Maureen Fitzsimon's Ladies Vacanze in Italia 2012

Our happy band with Roberto, the owner of the villa, plus his wife and sister.

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Latest updates: Wed 19 Sep Cinque Terre, Thu 20 Sep Florence, Fri 21 Sep Cortona

Our happy band in our Tuscan villa...
Standing: Eileen, Roberto's sister, Chris, Roberto, Maureen and Mary
Kneeling: Helen, Jill and Roberto's wife.
Not in picture, because she took the photo, Deb.

Friday 14 September

Brisbane -> Dubai

Another adventure begins...

What a day yesterday (Friday)! After attending the beautiful funeral service, for Kerryn, daughter of our friend, Fay, I was wished well by my lovely patients and staff, and dashed home to catch the 8.45 pm flight out of Brisbane.

Emirates was great, but plane was packed.  We landed in Dubai, unrested, for an over 5 hour wait for our flight on the A380 - a fantastic plane.

Saturday 15 September

Dubai -> Rome -> Tuscany

Sunday 16 September

Tuscany

We have woken up in Paradise!

So we have woken to a glorious day, in Tuscany, if you please!

Today, we will just relax, and do a short trip to Siena!

Cheers,
Maureen.

Doing a lot of praying

Woke to a glorious morning.  Thought the pipes were banging, but the pig shooters were up early.  Explains all the bangs.  Then the church bells started.  Nicer.

We are going to sue Tom Tom!  After paying big time to update the software, it lead us all over the place in nonsensical directions, to nonexistent streets.  After touring every back street in Siena, but only hitting one teensy motorbike, we had a huge walk, through the old town, enjoying the streets, shops and square.  The Duomo (Cathedral) was fantastic!  It was under renovation last time I was here, and is spellbinding.  We lit a candle for Kerryn outside the Madonna (mother and child) chapel.

Then, on the long way back to the car, we took a wrong turn and ended up at the old Psychiatric hospital.  Appropriate!  Deb, Helen and I left the others with the shopping and powerwalked back to the car.

After going the wrong way down one way streets, very kindly pointed out to us by one of these Italian Gigilo types, we became hopelessly unable to find the Psychiatric Hospital.  We asked lots of people how we could pick up our friends at the Psych hospital, and they just looked frightened.

In the end, the other girls caught a taxi to our car parked, probably illegally, outside St Katarina's church, which has the 15th century finger of St K.  In a jar!  And they thought WE were the crazy ones!

Back to the Tom Tom nightmare.  Trying to get back to our mountain village, we were lead on roads, which were 2 dirt car tracks, up winding hills.  Startled farmers just stood agog!  Didn't arrive back till well after 8pm.  Thank God for relaxing days!

Cheers, Maureen.

Monday 17 September

Assisi & Souvenirs

We have a new idea for individualized souvenirs.  Just like us, you too will be able to paper your walls with traffic tickets courtesy of the Italian Politzei!  Here we are, saving the buggers' economy - and they want more!  Greedy!  Also they're sneaky about it, offering no English translations on the signs.  What a hide!

The service station attendant in our town, Badia Agnano, (and there is only one service station, and only one attendant), confirmed that Aliens stole the satellite signal from our area.  At least, that was my translation.  He actually filled the car up for us.  Now, Helen is a decade younger than me, and she has never seen that happen!

Anyway, the Tom Tom actually took us into the next town, high on a mountain.  It is called Civitella de la something.  Unbelievably magic!

Decided to follow the sun, as we were heading east to Assisi.  Eventually, Tom Tom kicked in, milliseconds before Jill smashed it into a thousand pieces.

Driving is actually very easy.  When I commented that when travelling with Mike through Italy previously, it was much harder being a passenger....there was a stony silence.  Hmmm!

It's a real pity we didn't bring a TV crew.  We are just so interesting, especially compared to "Big Brother", and Kath and Kimderella!  What an opportunity lost.

Day 3 has seen us master the toll booth.  The first experience was a disaster! There were slots and drawers everywhere, and all the girls were handing me all sorts of coins, including Aussie ones.  The cars behind were not exactly delighted.  Second toll booth had a PERSON!  Third one, we were really on the ball.  We put that one Euro coin into that little drawer with such panache.

Campbell Newman has been here.  There are tunnels everywhere.  Kevvy should come over and pull them out of recession by fixing the roads.  Maybe the odd school hall would be good too.  Forget the insulation.  They have 60 cm thick stone walls.

