June 29 – PERUGIA (The Capital of Umbria)

• Today we rode to Perugia – a hip student town with a never-ending stream of cultural events and concerts. Little has changed, architecturally, over the past 400 years.
• We’re staying in Hotel La Rosetta, which an amazing building converted into many hotel rooms – each is offering something different period wise. Mine can only be described as ‘Art Deco’ whilst others offer vastly different periods.
• The ride was great today and challenging – as everyone knows, Italy is not flat! We had a wonderful tour of the underground city which was found and restored (to a degree) and our tour guide is a French historian who has lived in Perugia for 25 years. Her home town of PARIS, apparently, it a bit ‘too busy’ for her.
• Pictures are of the cycle today, the underground city, a ceremony at the church where the husband of a Red Cross nurse became a bishop, the group dinner and me in my bike gear.
• Tomorrow, we’re cycling to Assisi – which is about 65km from here (and yes ... it’s going to be a steep ride in parts)

JUNE 27 - BICICLETTA AVVENTURA

• Today I began my biking adventure. The morning started early – about 7 am and we left to catch a train from Florence to Arezzo. At Arezzo, we collected our bikes and did a 65km cycle down to Passignano sul Trasimeno – a very charming town on the lake situated in Umbria (so it’s goodbye to Tuscany for now). The ride was beautiful and we rode through Cortona, had a picnic lunch on the way then arrived at our hotel around 4pm which is located right on the lake.
• The group are a nice bunch – German’s, Americans (all from New York and Jersey) and a couple of other Aussies. The guides, Mark and Sonia are both German and have been doing the guided tours for 6 years. Mark is a historian ‘by trade’ so there’s plenty to be learnt along the way.
• Tonight we’re all meeting for dinner at 7.30 pm and I think I’ll sleep well!

JUNE 26 - ARRIVEDERCI LE FONTI VILLA!

• I’m writing this update on the train between Milan and Florence. We finished up at the villa, drove to Milan for a couple of nights (Lindsay & Simon departed for Australia) and now I’m making my way down to Florence again to start a bike trip between Florence and Rome.
• The last week has involved a couple of trips to Florence, the beach, some local towns and generally chilling out.
• I have all my bike gear (thanks to Simon’s expertise) and ready for the next chapter.
• I had a good old fashion shop in Milan and bought some new clothes (which required me to discard some old clothes).

JUNE 19 - JUST SOME RANDOM PICS

FLORENCE IN THE RAIN!!

June 17
• Today it was bucketing with rain so we all went into Florence for the day (bought umbrellas for the journey). It was hard work in the rain but we trundled through Ponte Vecchio, a few churches, had lunch and decided to return another day for some shopping when it isn’t raining.

FIRENZE!

June 14
• Lindsay and Simon arrived today in Florence (after ‘training’ it from Milan) so I headed down about 3 pm and decided to jump on a tourist bus to see some of the sites before collecting them. Pictures are taken from the David Statue overlooking Florence.
• Picked up the guys and we headed back to the village for a bite to eat then bed.
• Tomorrow, we’re checking out some of the local wineries.

TOREE DEL LAGO

JUNE 13
• I’ve had a rest for a bit, from the camera and the blog updating. The last few days I’ve spent checking out some local villages and Poggibinsi – which is a fairly substantial town at the ‘bottom of the hills’. It’s only 10 minutes away and has many more services than my little village.
• Today my only goal was to find a nice beach. What I didn’t know upon my previous visit to Verragio, is that only 15 minutes south is a delightful sea side town Torre del Lago. There’s no information about it in the Lonely Plant – it was an English travel writer living here, that kindly gave me the heads up. There’s plenty to do for the sun soaked travellers.
• The pictures of the umbrellas and sun chairs are replicated across probably 60 – 70 entrances here along the shore line. I found a suitable one, and had a good old sit in the sun.
• Flags flying above the entrances dictate whom you’re likely to find on that part of the beach. Italian, German, British, French etc and of course the Rainbow flag are scattered along certain entrances to the beaches. Along the shore line, there are dozens and dozens of bars, restaurants and pubs filled will sun drenched people, bicycles, scooters, dogs, and cars packed in for the day.
• The day was beautiful and hot and I’m pleased I’ve found a great beach here!

