Rome airport. We booked the cheap flights, so it will be a long day of travel.

We left Cignella at 7AM for the 2.5 hour drive to Rome. Our flight to Barcelona leaves at 2:15, a two hour layover in Barcelona then our flight to Boston. If all goes well and the flights are on time and getting through customs doesn’t take too long… we’ll have almost 24 hours of travel.

David and I have had so many chats about all that we have seen and done, the wonderful people we have met…both fellow travelers and delightful locals.

We wouldn’t have changed a thing. Stay tuned. I think there will be more adventures in our future.

Part of our “package” at Cignella was a series of 3 cooking classes. Each class focused on a different type of pasta. Some of us decided that it was easier to spend $2 for a box of pasta rather than spend an hour making one portion of fresh pasta. That said, David really took it seriously and wrote down all the recipes… SO, maybe fresh pasta IS in my future!!!

Our last days in Tuscany.

We left early on Saturday to head to Pienza. We had a number of recommendations about this very pretty town on a hill (please note they are ALL towns on a hill, all the ones we have been to are pretty). But, yes, this was exceptionally pretty because they all seem to love flowers/plants AND the town is the flattest one we’ve been to so far.

But today was market day for the locals! So lots of Italian, lots of babies and families, lots of older men chatting in the square, stylish women with their big glasses and little espresso and cigarettes at the cafe. I had two specialty coffees I wanted to try while in Italy and I found the second one here in Pienza.

AND, brides!

The views:

The shops:

Windows:

Favorite street scenes:

And now home. A fun day of shopping and now lunch on the patio!

Some unrelated fun stories:

When we first got to Cignella, the GPS told us we had “arrived” but all we saw was a poorly maintained gravel road that looked like a service entrance. We kept going thinking there was a better entrance, only to have the GPS direct us 15 minutes down the road, make a u-turn and return to the spot we were at. So, we decided to try the gravel road. Only to end up at a gate that definitely looked like the service entrance. We were rescued when a delivery truck pulled up behind us and opened the gate!

We have also enjoyed some of the road signs:

We are at the end of the season but still enjoy some garden flowers and grape vines.

But most of all we have come to enjoy our Italian coffee!

This has been one of my favorite cities in Tuscany. Absolutely so beautiful!! The streets, the vistas, the wine!!! But oh my, the climb up from the parking lot!!

We had quite the adventure driving here as well:

But the view!

And the weather!! It was hotter than we expected in Barcelona and today a local described the windy chilly conditions as “November weather!” We could have used mittens and a winter jacket. But nothing could diminish the charm of this city!

The primary purpose was to go to a wine tasting at a winery that aged most of their wines in caves that dated back to 500 BC, 1337 and the newest room built in 1532 to age wine for the pope! The history of this family is amazing and their wines are excellent!

A wonderful way to end a wonderful day!

We have had some teasing about our references to information from Rick Steves, but for Italy newbies he was a wealth of information. Today was no different. We again used his walking tour of Siena to get around the city and learn some history of the city and what we were seeing.

As with most Italian cities, the first hurdle is finding where to park the car. It is primarily a pedestrian city so cars are parked on the outskirts and you walk into the city. We were fortunate to find a parking garage on Google maps that was an easy walk into the city, relatively inexpensive AND still had some parking spaces!

We had an easy walk to the Piazza del Campo, the large city square where everyone congregates and they hold the famous Palio horse races in the summer. The city hall (palace) is magnificent! and a palace of the people because it was not built by the church or a wealthy family but by the people themselves.

Italy was comprised primarily of city states that were often rivals. Florence and the Medicis were Siena’s primary rival. Siena prevailed and flourished until the Black Plague around 1350 when the city was devastated and declined. There is often a silver lining and for visitors to Siena, the result is that Siena has remained very much a medieval city with narrow winding streets and building facades and squares that you would have experienced 600 years ago!

It was another day of many steps and amazing architecture. We walked past the famous Duomo and saw the church that holds a relic of St. Catherine of Siena from a distance.

One of the fun aspects of these adventures is stopping for coffee or a glass of wine and a bite to eat. We have enjoyed watching the passing tourists and locals. Today we sat next to a young family with a handsome little guy who kept yelling loudly. His parents kept trying to quiet him, but I finally turned to them and said, “He is fine; he likes hearing the sound of his voice echoing in the very high ceiling.” “Cioa!!” and baby waves!

We returned to Cignella, a large dinner and a beautiful sunset!

