Time for a bit of Gnocchi

It was a little sad to say goodbye to our faithful Pietro this morning in Arezzo.  We have had him for 17 days and traveled over 2500 km.  He was a pleasure to drive from lane ways in town to the Autostrada doing 130km/h.

We often parked where other tourists in larger cars couldn't and were always left with coin in the pocket when refilling the diesel tank. When in Italy we will be hiring a car again and selecting the fiat Panda, a perfect accompaniment to a couple traveling in this country. (I would like to trade in my Barina when I get home for my own Fiat Panda - Katie)

When the plans fail, there is always dinner

Even the best laid out travel plans can sometimes have unexpected 'road bumps' that get in the way. Today for us, that was the weather. While we expected we might get a little rain, we got a whole lot more. The plan was to visit Mt Amiata - highest point in Tuscany, for beautiful views. Somewhere along the journey Shannon thought it would be better to visit a small town first and get to the mountain a little later to avoid cloud coverage.

Timeless Toscana

Today was less about ticking off the attractions and must see items and more about spending time in Tuscany with each other, enjoying the locations and reminding ourselves how lucky we are to be here.

That's Amore

Our niece Zilpha loved the Sound of Music video that we created while we were in Switzerland, apparently she asks her mother to play it every day and sings along.

This got me thinking could we do another song, but better?

Well, we have tried, what do you think?

That's Amore.

(Note: The backing music was added in the editing after the singing was performed, hence why it is not fully in time.)

San Gimignano and Siena

Our plan for today was to revisit two places we had been to and loved. San Gimignano was one of my favourite hill top towns from our first visit to Tuscany and Shannon was keen to see Siena again, especially because we didn't have enough time to see the cathedral in 2012.

Tuscan travels

Just outside Cortona in the hills is Convent de Le Celle, and this is another place that has been on the list since we have been coming to Tuscany.

Tuscan touring

It was such a wonderful feeling this morning waking up in Tuscany. I was awake quite early so slipped out on to the terrace with my book and let Shannon sleep. It was balmy but a beautiful breeze sweeping up from the valley.