Trafton’s European Adventure Part Two

2/16/23 Rome

The old saying is so true, all roads lead to Rome. In Italy that’s 100% true. Rome was the center of the Western world for over 600 years, and Rome, more than any other Italian city, reflects that.

Rome is huge and has a terrible mass transit system, so gridlock here is the story of getting around! The city only has two subway lines and limited bus and tram lines. The traffic just doesn’t move.

Cindy and I have visited Rome three times before and when we were planning this trip we were not planning on visiting again. However, as we got closer to Rome, we decided to do a day trip from Montepulciano. That means it’s going to be a blaster of a day, so, tie the shoes tight, I see a 30,000 step day coming our way🤔

Up bright and early, 4:30 AM and a quick 1/2 hour drive to Chiusi and the regional train station. Easy express train to Rome, one stop and 1 1/2 hours later we were at Termini station. Termini station is the main train, metro and bus station for Rome. It’s a zoo!

We’ve been on this rodeo before, quick, easy buying of tickets and a quick metro ride to The Colosseo!

The Roman coliseum when you pop out of the Metro. Construction work is always ongoing at the coliseum and they are building a third metro line.

Our first trip to Rome was in 2013, and when we popped out of the Metro, my eyes bugged out! Even today, it still shakes my soul when I see the giant structure that man built 2,000 years ago.

We have taken three tours previously, so we just marvel at the structure today!

Think of the history here, some incredibly brutal! The lives lost here, unbelievable history!

Arc de Triumph, gateway to the Roman Forum.

Built in 81 AD, the Arc was used to celebrate not only military victory’s, but civic achievements also, viaducts, bridges, baths. Rome brought the western world into what we think of as modern civilization.

Ok, get a move on says tour guide Cindy, up through the Roman Forum. The Forum has buildings from 800 BC and was the center of Ancient Roman life. The land was reused many times leading to the many ruins you see when you visit.

Civilization was here over 10 thousand years ago🤔

This is The Alter of the Fatherland. A tribute to the first King of a United Italy, Victor Emmanuel ll. Now a fantastic museum.

When most people think of Italy, they think of an old, old country with lots of history. Well, modern Italy, what we know now, was only formed as a country in the late 1880’s. Previously, different parts of Italy went back and forth between many different country’s. That’s why you see statues to General Garibaldi, who is credited for the unification of Italy.

Built in Roman times, 10 BC and reconstructed many times. It became a Roman cathedral in 609 AD and has been a cathedral in use ever since.

The view inside The Pantheon is utterly spectacular! The engineering and the architecture still are unbelievable today. The Pantheon has been copied many times, but never has anything come close to this marvel.

Cella, or the roof design! It’s hard to take your eyes off the ceiling, and yes, that’s a hole in the roof!

It started as a stadium for horse racing in 50 AD that could hold over 30,000 spectators, it’s now a grand Piazza.

We’re rolling now, across the Tiber River.

Castello Sant’Angelo, once the fort guarding The Vatican City, now a famous museum.

Ok, you’re now leaving Italy, and entering The Vatican City, it’s own country.

St Peter’s Square is huge and today, packed with people!

We were hoping to visit St Peter’s Basilica again, but the line was over one hour plus. We’ve visited the Basilica before, it’s staggeringly beautiful.

The Pope’s guard. Notice the uniforms designed by Michelangelo.

Lunch time, Roman style pizza, I called it focaccia style.

Spanish Steps, built in 1725 by Spain to connect the Spanish embassy to their cathedral.

Stop it! A gelato break! Tour guide Cindy’s getting soft on me!

The fountain is the sight of the end of the first Roman viaduct. It is also the sight of the first Roman baths. The history here is unbelievable.

Wow, now that was a whirlwind Rome tour. Back to the train station and then back to Montepulciano. That’s 28,000 steps, hills, stairs and cobblestones my friends.

Rome is a beautiful city, really one of the great cities of the world. Is it a little dirty? Yes. Does the traffic stink? Yes. Are the crowds massive? Yes, but it’s worth it. A very, very enjoyable day.

We’re going to take today off and catchup a little, plan a little, and drink some wine and read books.

Ciao, Ciao, Ciao!

2/14/23 Montalcino Italy

Wow, two blog posts in a day! Tour guide Cindy has me jumping!

