Our visit to Spain was fabulous as expected! We arrived to sun, sun and more sun and started enjoying the Catalan experience right away. Over the four days we spent Barcelona and Sitges in Catalonia, we had a wonderful time with Miguel Angel, toured the countryside and the Freixenet winery, saw a Flamenco show, ate lots of pinchos and tapas, and did lots of walking. We had both been to Barcelona before so we knew what to expect and the visit lived up to and surpassed our expectations so we were very happy.
Our next stop was Italy. We flew from Barcelona to Florence on a regional airline that proved to be a very positive experience. airports were very easy to manage and flight was short. like flying from portland to san francisco. nice.
A summary of our Italian experience thus far - it is wonderful and the depth of history and beauty here means you would have to live here for a long period of time to fully experience it all. There is so much to see, do and experience that a visit to Italy is sensory stimulation to the max. And if you dig a little deeper and actually care to learn about the history and how that history has contributed to what we see today, you will be rewarded with endless stories that will capture your imagination. we are definitely fans of Italy and intend to come back.
Our visit to Florence was wonderful. The city is beautiful and full of history. the people were very welcoming and friendly. The food was excellent. Our 2 days there were just enough to get a sense for the place and know that we would go back. Our visit included dinner at La Giostra (very nice restaurant) along with other excellent places for lunch and dinner; visits to Uffizi and Academia museums, city bus tour to get oriented to the city (we like doing the city bus tour in places because we quickly get a sense for the city and areas we would like to go back through on foot); visits to San Lorenzo market ( extensive outdoor market with lots of products for tourists with money to spend) and the Mercato Central which was a delightful market that had enotecas, pasticcerias, fresh produce and much more. Go there if you visit Florence!
From Florence, we picked up our rental car and made our way further into Tuscany to the Chianti region. Driving in Italy is very doable and once acclimated to driving style, quite easy. The signage is fantastic and if you miss a turn, you can rest assured that at the next major intersection you will have directional signs indicating how to back track. We do wish we had a little more horsepower in our rental car since the roads in the countryside would be SO fun to drive with a little more juice.
Arriving in Chianti floored us. At risk of being overly dramatic, the beauty of the countryside blew us away. Chianti is now managed as a historical area and so no new construction is allowed. this creates a timeless quality to the place. it will be the same in 20 years as it was 100 years ago. everywhere you go there are picture worthy views and scenery... to the point that although you feel you should take a picture at every curve in the road, you really don't need to.
We are staying in an Agri-tourismo near Castellina in Chianti about 25 minutes north of Siena. Castellina is a sweet little town with everything you need. We watched the Champion Cup at the Bar Italia (main bar in town) on Sunday night. that was fun!
We have made day trips that took us to Volterra, San Gimignano and Siena. We thought we would make more day trips but truth is that you could wear yourself out trying to see all the wonderful things here so we have scaled back our plans and intend to spend less time in the car and more time locally and relaxing.
Volterra and San Gimignano were both fun to visit. interesting towns with great architecture and interesting history. Siena is larger and even more fascinating. The countryside south of Siena is in an area called Val d'Orcia and it has a decidely different quality to it. The landscape is flatter than Chianti yet still rolling hills with some decent sized hills that towns like Montalcino are perched atop. it was nice to see a different area that was just as beautiful as Chianti in its own way.
I think that is part of what i gained from this trip, the realization that Italia, owing to its long long history and uniqueness in landscape/micro climates, possess so much variety that even though it is a relatively small country, you would need a significant amount of time to really appreciate all the various regions, history etc and do more than just skim the top.
Yesterday we visited Siena and really enjoyed a brief walking tour which convinced us to return to Siena on this trip. We then took a guided tour to visit Val D'Orcia, Montalcino and two Brunello wineries. It was nice to not drive for once and just look out the window at the scenery. We both really enjoyed our tours and interacting with the tour guides. I am a firm believer in finding a good guide who will definitely improve your experience. It is also fun to spend some time with locals for more than just a passing interaction around a transaction. I used to think tours and guides were for inept tourists but i have come to realize that having a GOOD guide is actually a very important part of getting the most out of a visit to a place you are not familiar with. They get you access to places you can not go as an individual tourist, you learn more than would by just reading Lonely Planet or Rick Steves, and it is really nice to spend time with locals as i mentioned before.
Today we intend to relax by the pool, take a bike ride and or walk, visit a few of the small nearby towns and take it all in. We will most likely go back to Siena over the next couple of days and perhaps head over to Cortona on our down to Rome for our return flight to Portland.
We have had a fantastic honeymoon and are very excited for our return to Italy some time in the not too distant future!
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