Yesterday, we had a big Lucca adventure in the second half of the day. Alan took Sarah and I to Vivisports to get shorts and I also got some sneakers and then we walked into Lucca, while Alan headed home to get Marianne and Bess to take them into town. Once we reconnoitered in St. Martin's Square, Bess and I rented bikes to ride the embarkment around the city, which was a ton of fun. Hardly any tourists, all Luccans, walking, riding, sitting, on a beautiful walkway around the central city. Lovely trees and picnic grounds have taken the place of the traditional fortifications. It is wonderful civic space.
After we turned our bikes in to the very friendly shop owner, we went next door to the wine shop to order that nights vintages. We got a white wine Marianne has been liking, a trebbiano from a local winery, and a sangiovese-merlot blend since we were having filette of beef (which is not the same as filet -- more a slice of beef, pan fried). Then, she and I got a cab back to the Casele, barely making it for the 7:30pm appointed time of dinner.
In the meantime, Alan met up with Marianne and Sarah on the Via Fillungo, the main shopping drag. Marianne was in scouting mode and constrained herself to some jewelry, postcards, three shirts for Alan, and a hat for herself. More to come, I am sure.
Today was a lazy day. We hung around the house, playing in the pool with Bess and Sarah and reading poolside. Alan headed over to Pisa to the airport to track down our bags and, as luck would have it, mine had just arrived. Apparently, because of the strike, no Air France flights had come in to Pisa since Saturday. Alan's bag is still awol, however, and, worryingly, has no record in the system. It has lots of identification, though, so we can hope it will show up at home. I was pleased to get the clothes I had bought for the trip but I will say it was disconcerting to look in the closet and see two options for white shirts -- it seems like an embarassment of riches after living on two shirts and a pair of pants.
Tonight, Bess and Sarah took us to dinner at a lovely restaurant on the north side of Lucca, in the hills over looking the city. Locanda Vigna Ilaria serves locally grown food and espouses the values of the slow food movement. We all enjoyed our meals, particularly the insalata mista of fresh local greens and the pasta. Excellent deserts as well.
As the clock ticks 11pm here in Lucca, we are turning in, readying ourselves for a trip to the sea in the morning before putting Sarah and Bess on a train back to Florence and eventually the US.
ilaria vigna
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Italy Day Four
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Day four here in Vorney, Italia, and still no luggage. We have no idea where the bags could be or whether we'll ever see their contents again. There are a few special items in my bag -- some jewelry and a scarf from a friend -- but unfortunately, there was also a lot of new clothing I had purchased for the trip. So far, I am making do with the t-shirts that Air France provided, along with some new underwear purchased at the supermarket. But, Alan was in worse shape, so yesterday we got him new sneakers and socks and today he found a sporting goods store to buy shorts and a shirt.
Sunday we headed into Lucca to have a look around and have lunch. Found our way easily enough and just squeaked in before a cafe closed at 3pm for some antipasto. I will say that it was almost too hot to eat, with temperatures hovering near 100. After lunch, we decided to take a driving tour of the town. It immediately became apparent that Lucca was a walking city, with narrow streets and abrupt turns, as well as cryptic signage. We twisted and turned and twisted and turned and then found ourselves on a narrow street where we were the only car and there were tons of pedestrians. I said to Alan, "I don't think you're supposed to be driving on this street." He said, "Fair enough, but how do I get off?!" Finally, we dead-ended into the middle of a street fair, and with no choice, Alan had to back up a block through the crowds of people. I didn't look and he did a great job. After that, we just wanted to get out of there and back to Casale Sodini.
Dinner Sunday night at Bimbotto was okay but very rich. At this point, we were all a little tired of restaurant fare.
Monday, we braved EsseLuongo, which turned out to be a nice supermarket, and an easy drive from the house. Bought fixings for lunch of prosciutto, dried beef, salami, salad, bread, and cheese. Very nice to be in control of what was ingested. Later that afternoon, Marianne's friend Sarah and her daughter Bess, were scheduled to arrive, so while Marianne waited for them, Alan and I headed back to Lucca to try to get some wine for dinner and some clothes. We were very successful in getting regional wines and Alan was successful in getting a shirt and some sneakers, which he wore out of the store. Lucca is a walker's paradise, with new sights around every corner, and we started to get the lay of the land.
Back at Casele Sodini, we had to shake off our Lucca sweat with a swim in the fabulous pool. It is truly the best thing about this place -- large, great temperature, and on top of a hill, so there are nice breezes. Lemon trees next to the pool provide excellent balls or grenades, depending on the application. Dinner Monday night was salmon on the grill plus salad and carrots. We ate on the back porch with views of the neighboring hills.
