Tuscan Discovery

1993

We'd been together for four years and hadn't got round to doing much holidaying , but Elaine spotted an Autumn city break in Florence, so off we went, without really knowing what to expect. I was spellbound. We stayed in a little hotel near S. Maria Novella, and walked all over town. Even if it did rain once or twice, I found the city completely stunning and I knew I would return.
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The tourist viewpoint. The city from the Piazzale Michelangelo. You can also see the famous Ponte Vecchio from here.
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Too much levity to be an Italian.
 Moody. That's more like it.
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Pisa. As you can see, the tower is straight. It's the cathedral that is leaning.
 The cloisters at San Lorenzo -- one of my favourite places in my favourite city.


1996

It was my parent's 40th wedding anniversary in 1996, and we wanted to do something special. We decided to take a family holiday in Tuscany. There would be Mum & Dad (Mabel and George), their three children (Steve, Mike and Nikki), Mike's wife (Alyson), their two sons (Rowan and Celyn) and Alyson's father, (Ken). So needing accommodation for nine, we rented the beautiful Renaissance "castle" of Anqua, between Florence and Siena. It was a remarkable place, with cool stone corridors, high, painted ceilings, antique furniture and a fabulous garden with our own 12-metre swimming pool. There were two formal dining rooms, but we didn't use them, instead taking noisy family meals around the big wooden table in the top-floor kitchen, just like proper Italians.
Somehow, it really appeals to me to live in a place that merits its own name on the map.
Here's the rear gate to the garden.
Our pool. In the courtyard.
(Steve, Alyson, Nikki, Mike, Mabel, Ken, Rowan, Celyn & George).

In the last picture we were about to leave for the anniversary meal in the nearby village of Belforte. I was particularly proud of phoning up and booking it without using a word of English.

The Welsh contingent was due to fly back from Florence airport, while the Irish team's flight was from Pisa. However, there was a Euro summit in Florence and the authorities helpfully decided to close both airports as a security measure. Both flights (and all the others) were moved to Bologna airport and the resultant chaos can be imagined. We did manage to get home that day. Just.

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1998

Having been so enchanted by San Gimignano and its medieval pagentry, my sister and I decided to rent an apartment in a farmhouse, Rustica Progenie, just a couple of kilometres outside the town walls. It was a holiday that we both enjoyed tremendously, and it just went to strengthen our affections for Tuscany. As well as the celebrations in San Gimignano, we made trips to Volterra, Lucca, Florence, Pisa, Siena, Monteriggioni and Certaldo. Oh, and the beautiful gardens in Collodi, the home of Pinnochio. But we still took time to sit in the sun at the apartment and to swim in its pool.
At the apartment.

Here's some action from the jousting. The two riders start from opposite ends of the paddock, and race in a "U"-shaped track to reach the target in the centre. It's a helmet on a pivot that they have to strike soundly with their cudgels. The first to hit it knocks it forward in his direction so that it's easy to see who got there first, even in a very close race.
On the turn.


First to the target.


Winner of the Golden Sword.



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