This section of travel was everything I had ever dreamed of Tuscany looking like and more.
Great! You're sure making it sound inviting.
Mowed????
If I had a gazillion bucks, I’d buy a villa and move there forever.
Actually, I think you could do it for less. Much less. Even less than a
billion dollars.
Gorgeous.
Really like this artsy little shot.
Wow!
Love this too. Reminds me of a scene from the movie Gladiator.
Changing from gentle curves through the rolling hills to now ever steeper and outright hairpin turns
Good thing you had earlier practice with the standard transmission.
the birthplace of Carlo Lorenzini. Lorenzini’s penname was Carlo Collodi, and is of course, best known for his story of Pinocchio.
Cool!
important moral lessons for children: e.g., disobedience does not pay, telling lies is seldom prudent, and boys who love and take care of their parents will be rewarded.
hmmm...
Don't think those lessons are being taught overly much these days.
do NOT ask me how many times I either stalled the car on the hills or blocked traffic trying to turn around on the narrow little road of the village
Oh dear...
Disregard my earlier comment about the transmission practice.
There are approximately 4,204,394
"approximately"... You're right. there are 4,204, 395.
I know just what's going on here!
A few vendors had souvenir stands set up with every size and shape of Pinocchio one could ever imagine.
I dunno... I can imagine quite a few...
Okay... after seeing the photos, I'll cede the point.
We popped into a little café (coffee shop)
Thanks for clarifying. Had no idea.
somehow what we had there was a failure to communicate.
I bought a cookie for the use of his bathroom
I'd buy a cookie even
without having to use it.
The switchbacks were super steep and after a few hundred yards, I decided that the large and beautiful villa on the side of Mt. Everest just wasn’t that intriguing after all.
But... sorry about that.
I did end up with a little carved wooden marionette that's about 6 or so inches tall and is just perfect for my “someday-I’ll-get-around-to-it” Travels-Around-the-World Italy display.
the very small village of Petrognano set on the side of a very steep hillside overlooking the gentle, golden rolling hills of the Valley of Lucca at its feet.
Sounds wonderful.
“Turn left at the big tractor parked where they’re harvesting the olives.”
Love this.
“Turn right at the big church with the cemetery at the side.”
Um... that can apply to... pretty much every church in the world. You're lucky you didn't wind up in another country.
It was not easy trying to drive a stick shift on very narrow roads with hairpin turns AND try to look for the landmarks. Anara was about peeing herself laughing at me.
"Ha. Ha. Ha... Yes. Very funny.... Get out and walk."
This was as authentic of a rural homestay as Rita’s estate in Bari and I immediately fell head-over-heels in love with where we’d chosen.
The stone stair lead to the upstairs bedroom
I like that.
Sounds dreamy, no?
Yes!!
He said, this is no problem, I will bring you a bottle right away!!!
There ya go... Liesa in 7th heaven.
A view of the Lucca Valley down below as we left for dinner:
Stunning.
Only making one wrong turn into what turned into a very narrow alley too small to drive through and having to back all the way out dodging… everything
How worried were you about scraping the paint and there goes your insurance?
we made it to the restaurant which was rather dark for a place that’s supposed to be, you know, open. Paolo's wine was better than his knowledge of local business hours.
Uh, oh...
The nice lady delivering produce let us know that they’d be open in a few days again. Great.
A host (owner-operator?) came out and greeted us and enthusiastically welcomed us in and told us that we were his very first customers of the evening and promised a wonderful meal for us! Hallelujah!!!
Great! But... how late was it? You were first??
We opted to eat like little porkers
It may not come as a surprise that finding our way home was only slightly challenging.
Ya don't say...
Yes, we turned down the same alley that was not a street and had to back all the way out again.
No!
Despite the holes at the top we made out okay and woke up unscathed with most of our blood where it belonged.
"most"?????
Maybe this little guy that shared our space kept the mosquitos at bay??
Everyone needs a guardian gecko...
I love this. I have (had?) a very similar photo from Germany.