Our house has floors are 1500 years old.  There is so much history here.  The building originally had animals on the lower level.  Before renovations in 2006, the last occupants were the Germans in WWII.  The owner, Roberto, has been so helpful.  He has a little more English than I have Italian, learnt from trying to pick up English girls when he was young!  Apparently, visitors are usually American.  He finds us interesting as our accents are SO different!

We had a fantastic day trip to Assisi.  Unlike my previous 2 visits to this glorious town, we explored from the other end of town.  Wonderful.  Saw the Basilia.  Again.  Still Magnificent.

We found the Eurospar.  The girls were in their element.  Bought groceries galore.  Came home in the daylight for a change.  Deb had been whinging that her pyjamas were missing, and suspected we were responsible.  On driving into our house at 5.30 pm, in daylight,we spotted the missing garments on a balcony outside her bedroom.  The mind boggles.

Had a wonderful dinner on our patio.  Off to the Cinque Terre for a night tomorrow.  Caio!

Cheers, Maureen.

Tuesday 18 September

Lucca, Pisa

Kath and Kimderella... eat your hearts out!  You didn't walk up all the stairs of the Leaning tower, as well as the Baptistry in Pisa.

The weather dawned fine and warm.  Probably high 20's C.  Had a great brekkie and headed out to Lucca.  Have vowed to make these ladies hold onto a rope, as they tour along.  Today, left Deb to go 100 metres to round up the stragglers, AND left her with the map, and she still got lost, as did they all.

These girls are serious shoppers.  There is no choice.  Fabulous Cathedrals with amazing works of art versus market stalls.  The latter will win every time.

We all went on a really gorgeous old Carousel in Lucca.  What a sight!

Enjoyed a walk on the city walls in Lucca, and loved the wonderful Duomo.  The girls got lost yet again!  Managed to round them up eventually and head to Pisa.

Mindful of the ticket we received last time for driving in a "locals only" street, we parked some distance away from the action.  Too far!

Found a wonderful spot close by the Tower, and then had a great lunch.  The bird in the GPS took us up private driveways etc., again!

The high Aussie dollar is really fantastic.  Everything is so cheap.

Jill accidentally tipped pizza into my lap, and the girls were really sorry for me, promising to help keep the flies away.

Climbed the tower.  Haven't done that before,and I have been to Pisa twice previously.  The inside is hollow.  I always thought there were "floors".  There were 300 odd stairs which took 7 minutes.  Nice views.  The sloping floor on the ground level was really strange to walk on.

Then did the Baptistry stairs.  Only 150 of those.

I had forgotten how splendid a Cathedral existed in Pisa.  Unlike my previous visits, there was no scaffolding in place.  It all looked pristine.

On to La Spezia, missing a turn and having to travel an extra 17 kms on the motorway, both ways! Nice scenery.

The car park in La Spezia could only be entered by folding the mirrors and pinpoint accuracy in driving.  Joy!  Luckily, Deb has found her pjyamas.  They were missing for 2 days.  Coming home in daylight on Monday, we spotted the lavender lovlies strung over a balcony.  A secret tryst, perhaps?

Had dinner at the restaurant opposite the Hotel.  Great homecooked type meals, and cheap too!

This morning (Wednesday) is cloudy.  Our room looks out on the La Spezia railway station, rather like a view of Roma street.  We will catch the train between the 5 villages and see how the day goes.

Cheers,
Maureen.

Wednesday 19 September

Cinque Terre & Getting friendly with the Politzei

Well, what a day!  Talk about the good and the bad!

'Twas a bit cloudy for our trip to the Cinque Terre.  Walked through the delightful mall in La Spezia, and on to the Boat going to the 5 famous villages.

Lovely scenery.  Stood up to take a photo and was rebuked by an American woman.  She then went on to lecture me that we should just "enjoy the moment and not take photos".  Told her that I found it had to be perfect.  Tea Party people are not into sarcasm.  They understand little, including irony and so she was patronizingly nice.  From there on I used every huge word in the dictionary, and commented wisely on geology, history, and anything to sound intellectual.  Still, they didn't get it!  Moved away!

Really enjoyed the cruise, and so did the girls.  The villages are so cute.

Went to the last village (Monterosso) by boat and then caught the train back.  It was crowded, and at the next station, a couple of (blond) young people really roughly pushed past us and left at the next station.  Then Jill discovered that her purse had been taken from her handbag.  She had felt nothing.

We went to the next village, Corniglia, and it started to rain.  We went in a little bus to the top of the village and told the restaurant owner, where we had lunch.  They had heard about this couple of robbers 4 times, and were quite distressed.  It can't be good for business.

Luckily, the robbery involved only money (400 Euros) and debit and credit cards.  Rang Greg ( Jill's hubby) to sort out cancelling the cards.