Montalcino is a very, very old city. It’s only 40 km from the coast of Italy and from the fortress above they could see invaders coming and warn Montepulciano. Got all that👊

Montalcino was once a thriving leather working village, but invasions and the Black Plague almost wiped out the population in the 1200’s. Inside the fortress.

View of the castle from a street lined with wine shops.

Duomo, used very seldom. Spectacular at one time.

Ok, about 15km down the road is the real reason we’re here, Castello Giocondo and the famous Brunello wine!

In Tuscany, there are some famous wines.

Chianti, Chianti Classico, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and the big daddy, Brunello di Montalcino.

Castello Giocondo is the sister winery to Castello Nipozzano, which we visited last week.

Before we go any further, a little Italian wine trivia. Tuscany has been producing wine since 8,000 BC. It’s one of the world’s greatest and first wine producing areas.

Italy is by far the largest producer of vino in the world. Over 19% of the world’s wine is produced in Italy. The USA only produces 1/2 the wine Italy does. However, in the 60’s and 70’s the Italians let the quality of the wine slip. That’s why you see so many classifications now. They are really trying to produce quality wines (and charge you for them).

Most Italians drink bulk or box wine. The bottles get exported to you rich people around the world 😜

Wine tasting room. It’s not in the castle like Nipozzano, but it’ll do.

Tour guide Cindy and our hostess, Valentina.

Very high end wines, all big reds. Beautiful winery.

Fantastic tour, very educational and now a little tasting and lunch!

Wonderful day, we’re off to Rome tomorrow!

Ciao, Ciao, Ciao!

2/14/23 Pienza Italy

Greetings from beautiful, but chilly, Montepulciano, Tuscany.

Hope all is well with you and your family, and Happy Valentine’s Day. Tour guide Cindy was nice to me on Sunday and gave us the day off to rest and relax in the Tuscan sun.

Ok, enough of this relaxing says Cindy, road-trip!

We pass this Villa right before Pienza. Is this spectacular or what?👊

This area of Tuscany, Pienza, is famous for its sheep cheese. It’s called pecorino. This is a pecorino cheese shop at the areas cheese factory Coop. It’s absolutely delicious!

Pienza is a very small town, less than 2,000 folks live here year round. It’s very popular with tourists, as it’s beautiful!

A hill side village, Pienza was the birthplace of Pope Pious 11. In the mid 1400’s he returned to his home village of Corsignano and seeing its poverty decided to rebuild his home village in perfect renaissance manor. In four years the village was rebuilt and renamed Pienza. Let that sink in🤔

What’s left now is a true treasure of Tuscan beauty.

As a pope built the village, you can imagine churchs are everywhere.

Inside the cathedral, simple, but beautiful!

Ok, Ciao, Ciao, Ciao from Tuscany!

2/11/23 Montepulciano Italy

Greetings from beautiful Montepulciano, Italy! As you can see, we’ve moved down the boot of Italy to our new home. We’re still in Tuscany, but now we’re in the Southern part. It’s close to the area know as Umbria and it’s quite beautiful.

Our new home, it’s two story’s high and just outside Montepulciano. It’s very Italian!

You know tour guide Cindy had to find a VRBO with a fireplace ✔️

Ok, walking tour time! We’re right next to the village so we can walk from the Villa. It’s very hilly in Tuscany!

St. Agnes Church, right as you enter Montepulciano.

Still in regular use, it’s being setup for a wedding.

Montepulciano is a walled city with its current structures from the Medieval era. But like all cities in Italy, it has a long, long history.

Todays Montepulciano is a mixture of tourism and quite a large artistic colony. Several world famous music schools are located here.

One of the walled cities entryways. Cindy and I love Montepulciano. It’s one of our favorite places in the world.

Ok, let’s start walking…straight up. Oh gosh, cobblestones and hills two of my favorite things.

They allow cars in the walled city, be careful!

Look at those beautiful Tuscan blue skies. It’s chilly, 32 degrees and 51 degrees today!

Again, this church is in regular use. Montepulciano inside the walled city has several thousand residents.

It’s very quiet. It’s Saturday and lots of shops close for the winter here. Spring, summer and fall, this place is hopping.

Your climbing now, views of the valley below are spectacular.

This is an Enoteca, small wine shop. You can do wine tastings here and they carry wines from the region. Contrary to popular thoughts, wine in Italy is inexpensive. They send the expensive stuff to China, USA and Canada.

