A map of our day's route in several chapters:
With a wide berth around Florence, I note.
our 500-year-old apartment.
This gets me. It's not some archaelogical wonder... it's just an apartment. But 500 years old.
Reminds me of a story I read when you (USA) were celebrating your bicentennial.
European: "What are you celebrating?"
US citizen: "Our bicentennial. Our country is 200 years old."
European: "Oh! Our
new roof is 200 years old."
Beautiful.
Gingerly, I made my way down the well-worn steps
Nothing says vacation like a broken leg.
Somewhere during the last 24 hours I’d lost mine never to be found again.
Hmm... I need to remember this. While I don't recall if I've ever lost a cable, I did forget a camera charger once. Need to think about packing spares in the future, for just these events.
Fortune smiled upon us and we found not only the cable I needed but also a nice lunch for take away.
Nice two-fer.
Here are some of the options we saw- note the massive hanging hams and meats all wrapped for gift-giving!
I could live in this store.
It’s also nicknamed the Oak of Pinocchio.
Fail. Oak of Pinoke would be better. Or Oak-eeoh of Pinocchio.
here are the photos I did get, and I hope it gives you an idea of just how enormous this tree is!
originally built in the early 1500’s- The Villa Reale di Marlia.
Everything is so old!
found a place to sit at the little treat shop set in the expansive gardens with baked goodies and coffee
You had me at baked goodies.
This little guy gave us a chuckle as we wound our way along the path...
until it hissed at us... wherein we screamed like little girls and made a hasty exit.
Here are some of the photos of our wanderings about the property
Pretty place.
I totally wished I’d had one of my Regency Era gowns on with a parasol for our visit!
Now
that would have been a photo op!
This little building is called Pan's Grotto. We were fascinated by the details and whimsy!
Thanks for the video. Lots of details in there!
I thought the marble works in Florence were quite something, but Friends, check THESE out!!! Look at the lace and the petals!
The ability to take a solid chunk of rock... and make it look like that? I could almost cry at how much more talented these artisans are than... well, me.
What was really quite astonishing was that the villa sat empty for many, many years with all of its original furnishings intact and each piece was meticulously restored using local artisans.
Huh!
My rebellion did get the better of me as we walked out onto the upper-level porch where I shot one photo through the glass of the library. I mean, the rules said “no photography INSIDE the house”.
Signora, per favore venga con noi. Sei in arresto per appropriazione culturale.
Stay tuned for Montecatini Terme and the Tettucio Spa!
Staying tuned!