As we traveled through the German and Italian Alps this morning the breathtaking scenery continued. The mountains are so massive and imposing. They surround us on all sides creating a "circle vision" of beauty. We keep turning our heads, trying not to miss any of the magnificence around us. The mountains are so high and covered with a tremendous amount of snow (even in May). Below the peaks, the trees are covered in snow, making it look like a Christmas wonderland. As we looked toward the bottom of the mountains the grass was growing in the meadows and the fields were filled with dandelions. Beautiful Italian villas were perched on the sides of the mountains with vineyards growing everywhere around us. Such diverse scenery in such a compact location and all of it spectacular!!!
As we traveled out of the Alps, nearer to Tuscany, the weather improved significantly. The rain stopped, the clouds grew fewer and we saw patches of sunshine breaking through. Yay!!! The sun felt so good on my legs as we drove. We arrived at our hotel for the night in Rovereto. It's just slightly north of the area formally known as Tuscany. Still, the scenery is gorgeous. The lower elevations of the mountains around us are in full bloom with bright green grass and tiny wildflowers.
Since it was my birthday we asked the hotel staff for a nice place to have dinner. She told us about a lovely restaurant and called to make a reservation for us. When we arrived our waiter came running out to help us find parking. He then escorted us down some stairs into a beautiful room that looked like an old wine cellar. The restaurant must have been built over some ruins because the bricks on the ceiling were very old and the graceful archways were reminiscent of earlier Italian architecture. It was such an elegant and romantic atmosphere and we had a wonderful evening. We're not quite sure what we ate for dinner but it was regional Italian. The dishes had smoked bacon, ham, prosciutto, risotto, potatoes, cheeses, salami, and other ingredients but we had no idea what the dishes were called. We just left it in the capable hands of our waiter, and after we were finished we just called it delicious. For dessert I had hot chocolate cake - heaven :) It was a lovely birthday evening but I really missed celebrating with the rest of my family. Tomorrow we are traveling to beautiful Tuscany for the next few days. We'll be staying near Siena in a small bed and breakfast with six guest rooms. Hopefully we will have nicer weather.
Oh what a beautiful morning!!! We woke up to bright sunshine and NO clouds in the sky!!! Yay!!! We are now completely out of the mountains. We keep passing ruins of old castles built high on hills. We're just amazed at how the people were able to transport all the building materials up these nearly vertical cliffs. Pretty incredible. Now, I'll just sit back and enjoy the beautiful views as poor Bob does all the work of driving.
What a beautiful countryside. Just confirms why I LOVE Tuscany!! The very gentle rolling hills planted as vineyards, multi-colored wildflowers, ruins of castles on the hillsides, and houses built in the traditional Italian design with brick and curved arches. Incredible beauty. On our way to the hotel we made a detour to one of our favorite medieval towns in Italy, San Gimignano. It's such a beautiful, charming old village complete with ancient walls, church with bell tower, hotel, restaurants and, of course, souvenir shops. We walked around for a bit and then headed for Siena, where we will stay for the next couple of days.
Just arrived at our hotel. Wow!!! It is an old Italian villa which has been converted to a B&B. It's in the countryside in the middle of the hills. To our great surprise and delight, it's actually an entire apartment with two bedrooms and a kitchen. There is a washer/dryer and a dishwasher. Going to be sooo good to have clean clothes again. I'm really tired of washing out clothes in the sink. The owner stocked us with breakfast food, water and a nice bottle of regional wine. Just incredible. Although the owner speaks very little English we were able to communicate well enough. The place is fabulous. What a treat. Really feel like we're in Tuscany now.
Now for the bad news. As we were getting settled in and finding our way around the apartment it started pouring rain!!! There was thunder, lightning and lots of rain. Looks like we brought it with us from the Alps :( Here's the good news. Within a short time the rain stopped and the sun came out. Hopefully, it's over. Would really appreciate some sunshine and warmth.