View from the end of the hill. I like to sit here and relax, maybe a little people watching ✔️

Palazzo del Comune, municipal hall for Montepulciano. Love that blue sky.

Ok, that’s the top, let’s walk down. That screams Montepulciano to me.

Ok , back to the Villa. We’ve gotten 12,000 steps and lots of hills. Lots of day trips planned, we’ll keep you updated!

Until next time, Ciao,Ciao, Ciao from Tuscany!

2/09/23 Pisa/Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy

Greetings from beautiful, but cold Tuscany! We’ve been having an Italian “Arctic Blast” in Tuscany. It was 24 degrees yesterday, with a high of 44. The wind has also been blowing, so it’s a little chilly in Tuscany.😮‍💨

Fortunately, the villa has a wonderful fireplace, which we’ve used daily!

Tour guide Cindy says, let’s revisit the beautiful city of Pisa, ok says I.

That also means I get to visit one of my favorite pizza spots.

Next day, driving tour up over the mountains to Arezzo. This is the castle Castello dei Conti Guidi from below. We visited here several days ago, beautiful and imposing from the valley.

Arezzo is somewhat unknown to us. We’ve never been here on previous trips.

Arezzo is a very, very old city, some say 600 BC. It’s had many, many lives because of its location between Rome and Florence. It was a very rich and powerful city. It’s still very high end and incredibly beautiful. We were very impressed with it’s beauty.

As you saw, Arezzo is a walled city that’s from Medieval times. View from the city walls, pure Tuscany!

Easy drive to the city. It’s about a one hour drive from the villa. Easy parking, very few tourists in town. Walking tour in Tuscany, so it’s hilly with cobblestones. Super!😜

First up, Badia di Santa Flora e Lucilla.

This is a panoramic photo of Piazza Grande surrounded by Logge Vasari and Pieve di Santa Maria. Very striking.

Walking through the beautiful cities parks. A very well designed city. We kept walking until we reached the top of the city and the Duomo.

Cathedral of Saint Peter and Donato, also called the Duomo.

Steps to the Duomo, like most of Arezzo you see today, built in the 1200-1300. There have been many churchs on this spot, this is the last one built. Remember, The Romans were here in 200 BC and built shrines to gods in this place, before Christ.

Inside the Duomo, huge and impeccable. Fantastic stained glass and the Frescoes, truly staggeringly beautiful.

Back to the villa, that darn wine bottle that we refill keeps running dry. Must have a leak somewhere.

Tomorrow we’re moving two hours south to Montepulciano, one of our favorite villages in Tuscany. It’s famous for the Vino Nobile wine and close by the world class Brunello vino. Hope to sample both😜

2/06/23 Tuscan driving tour/Lucca, Italy

Tour guide Cindy wanted us to take a driving tour over the Italian mountains in Tuscany to visit several famous sights, ok says I. It’s a little cold, 48 degrees and slightly cloudy in the morning, but no rain in the forecast, let’s go!

Built in the 11th century, this castle dominates the Cesentines National Park that we drove through to get there.

Beautiful drive into the castle which is closed until spring.

The castle also held a prison. Dante’s circle of hell was written from his visit to this castle.

View across the valley to Castello di Porciano.

Castello di Porciano, built in the 11th century has been restored and is now a hotel and restaurant.

Quick stop in the small village of Stia. It’s Saturday and everyone is out and about, talking, shopping and drinking a little something. Your way out of the tour bus scene now👍✔️😜

Ok, you know I’m always looking for different things. We’re driving down the road and I see a very different looking place. We pull over, it’s a boutique wine shop, selling wines from the region in bulk. We just happen to have our trusty bottle with us.

This is how he purchases his wine, then resells it!

Castello dei Conti Guidi, built in the 11th century. It was the scene of many famous Crusade battles.

This is the main castle in this area. One family owned them all and controlled the entire area.

Poppi has covered walkways throughout the village from the 11th century.

View from the castle hill, just beautiful. Note the smoke, homes are wood heated in this area.

Ok, back to the villa. Next day, Sunday, a trip to Lucca.

We decided to take the train, much less hassle, and about the same cost as driving and parking.

Lucca is about 2 1/2 hours, by train from the villa. It is well known for its well preserved Renaissance walls.