We had a beautiful lunch in Corniglia.  Then we made our way back on the train to La Spezia.

For the umpteenth time, tried to get an Italian SIM card for the iPad.  The Italians have Siesta all afternoon, and every time we find the Telstra type of shop, they are closed for sleeping!  And ...they can't understand why the Italian economy is on the nose!

Went to the ATM to cash up Jill.  Then to a Cafe, and then Police Station to report the robbery.  Apparently, this happens all the time.  We were given a brochure on staying safe.  They were nice.  Nothing will change.

The ticket for the car park was also gone.  They were so lovely to Deb, telling them the sad story of why we had lost our car park card, that they embraced her with gusto.  She hasn't had this much luck in ages!

Getting out of the car park, our paid card opened the gate and immediately shut it.  The same poor man saw this happen, and managed to open it for us, shaking his head.  We are probably not welcome in this car park again.

On the drive home, a big truck changed into our lane, not seeing us.  We had been there for ages.  In a tunnel, if you please.  I braked; he missed me by millimetres, and behind us screeched on the brakes.  Not fun.

Went to a service station, and Mary had to be rescued.  The door jammed, and she was locked in the toilet.

On coming home, we saw a sign on the door.  "Please lock the doors".  We came in, and all our belongings were everywhere.  Someone must have a key and tried to rob us.  Our landlord knew we were in the Cinque Terre and came by, and found two doors open, but did not realize it was a break-in.  He left the note.  Someone in the village must have a key and wanted money.  They left my good coat, did not smash anything, and, fortunately found nothing.  We had all valuables with us.  I am sleeping downstairs, and the others are upstairs, so I'll be the first to give them a tackle if they return.  I doubt they will.  We are all sleeping with our valuables in our beds, under the blankets.

Tonight, we had a nice lasagne; I made and left in the fridge before our jaunt to Cinque Terre.  And some wine.  Needed that tonight.

Hope tomorrow in Florence is really, really boring.

Cheers,
Maureen.

Thursday 20 September

Firenze

Woke to a brilliant day!

I'll cut to the chase and tell you that today's attempted robbery (on Chris this time) was spotted by my clever companions and foiled!  Yeah!

This time they pulled down a coat from a hanger in a shop and used it as a cover to go for her bag.  She was on to it!  The shop assistant thought they also had fled with the coat...worth 1500 euros!  She was white with fear, as the cost would come out of her pay.  Luckily, they dropped it near the door.

Have discovered the thieves at the house break-in, stole a bottle of Coke from the fridge and my external iPad speaker.  Sounds like teenagers.

Florence from Piazzale Michaelangelo

Today was my third trip to Florence, and it was more beautiful than ever!

We parked in Piazzale Michaelangelo (the viewpoint over the city), and it still has free parking.  Then caught a local bus downtown, and had a walk through the city, before visiting the Uffizi.  Great art gallery.

Then had lunch at a place called Roberto's, near the Ponte Vecchio.  Fantastic food.  Total bill 20 Euros with tip, drinks etc., had the most fabulous salmon ever!

Then the others were off to the Accademiae, to see Michaelangelo's "David" etc., I thought I'd give him a miss as I've seen him twice.

The girls were almost evicted.  Mary saw her cousin there and screamed!  Security came running!

Went off by myself to the church of Santa Croce, which has the tombs of Galileo, Dante, Machiavelli etc., after walking several kms more than I needed to, I bought a map!  Did the audio tour, and the history is just so interesting.

Met up with the others in front of the Duomo (Cathedral), an even more magnificent piece of architecture than any we have seen so far.  The marble and the Dome are breathtaking!

Finally went to a Telstra type shop and purchased a chip for my IPpad. For once, they were not closed for siesta.  Deb was furious.  Bloomin' Telstra did not connect "global roaming" so she could not purchase an Italian SIM for her iPhone.  That's what you get for phoning them to make sure before you depart.  And we all know what happens when we use our Aussie SIM card...don't we Rob? Deb's newest Grandchild is due any day, and she is desperate for good communication with Australia.

Maureen, Florence

Anyway, on to the highlight of the day.  Stop reading at this point, hubby dear.  In the crowded Piazzale Signoria, people sit around on tiers of steps.  A gentleman bowed to me as I passed, so, of course, I responded with a theatrical bow as well.  He then took me dancing and twirled me round and round.  Then followed with a full on pash on the lips.  The crowd cheered and we had a standing ovation.  None of my friends had a camera ready.  Unfortunately, there is a downside to this amorous tryst.  The bloke was wearing clown make up and it took ages to get the white face paint off.  What you have to do for a moment of fame in Florence!