JUNE 8 - VOLTERRA

• The drive to Volterra (about 55 minutes) up rambling and sometimes very narrow and tight roads, is easily the most beautiful drive I’ve ever experienced, ANYWHERE in my life! The colours of reds, yellows, greens and whites are mind blowing. There are beautiful red poppies growing wildly on the side of the roads too.
• Where San Gimignano has its towers, Volterra has its archaeological sites, an extensive network of mysterious alleys to explore and steep, stone stairways to scale. I believe this town was also the principal place for the vampires in Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series, although I haven’t read any of that series, so do correct me if I’m wrong!
• There is your usual presence of bars, piazza’s, pizzerias, Churches, gelatarias but in addition, some other very hip & sheik martini bars, fabulous funky restaurants and the odd pub or two. This place has an awesome feel. Lindsay & Simon – we’re going for a drink here next week!
• My drive home consisted of some ‘hold ups’ – the entrance to the motor way I needed was closed (under repair – actually looked like a landslide) so I had a fair detour and several stops so large buses, trucks and one semi (not to our scale thank goodness) could pass through the tight turns (some of them close to 180 degrees) and very tiny roads!
• There was a man in an Audi convertible waiving a red flag (whilst driving the sports car I might add) to oncoming motorists (yes, me). I quickly found out it meant STOP as far as you can on the right hand side to let the F*CKING HUGE truck behind him pass! There’s a handy tip for you Lonely Planet!!
• All in all, Tuscany is not the place for your BMW 7 series or Mercedes S Class, It’s best to keep those at home and take your small Citroen or Fiat! And .... I’m loving my little ‘hairdressers’ car today.... Beep beep!

JUNE 7- ARRIVO AREZZO

• Another beautiful day in the Tuscan Hills – top of 33 degrees today so warming up! Time to explore Arezzo. This town was the setting for Roberto Begini’s La vita ‘e bella film. My friend Skye informs me it’s also the home of Jeffrey Smart (a brilliant artist, whose work we both love and whose work I’m unlikely to afford in this life time).
• At the top of this town, there are beautifully landscaped gardens with a few bars open. I sat in the park for a while just taking in the views of Arezzo;
• The Cathedral’s, Piazza’s and museums are all worth checking out (although a couple were under renovation and filled with scaffolding).

JUNE 6 - CASA E TRANQUILLO

• A quiet and calm day today in the village. It’s Sunday (Domenica) and nothing is open (except Church) so I’ve decided to have a catch up day on laundry and read my book. I’m currently sitting on a sun lounge, in my back yard under a Cherry Tree overlooking the hills. Listening to Patrizio Buanne on ITUNES is completing the Italian experience! My neighbours inform me that the Cherry’s will be perfecto in 5 days and the limbs are chockers with fruit – YUM!
• I have a bottle of Moet & Chandon in the fridge (€26 from the supermercato) so tonight I’m cooking a Sunday roast and having glass of Champagne! There are acres of Rosemary in my back yard so there will be Rosemary, Cherry’s & Moet involved!

JUNE 5 - DRINKIN’ WITH THE LOCALS!

• After dinner last night, I decided to take myself to my local watering hole. It’s Cafe Bijou, and it’s owned my Giulio Giampertruzzi (try saying that after 2 G & T’s). www.cafebijou.it Many of his friends were in the bar drinking last night and they were all lovely people and enjoyed having a chat (and of course a drink). Giulo lives in a town close by to here and showed me on Google Maps. I showed him where I live on Google and also pictures of Sunshine Beach and the Gold Coast – he couldn’t believe the vast amount of surf. He and his friends would like to come to Australia one day for a holiday! Of course in true Amanda Vanstone fashion; I’m encouraging them all!

SAN GIMIGNANO – “Of Fine Towers”

• The sun was out in force again, so packed up and took off to San Gimignano. It’s only about a 20 minute drive from home. Approaching the crest of the hills, this walled town looks like a ‘Medieval Manhattan’. In fact, upon arrival, I’m sure half of Manhattan had moved in – MOLTO AMERICANO! I overheard a Yankee couple talking about how THEY THOUGHT the climate changes here would deteriorate the brick work on the buildings. Given construction was in the 13th century, I think Mr and Mrs Yankee were somewhat incorrect (AND NOT THAT BRIGHT). Best to keep those thoughts to yourself Yankee’s!
• There is an abundance of art here so I spent much of the morning strolling in and out of beautiful little galleries. There is one in particular I’ve taken a shining too so I will definitely return. There are no prices on any of the works, just a corresponding catalogue number and I will be interested to see the costs. No doubt, if the price isn’t on the pieces, I cannot afford it!
• The sale of leather goods, silver jewellery, local Chianti, cheese and meats are also prevalent here and Gelataria’s are around every turn – perfect for this warm summers’ day!
• All in all, this is one cracker of a little town and I’ll be back!
P.S. Here is a link of images to my little town care of GOOGLE - http://www.google.com.au/images?hl=en&q=barberino+val+d'elsa&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=ekkJTLbrF8eFOI3e1e4P&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CDQQsAQwAw