You enter the city through a number of portals, staggeringly beautiful.

Beautiful city, just the right mix of locals and Italians. We heard very, very little English today👍

Piazza Anfiteatro, the pictures do it no justice. It’s a 360 of Italy.

We didn’t realize it’s the start of Carnival in Italy. People dressed in costumes and a parade. Here are some floats.

Tuscany is famous for its Panini sandwiches. This place supposedly makes the best. No, not so much.

Black or Blue Ferrari today? I think Ferrari’s should only be RED!

Ok, that’s it for us. We need to catch up on stuff, do some paper work and housekeeping stuff today.

Ciao, Ciao, Ciao from Tuscany!

2/3/23 Tuscany

Greetings from beautiful, but a little chilly Pelago Italy.

Tour guide Cindy has been keeping me busy with day trips and a little Tuscan wine tasting. But before we start, I thought I’d discuss the idea we have about buying a villa and remodeling it. You know, “Under the Tuscan Sun” stuff. The above Villa is very close to where we are staying, we noticed it on a walk. The cost to buy and remodel would be well over one million, possibly two million and take three years to renovate. Well, throw that idea out the window✔️

Ok, driving tour time. This is Castiglione della Pescaia, a beautiful seaside village on the Tyrrhenian Sea. It’s quite empty this time of year, but I’m sure it’s packed in the summer. Rome is less than two hours drive from here.

Never thought I’d be on the Tyrrhenian Sea 😎👊

Of course it has a castle, doesn’t everyone have one😜

My goodness, it’s another wine Coop. Let’s buy a little for the villa ✔️

The owners of the villa are wonderful people. The man is from Sicily and the woman is an English woman. They’ve been very helpful with local tips. They highly recommended a tour of the winery, Castello Nipozzano. It’s located up the hill from us in the castle. This is a picture of the compound.

My goodness, we’re going wine tasting in a Tuscan castle 👍

The office and tasting rooms of Castello Nipozzano. That’s an office!

Tour guide Cindy and Laura, our wine tour hostess.

They have some really old wines. These are for show, they’re vinegar now.

Castello Nipozzano produces over one million bottles a year. They own vineyards across Italy

Unlike a lot of Italian wines, they produce wines built for long storage. They can be stored up to 20 years. We’ve never had that problem, they seem to disappear long before than!

Stop it! A fire in a castle and wine tasting, in Tuscany. This isn’t happening!

An Italian tasting board, with Pinot Grigio, Pinot noir, and Chianti Rufina Riserva. The wines are fantastic and the Chianti, one of the best wines we’ve ever enjoyed!

Ok, back to the patio life. Peggy, the villa kitty, makes herself at home.

We drink a little more vino and enjoy the Tuscan sunset!

2/01/23 Tuscany and Chianti

Greetings from beautiful and chilly Tuscany.

Tour guide Cindy has kept us busy the last several days with driving tours of beautiful Tuscany, especially the Chianti region of Tuscany.

The Chianti region of Tuscany is the middle of Tuscany and is quite beautiful and highly popular with the tour bus crowd.

First stop, Greve-in-Chianti. A small village and little out of the way. Greve is a very, very old city, 2000 BC It has been a famous stopover city for Italians for thousands of years on the route to Rome. Remember in Italy, all roads led to Rome!

Wild boar is the local specialty and stores sell products made from wild boar only.

Gosh, I miss the French bakery’s. Fair to say, the pursuit of the perfect loaf of bread is over🥲

San Gee, as it is called, has a long history of the usual Italian lore. Wars with neighbors, religious wars, Roman’s, barbarians, plague, then tourists!

It’s a beautiful city, mainly devoted to tourists now, but a long, long history in this Italian village.

This is the Porchetta trailer. He sells roasted Pork sandwiches which are delicious.

Ok, let’s take a longer drive to Volterra. It is very, very old village and sits way, way up in the hills of Chianti.

Volterra is another ancient city that’s now very much for tourists.

And, this time of year, very few tourists.

New day, a 90 minute drive to Pistoia. It’s not in Chianti, it’s in northern Tuscany.

A very famous religious city, the cathedrals are numerous and huge.

However, this was flea market day and literally hundreds of stalls filled the streets selling clothes and shoes. It made it harder to see the beautiful and historic city.

But we were defeated, so we went to the bakery and drank coffee and ate pastries.

