Provincial Tuscany .
We are currently staying in a small Agritourism apartment just outside the village of Casole d'Elsa which is situated in close proximity to Siena. Part of the deal with this apartment is a small rental car which allows us to be mobile. The apartment is up a long, 3 km stone/ rock drive, which involves careful negotiation between the ruts, the huge rocks and the steep terrain. Never again will I complain about the standards of New Zealand roads. We drove up here from Napoli along the A 1 which was an absolute pleasure to drive on. Close to Siena we turned off at the toll gate E 26.70 later, and drove along their highway towards the apartment. What a complete contrast in roading. Even our class 2 roads are better than that one, and we have driven it twice. The second time was in the rain, worse than the first!
Our car has allowed us to tiki tour around the area. The first foray was up into the Chinati region, the renown wine area which was lovely. Thei grapes vines are now on the turn displaying beautiful autumn colours. I note they prune in a different way to NZ . Rather than the four leaders coming out from the main plant, the grapes in Chianti are pruned with just one leader vine, always by my bamboozled compass facing east. We moved along to the village of Radda in the same area and fell in love with this village. Suddenly all the yellow coloured Tuscan houses in the brochures and pictures of Castellina were replaced with fabulous stone houses, that looked new and well cared for. There just seemed to be a point of difference with this village.
Petrol is 1.47 Euro a litre and diesel slightly cheaper.
Today being Thursday we intend to explore the San Gimignano area on the far side of Siena. Close to our village is the Pilgrim walk, the great walk from Canterbury to Rome. Each time we go out we cross over the walk somewhere, although to this point we have been unable to ascertain exactly where the walk passes us by. There are many brochures advertising this walk, anything from a day trip to a week, at huge cost. E 84 for the day there upwards. We as enterprising Kiwis and walkers thought we could pop onto the trail for a small outing. A Walk in the Woods so to speak, Kiwi style.
We are currently staying in a small Agritourism apartment just outside the village of Casole d'Elsa which is situated in close proximity to Siena. Part of the deal with this apartment is a small rental car which allows us to be mobile. The apartment is up a long, 3 km stone/ rock drive, which involves careful negotiation between the ruts, the huge rocks and the steep terrain. Never again will I complain about the standards of New Zealand roads. We drove up here from Napoli along the A 1 which was an absolute pleasure to drive on. Close to Siena we turned off at the toll gate E 26.70 later, and drove along their highway towards the apartment. What a complete contrast in roading. Even our class 2 roads are better than that one, and we have driven it twice. The second time was in the rain, worse than the first!
Our car has allowed us to tiki tour around the area. The first foray was up into the Chinati region, the renown wine area which was lovely. Thei grapes vines are now on the turn displaying beautiful autumn colours. I note they prune in a different way to NZ . Rather than the four leaders coming out from the main plant, the grapes in Chianti are pruned with just one leader vine, always by my bamboozled compass facing east. We moved along to the village of Radda in the same area and fell in love with this village. Suddenly all the yellow coloured Tuscan houses in the brochures and pictures of Castellina were replaced with fabulous stone houses, that looked new and well cared for. There just seemed to be a point of difference with this village.
Petrol is 1.47 Euro a litre and diesel slightly cheaper.
Today being Thursday we intend to explore the San Gimignano area on the far side of Siena. Close to our village is the Pilgrim walk, the great walk from Canterbury to Rome. Each time we go out we cross over the walk somewhere, although to this point we have been unable to ascertain exactly where the walk passes us by. There are many brochures advertising this walk, anything from a day trip to a week, at huge cost. E 84 for the day there upwards. We as enterprising Kiwis and walkers thought we could pop onto the trail for a small outing. A Walk in the Woods so to speak, Kiwi style.
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