We have arrived in Tuscany! It is a very beautiful area of Italy with rolling hills, vineyards and olive groves and skinny trees. We had almost 3 hours to drive to Cignella, our home while in Tuscany and we had planned to make some stops along the way, but that didn’t quite work out. We were on a major road for about half the time. they have “rest stops” similar to home with gas, restrooms and often a spot to get a coffee, but not the picturesque view we were imagining so we kept driving. Once we got on the smaller roads they are very.windy and very.narrow. We saw quite a few race cars headed in the opposite direction. It must have been some type of point to point road race. Now I know why Italy is so famous for their sport cars…they have the perfect roads for them!

Cignella is a complex of buildings that are made up of various types of accommodation. I think many of them are small apartments, but there may be larger ones for families and possibly suite rooms? We made these arrangements through Travel Zoo so it is a package that includes a 2 bedroom apartment and various activities over the 5 days.

After a trip into the nearby town for some groceries at the COOP, we wandered down to the restaurant area for “Happy Hour.” We had watched a Rick Steves program on Sienna and he spoke about a typical Tuscany aperitif of a spritz with chips. So when in Tuscany….

Another activity as part of our package is cooking classes, but the restaurant/bar area is small enough that everything is there together. So while we were having our spritz, the class was finishing up their gnocchi preparation and we met some Canadian friends: Dawn (who lives in Denver now) and Michelle and Drew from Saskatoon.

We had such a lovely time chatting together, enjoying a soft sunset and a tasty pasta dinner and red wine. This could become habit forming!

Bad weather closed the port of Katakolon! We missed the ancient city of Olympia for a rocky day at sea. Sorta like having an unexpected snow day in the middle of the week!

And now we have our final day. Lazy morning and an afternoon of packing. This has been a wonderful trip and we aren’t done yet. It is hard to believe we still have almost a week in Tuscany ahead of us!

Santorini is the idyllic Greek Isle and a unique geological site. The island itself is a volcano but the center of the volcano collapsed and filled in with water creating a caldera. It is a protected basin of water that forms a natural harbor. Boats arrive at the harbor, but the towns are located hundreds of feet above on the top of the island. Transiting to the towns is an adventure.

The ship’s tenders arrive below Fira and the options to get up to the top include riding the cable car up, riding the hundreds of feet up on the back of a donkey, or walking up the 500 + steps up to the top next to the donkeys. Manuel did not recommend the last option. (though some people did it anyway).

We took a boat ride to the harbor below Oia and then travelled by van up to the top. The narrow cobblestone streets were packed with people, single file in each direction and we were fortunate that we were the only ship in port today. Despite the crowds our visit was delightful!

BUT, I was wearing the wrong color!! It has been a bit of a chuckle to see all the influencers in their fancy clothes and poses at each stop. Even the youngest little girls have their swirls and poses for the pictures. But today, it seemed everyone had gotten the memo to wear that wonderful blue color to stand out against the whitewashed homes. Or, at the very least white and blue! Next time.

We have been teasing that this wonderful anniversary celebration is the “Mediterranean Honeymoon “ we never had 50 years ago. But, during David’s time while deployed to the Med. he did have the opportunity to enjoy some beach time and dived for sea urchins. He brought them home and they have been a special reminder of that time. And today, I found a shop that had handmade jewelry that included real sea urchins. It was so amazing and so very special. We shared the story of our trip and the special meaning of the sea urchins with the store owner. I don’t know who was more delighted, us or her, but we received big hugs along with our purchase!

Lunch was at a picturesque wine bar tucked away on a back street. David stuck with Greek coffee, but I enjoyed some local wines and we shared prosciutto and grilled octopus. So yummy!

We ended our day in Fira and a trip back to the tender dock on the cable car.

We had a second morning in Istanbul. Because the ship stayed in Istanbul overnight, you could stay out as late as you wanted day 1 or get up early on day 2 and take in all the things you didn’t have time to do on day one. All aboard call was 11:30 AM.

We did 18,000 steps on day one. All plans for day two were cancelled!! We slept late and enjoyed the hot tub and realized we had to respect our age and stamina.

We weren’t the only ones!!! We met a young couple riding the cable car down the cliff in Santorini who were from Nova Scotia and on their honeymoon… and they also slept in and cancelled day 2 plans! And Manuel, the cruise director was joking at the show last night about ALL.THE.WALKING! In Istanbul!

So, take note. Bring your energy and walking shoes to Istanbul!