The beauty of Tuscany is the scenery. We’re lucky, we have a car and can see the beautiful hills and villas and painted in Tuscan gold. Tuscany, it’s truly magical.

Until the next time, Ciao, Ciao, Ciao.

1/30/23 Florence Italy

Buongiorno from beautiful and chilly Florence, Italy!

View of Florence from the hilltop gardens of Michelangelo 😜

Tour guide Cindy and I have visited Florence several times before and I found it to be a little too crowded with very young tourists for my taste. However, tour guide Cindy insisted that we go for a walking tour as this is our last visit to this area.

Train station Florence. We decided to train into Florence from our home in Pontassieve. It’s much, much simpler then driving and parking in Florence, which is a disaster.

Ok, walking tour time, Mercato Centrale, the central market of Florence. It’s Monday but still busy.

You can’t be in Italy without fresh pasta shops.

Biggest Biscotti bar I’ve ever seen. Baked right on sight, quite impressive.

Of course fantastic Beef selection. Tuscany is known for its steaks. Cindy and I laugh, we’ve never seen a cow in Tuscany, just beef steaks. 🤔

Upstairs in the Mercato, they have installed a huge food court. Fantastic offerings and several beautiful bars. It’s just being set up when we walked through the market at 10 AM. We stopped back later, it was packed. The Food court is open until 12:00 AM.

Nice bakery. We’re not in France anymore. 🥲

Bro is so busy, he needs two pizza ovens.

The food court was very impressive. Florence must have at least 5,000 restaurants. The food scene here is tops.

Ok, let’s walk. Florence is famous for leather products, (must be all those cows). Shops and stalls line the streets.

Battistero di San Giovanni with the Duomo in the background.

Duomo – Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore (the third largest cathedral in the world).

Florence is a beautiful city, and not too packed today!

The very famous Ponte Vecchio, home to lots of gold and jewelry shops.

Walking up the hill to Piazzale Michelangelo, the top of Florence.

Florence from the top at Piazzale Michelangelo.

Beautiful city, not too full of tourists. We were able to walk 25,000 steps.

You know what that means, Italian lunch✔️😜

Beautiful city, fantastic sights and a splurge on lunch!

Quick train ride and short drive into the hills and a fire at the Villa.✔️😜

Road trip tomorrow. Might be some Tuscan wine involved

Ciao, Ciao, Ciao

1/29/23 Pontassieve Italy and Eastern Tuscany

Buongiorno from beautiful, but cold (43 degrees) Pontassieve, Italy! We’ve moved to what is known as The Eastern part of Tuscany. Easy six hour drive from Nice, with €50 in tolls and well over 200 tunnels.

Our VRBO is about as remote as it gets, GPS couldn’t get us here, so our host has you follow her instructions. “Pass through the vineyard, take a right at the painted pole” type of thing 😜😎

Where the heck is Pontassieve you’re probably asking yourself? It’s about a 30 minute train ride from Florence in Tuscany.

Tuscany is a fantastically beautiful place. It’s filled with stunning landscapes and the wine and food 👍👊😎

Let’s look around our Villa, beautiful, beautiful! View from our patio!

Our villa is part of a small complex of 4 VRBO units and the hosts home. It’s very, very well done.

Walking through olive trees and vineyards in the Tuscan forest, come on, what’s better!

Ok, we need groceries. You know we look for the unusual and neighborhood places.

This is the neighborhood COOP. It started as a wine COOP and still is one, but now features fresh produce and local artisan food products. It’s fantastic! We were quite amazed at the products and the locals shopping there were amused at us 😜

Of course there’s wine products at the COOP, it’s Italy for goodness sake!

The local wood fired bakery guy was there 👍

Produce, this picture is from their website. It was so busy with customers I couldn’t get a shot!

We’re here for two weeks. Tour guide Cindy has lots of trips planned in this part of Tuscany and we’re going to sit in the Tuscan sun and read some books, (possibly drink some vino also)!

I’ve been thinking, I didn’t say goodbye well enough to France.

The French people love life. While some can be a bit stuffy, we met so many wonderful people in France.

The people, the food, the wine, fantastic. We love France and are hoping to have the chance to visit again!

And, I know, you’re dying to see Teddys five month photo, so I thought I’d throw that in 😜

Until later, Ciao, Ciao, Ciao.