Tuesday morning dawned hot and hazier than the day before. We took an extended morning swim and read some by the pool before enjoying lunch on the back porch. Later today, we're headed back to Lucca and then Annie the chef is coming to fix dinner.
Day four here in Vorney, Italia, and still no luggage. We have no idea where the bags could be or whether we'll ever see their contents again. There are a few special items in my bag -- some jewelry and a scarf from a friend -- but unfortunately, there was also a lot of new clothing I had purchased for the trip. So far, I am making do with the t-shirts that Air France provided, along with some new underwear purchased at the supermarket. But, Alan was in worse shape, so yesterday we got him new sneakers and socks and today he found a sporting goods store to buy shorts and a shirt.
Sunday we headed into Lucca to have a look around and have lunch. Found our way easily enough and just squeaked in before a cafe closed at 3pm for some antipasto. I will say that it was almost too hot to eat, with temperatures hovering near 100. After lunch, we decided to take a driving tour of the town. It immediately became apparent that Lucca was a walking city, with narrow streets and abrupt turns, as well as cryptic signage. We twisted and turned and twisted and turned and then found ourselves on a narrow street where we were the only car and there were tons of pedestrians. I said to Alan, "I don't think you're supposed to be driving on this street." He said, "Fair enough, but how do I get off?!" Finally, we dead-ended into the middle of a street fair, and with no choice, Alan had to back up a block through the crowds of people. I didn't look and he did a great job. After that, we just wanted to get out of there and back to Casale Sodini.
Dinner Sunday night at Bimbotto was okay but very rich. At this point, we were all a little tired of restaurant fare.
Monday, we braved EsseLuongo, which turned out to be a nice supermarket, and an easy drive from the house. Bought fixings for lunch of prosciutto, dried beef, salami, salad, bread, and cheese. Very nice to be in control of what was ingested. Later that afternoon, Marianne's friend Sarah and her daughter Bess, were scheduled to arrive, so while Marianne waited for them, Alan and I headed back to Lucca to try to get some wine for dinner and some clothes. We were very successful in getting regional wines and Alan was successful in getting a shirt and some sneakers, which he wore out of the store. Lucca is a walker's paradise, with new sights around every corner, and we started to get the lay of the land.
Back at Casele Sodini, we had to shake off our Lucca sweat with a swim in the fabulous pool. It is truly the best thing about this place -- large, great temperature, and on top of a hill, so there are nice breezes. Lemon trees next to the pool provide excellent balls or grenades, depending on the application. Dinner Monday night was salmon on the grill plus salad and carrots. We ate on the back porch with views of the neighboring hills.
Tuesday morning dawned hot and hazier than the day before. We took an extended morning swim and read some by the pool before enjoying lunch on the back porch. Later today, we're headed back to Lucca and then Annie the chef is coming to fix dinner.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Casele Sodini
Woke up this morning in Vorno, Italy! The birds are chirping and the owl hooting. A sweet cocker spaniel and a kitty cat on property and we are right at home.
But it was an adventure to get here, to put it mildly. We left Atlanta on Friday as planned (thanks, Barb, for the airport ride) and made our flight to Miami with no problem. Once we got there, however, it became rapidly apparent that our plans were going to run amuck as our flight from Miami to JFK was already two hours late, meaning we would miss our connection in New York, where we were supposed to join up with Marianne for the flight to Pisa. Over a late lunch, we pondered our alternatives and finally arrived at a plan to take the 5:50pm flight from Miami to Charles de Gaulle and then a flight to Pisa later Saturday afternoon. There was an earlier flight from CDG to Pisa but we were assured that it was full and we wouldn't make it.
Aboard the 747, we had an uneventful trip to Paris. I will say, though, that we both found the Delta experience to be superior to the Air France experience, where we were hard pressed to even get water. Food was good but service less so. In any event, we landed in Paris Saturday morning around 8:30am. Checked in with the Air France service desk and, again, were advised that we could try for the 9:55am to Pisa but would likely not get on. Intrepid as ever, Alan said, "we're trying anyways." Passport control, long walk, shuttle bus, another security checkpoint, and we were at the Pisa gate -- along with a whole host of other people. No way we were making it on, but we stuck around anyways, until everyone had boarded and the gate agent said, "what are you doing?" We said, "stand by?" and she said, "come on!". So, there we were, on the plane to Pisa, landing about the same time as originally planned.