Went back to the Ponte Vecchio and collapsed and had tea and coffee.  3 Euros.  In that hot spot!  Sitting at a table with tablecloths!  Gosh, Australia is expensive.

Took taxis back to Piazzale Michelangelo, after a fantastic day.

Hopefully, a good sleep tonight.  Are you hearing that, Woolworths?  Waking me up at 4am with a text telling me the great deal on Avocados is not appreciated!

We will try to have a night out in the village tomorrow, and taste the local food.  Perhaps spot our robber!

Eileen is still reeling after discovering that the cooked chook we purchased for dinner at the Supermarket, was actually wild bustard!  She will appreciate a dinner out.

Have decided to stay true blue Australians.  No texting on the phone while driving at 150 km/hr, like the locals.  And we are making a stand; we actually use indicators!  So there!

Cheers, Maureen.

Friday 21 September

Cortona

Cortona

Today we received the thrilling news that Deb's daughter, Jessie, gave birth to a 3.5 Kg baby girl, called Frankie.  Both Mum and Baby are well.  It was 8pm Brisbane time, and a spectacular day in Cortona - midday here.

As we heard the news we were sitting in a restaurant (the same one Mike and I went to with Di and Dan in 2009) looking out to the city hall clock tower.  A bride and groom were leaving the city hall after their wedding was registered.

This is the village where "Under the Tuscan Sun" was filmed.  We saw Branasole, the casa featured in the film.

Cortona is famous for handbag shopping.  Lots and lots of handbag shopping.  (Isn't it?)  There are also the usual churches, cutesy streets, cafes etc.; it just oozes charm.  The views from this hill top village are unbelievably wonderful.

How we are going to transport this avalanche of shopping from the car depot at Rome airport, to our city transfer car outside terminal 3, is going to be something of a miracle.

Now chilling out at our villa.  Such a shame this will be our last night in Tuscany.

Cheers, Maureen.

Saturday 22 September

Montepulciano and on to Rome

Today, we travelled to Rome via a visit to the lovely mountain village of Montepulciano.

Our hosts arrived at our villa and bid us a very warm farewell.  Bet they never want to see Aussies again.  They threw in the cost of some wine and food, and were very distressed about the robbery.  Jill has discovered her new jacket was also stolen, worth $180.  My really good black coat was spared.  Roberto filed a police report and is changing all the locks.  We assured him we would not put this on the internet public area.  It would be terrible for their business.  The village is so small and sleepy; it is amazing it happened.  Roberto and his wife had bent over backwards to help us during our stay.

When we arrived in Montepulciano, Jill and I went to the police (Carabiniere), as they would not provide Roberto with a report, as his stuff was not stolen.  I rang Roberto who spoke to the lovely policeman, who had about 4 words of English, as my few hundred words of Italian were not up to the level of a police report.  It took 45 minutes!  The decor was proletariat Mussolini era!  I think their computer was a commodore 64!  Nothing is done in a hurry in Italy, trust me.

Except, of course, driving.  Then they are bats out of hell.  Would leave you for dead, Laila!  160 km/hr in a 130 km/hr zone is normal.  Anyway, the police were very sweet to us, so you just have to "go with the flow".

We then enjoyed the village, and I found a great present for Mum. (Start getting excited, Mum!)

Backed out of the very challenging parking spot, with an impatient Italian hissing at us.  What a shame!  Most of his countrymen have been so warm and delightful.

Then on through Umbria and fantastic countryside to Roma.

Our car after a week in Tuscany. (Just kidding!)

Bit of a hassle finding the shockers at Autoeurope, but we dumped the car, without a scratch on it.  Have to say that paying 6 Euros a day for a second driver was a dud deal.  Jill couldn't see over the dashboard of our big van, or even reach the pedals with the seat forward.

Met the bloke we engaged for the transfer from Roma airport to the apartment and he toted our 35 bags up the 6 flights of stairs, with our help.  We pretended to be American, in the National interest!

The apartments are great, if lofty.  Deb, Eils, Helen and I went to the Supermarket a couple of blocks down the road, and bought supplies.

A poor chap from the supermarket started gesticulating about us taking the full supermarket trolley along the street.  Money sorts everything!

Our apartment is a 15 minute walk from the Vatican, and the bus stop is outside the door.  It is spacious, with 4 bathrooms, and 2 kitchenettes.  What more could you want?

Tonight cooked up pasta, and will collapse into bed.  NO MORE DRIVING!

Cheers, Maureen.

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