Woke up to a picture perfect day. So excited. Had breakfast in the apartment then we were off to see a couple of medieval walled villages in the hills above wine country. The scenery was enchanting. As we drove up the high hills we overlooked vineyards everywhere below us. We were in the middle of typical Tuscan scenery - tall cypress trees, olive trees, wildflowers that were red, yellow, purple and white (rock rose, marigolds, blackberry, andryala, and purple vipers burgloss, and poppies), fruit and nut trees and, of course, vineyards. Absolutely spectacular views from the top of the hills. Felt like we were in a Tuscan painting.
After walking through the small villages we drove down the hills into the gorgeous land covered with vineyards. Soooo fun. Didn't stop for any tasting since we will save that experience for southern France. Just appreciated the beauty surrounding us.
After spending another relaxing night in our beautiful countryside apartment we woke up and traveled to a few more medieval towns. The surprise of the day was in the lovely walled town of Volterra. It was a recommendation of our hotel owner and it was fabulous. We had always visited San Giagnano and loved it but this town is even more charming. It is really laid out well with plenty of souvenir shops, restaurants and cafes to appease the tourists but enough space to accommodate us without driving away the locals. We stopped for a coffee at a little place which turned out to be a gem. As we were sipping our expresso the hostess brought us some homemade biscuits and a sample of their dessert wine - wow, really tasty. We wound up buying some of the biscuits to eat as we drove along :) Really enjoyed our time there.
The drive to and from the hill town of Volterra was equally as fun. The scenery was quite different from the other areas in Tuscany we had seen. On the way up the hill we passed steeply rolling hills planted in grass. Small groves of trees, forming loosely circular patterns, were scattered throughout the landscape. There were no vineyards, olive or cypress trees, just peaceful uncluttered green hills. Occasionally we spotted old stone walls meandering gracefully down the hills, separating fields. As we ascended we had incredibly magnificent views of small villages below - just beautiful. On the way back down the hill we followed a different road. If we weren't sure that we were in Italy we would have thought we were in a backcountry road in Hawaii. We were surrounded by dense, lush forests and crystal clear streams flowing over the river rocks. The road was extremely winding and slow but absolutely gorgeous. Most of the larger trees had trunks that were encircled by ivy which crept around and around until the trunk was completely covered in green leaves. Trees and plants were quite tropical in their appearance. We kept stopping along the roadside to take photos. So beautiful but so different from all the other landscapes we have seen in Italy. We had an extremely enjoyable day in this area and hope to return on a future trip.
We woke up this morning with some sadness to leave the beautiful area of Tuscany. It is one of my favorite places in the world to visit. We were very blessed to have a few days to just relax and enjoy the area. However our adventures continue as we head to Milan to see our daughter, Misha, and our son-in-law, Naoki. Can't wait to see them!!!
Our time in Milano was so much fun. Soon after our arrival Misha came to our hotel and we walked down the street to have a delicious lunch. It's such a joy to be together again, particularly since we don't get to see her very often. She just gets more beautiful every year. We had so much fun catching up with her life. That evening we visited her and Naoki at their beautiful apartment. The apartment is quite large and in a great location in the middle of Milano. They can walk to everything they need. They have a beautiful garden reserved just for residents of their complex where they can enjoy having a glass of wine, a snack or just enjoy the sunshine So happy for them to have such a wonderful place to live. It felt so good to spend time with them. Really needed a boost from my kids.
In the evening we went to dinner and enjoyed one of the best meals ever!!! What a treat! The dishes just kept coming out. Misha and Naoki are such wonderful hosts and out time with them was certainly one of the highlights of our entire trip. We were the first customers for dinner in the restaurant and the last ones to leave. We had a really great time. Too soon the evening was over and it was time to return to the hotel. Tomorrow we will drive to Switzerland through the the Italian and Swiss Alps. Weather forecast includes possible rain and sow so that will dictate how long we spend on the mountains.
I agree. San Gimignano was our favorite spot in the area. I have some beautiful photos of the village. Also, there were some lovely "cat" shots taken along the wending streets of the village. For some reason I like to take pics of animals in quaint locales. The shopping was nice, too.
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