Arriving in Pisa, we were just about positive that we would have been separated from our luggage -- and we were. It still hasn't shown up. Filed the claim and headed out into the utter madness of the Pisa airport to await Marianne. Her flight was an hour late, so it was awhile, but finally she emerged from the baggage area, with an attendant pushing her wheelchair while pulling two bags. Her driver was waiting to whisk her away and we were, shall we say, superfluous. :-)
In any event -- onward ho to the Avis counter where after a somewhat longish wait Italian style, we were given not the car we had reserved but at least an automatic. But without the GPS that Alan had ordered. Hmmm. We, of course, had no paper maps. He had downloaded the full Italian map system onto his phone but it was completely dead. So, off we went courtesy of Google maps on my phone. We did very well until the end when the G failed us entirely with our endpoint. It had us up a truly vertical, narrow, rocky dirt road where we ended up in someone's front yard. Small front yard, I might add. And keep in mind that we are jet lagged and in a foreign land. I have to say we handled it admirably. I got out of the car, directed the turn around, and Alan headed back down the twisty turny road.
Back in the town of Vorno, we poked around in multiple ways, to no avail. We got out Alan's iphone, newly charged, and it gave us a new set of directions, which we attempted to follow. Nothing was seeming to work but we also thought we were close (or, at least, the phone thought we were), so we finally pulled the car over, prepared to walk. No sooner had Alan had turned down a road than he said, "there it is!" Indeed, Casele Sodini, at last.
Marianne was waiting for us and after a brief chat, we headed for a little nap. Dinner at a local restaurant, La Bettola, completed a very pleasant evening. Highlights of the meal -- fantastic cantelope with prosciutto, ravioli with sage and ricotta, and lemon sorbet.
This morning Alan and Marianne are sleeping and I'm the one wide awake. How odd is that?
But it was an adventure to get here, to put it mildly. We left Atlanta on Friday as planned (thanks, Barb, for the airport ride) and made our flight to Miami with no problem. Once we got there, however, it became rapidly apparent that our plans were going to run amuck as our flight from Miami to JFK was already two hours late, meaning we would miss our connection in New York, where we were supposed to join up with Marianne for the flight to Pisa. Over a late lunch, we pondered our alternatives and finally arrived at a plan to take the 5:50pm flight from Miami to Charles de Gaulle and then a flight to Pisa later Saturday afternoon. There was an earlier flight from CDG to Pisa but we were assured that it was full and we wouldn't make it.
Aboard the 747, we had an uneventful trip to Paris. I will say, though, that we both found the Delta experience to be superior to the Air France experience, where we were hard pressed to even get water. Food was good but service less so. In any event, we landed in Paris Saturday morning around 8:30am. Checked in with the Air France service desk and, again, were advised that we could try for the 9:55am to Pisa but would likely not get on. Intrepid as ever, Alan said, "we're trying anyways." Passport control, long walk, shuttle bus, another security checkpoint, and we were at the Pisa gate -- along with a whole host of other people. No way we were making it on, but we stuck around anyways, until everyone had boarded and the gate agent said, "what are you doing?" We said, "stand by?" and she said, "come on!". So, there we were, on the plane to Pisa, landing about the same time as originally planned.
Arriving in Pisa, we were just about positive that we would have been separated from our luggage -- and we were. It still hasn't shown up. Filed the claim and headed out into the utter madness of the Pisa airport to await Marianne. Her flight was an hour late, so it was awhile, but finally she emerged from the baggage area, with an attendant pushing her wheelchair while pulling two bags. Her driver was waiting to whisk her away and we were, shall we say, superfluous. :-)
In any event -- onward ho to the Avis counter where after a somewhat longish wait Italian style, we were given not the car we had reserved but at least an automatic. But without the GPS that Alan had ordered. Hmmm. We, of course, had no paper maps. He had downloaded the full Italian map system onto his phone but it was completely dead. So, off we went courtesy of Google maps on my phone. We did very well until the end when the G failed us entirely with our endpoint. It had us up a truly vertical, narrow, rocky dirt road where we ended up in someone's front yard. Small front yard, I might add. And keep in mind that we are jet lagged and in a foreign land. I have to say we handled it admirably. I got out of the car, directed the turn around, and Alan headed back down the twisty turny road.
Back in the town of Vorno, we poked around in multiple ways, to no avail. We got out Alan's iphone, newly charged, and it gave us a new set of directions, which we attempted to follow. Nothing was seeming to work but we also thought we were close (or, at least, the phone thought we were), so we finally pulled the car over, prepared to walk. No sooner had Alan had turned down a road than he said, "there it is!" Indeed, Casele Sodini, at last.
Marianne was waiting for us and after a brief chat, we headed for a little nap. Dinner at a local restaurant, La Bettola, completed a very pleasant evening. Highlights of the meal -- fantastic cantelope with prosciutto, ravioli with sage and ricotta, and lemon sorbet.
This morning Alan and Marianne are sleeping and I'm the one wide awake. How odd is that?
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