Arrivederci Italy!

Oh dear, this has been my first opportunity to write anything in my blog for over a week. I won't be able to bring it up-to-date but at least I can add a little tonight from Padova (pronounced Padoa in English) which is a 30km train ride from Venice. Tonight is our very last night in Italy as tomorrow we drive the long stretch to Vienna. How sad to leave this beautiful country but there is still more beauty to come. Now I will return to when I left this and update gradually. Access to the net has become more difficult for any length of time but I will do my best for the time I have.
I do want to mention Italian public toilets while I remember. They are so very different! Some start flushing the moment you enter the room and it's most disconcerting to be using a loo which is constantly flushing beneath you! Some have only standing loos and a place for each foot as you crouch! Most loos are manned and you have to pay at least 50c to use them. In one case there was a man actually in the room waiting to clean the moment you left, most embarrassing as you washed your hands. The handwashing is another interesting experience. I never knew there were so many types of taps. Some work automatically, some you push and some are operated by foot pedals! Now that one took some figuring out!
Then of course no two showers are alike - again the managing of the water temperature and the flow of the water is quite a challenge!
It's all such an adventure! Back to the blog!

Friday 8 July
We slept a bit late then walked over the Ponto Vecchio and browsed through the Duomo (the cathedral). As we entered there was a large empty space with marble floors. The area where the congregation sits is cordoned off and has seats there. There are beautiful stained glass windows and the dome is exquisitely painted showing 'The Last Judgement". One wonders how the artist managed to access such high ceilings! The church started being built in the 13th century but wasn't completed until the 1800s. There is so much history here. Today we looked at more of the buildings and browsed through some of the designer shops. Wow, the prices boggle the mind yet so many people were carrying the bag labels in abundance in stark contrast to the beggars kneeling nearby with cups and bowed heads or approaching passersby with pleading eyes and maybe a photo of their family.There are so many contrasts in this amazing city.
Tonight (Friday) was our last night in Florence and how beautiful indeed. We went to a free outdoor classical concert in the Piazza della Signora where thousands of people stood together listening to Beethoven's 9th symphony, including the Ode to Joy, played by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and choir. The conductor was Zubin Mehta (an Israeli). It was a full orchestra and they played non-stop for 1hour 15minutes. It was magical. Where else but Florence would you have such an opportunity - free, romantic and what an amazing atmosphere. And yet as I looked up at the people in the windows of the terraces staring down and at the crowds surrounding me I thought how vulnerable we all were - about 3,000 people gathered in one place totally exposed. The thoughts disappeared quickly as I felt the ambience and the beauty of the moment.

After the conert we walked back over the Ponto Vecchio one last time and sat on the steps listening to quite a different sort of music, Italian and American pop. The same two Italians play there every night and it's fabulous. What a setting, overlooking the lights on the river and people everywhere. This is Florence at 11.30pm every night - alive - united in music and the language of love!

Saturday 9 July
We managed to fit all our bags (four suitcases plus hand luggage) into our boot - phew! We made one last visit to our cafe/bar for coffee again and finally they got it absolutely right - a creamy froth swirled with coffee - a definite 9 1/2 - yes! The only problem with it was there wasn't enough of it!
We drove firstly to the outlook where we ran to the other day to take the requisite photographs. There was a little marketplace up there with yet more temptations. We bought a tiny original painting of sunflowers - a little memory of the Tuscan countryside. We drove right through the Chianti district this time noticing a number of cyclists struggling up the hills this time looking professional in the proper gear (though still some do not wear helmets). We noticed too lots of places where they make terracotta tiles and of course lots of vineyards. We drove through Greve and had a short stop here for a browse. The local markets were being held and there were lots of cheeses and fruit and cheap clothes. We visited a shop selling cycle tops but the prices were very high. We drove back through the stunning countryside on a steady incline past lots of olive trees and patchwork countryside on the hills, through a number of picturesque little villages. The landscape changed to lots of green trees by the roadside but still lots of vineyards intermingled between the trees.
We stopped at Castallina in Chianti to buy water. This was a really gorgeous village with pretty pink flowers by the paved pathways.
On again - more winding hills, more serious cyclists - many without helmets which seemed crazy on that steep hill. We stopped at San Gimignano for another quick visit and as we were walked up to the village just after parking the car who did we see but Janice and Wendy from Canberra who we had dinner with the other night in Florence. I waved my arms wildly but we were almost upon them before they realised it was us. They had no idea we were doing this detour and it was pretty amazing that we bumped into each other really. So we decided to meet for coffee in half an hour after we had visited our favourite leather shop for CJ among others! We had a great cappuccino in an outdoor restaurant outside their hotel followed by the white wine of the region - very pale, very light, very nice indeed! We spent a very pleasant hour catching up on the past couple of days. They're staying in San Gimignano four nights. It's a beautiful spot and they should have a lovely relaxing few days before returning to Rome to fly home from there. It was great to meet up with them again.
At 6pm we continued our journey to Lucca. It was nearly 8pm by the time we finally found our way back through the one way streets of the walled city to our hotel. We have a different apartment this time but it's still very beautiful - very old, high ceilings with exposed beams, antique furniture and lovely carved features- all fully self-contained with a much better fridge than Florence and a tiny kitchen and sofa - very comfortable apart from the bed of course. All through Europe a double bed has meant two singles (of various widths) pushed together with a double bedpost, a hard mattress and hard pillows. We have learnt to sleep in spite of discomfort and at least in Lucca the evenings are a little cooler and we have a larger fan so that's a big plus for sleeping purposes.
In the evening we heard that George Benson was performing at an outdoor concert so it was takeaway pizza again and a quick shower before heading off for the concert - rather different from the previous night as this was NOT free we discovered and we had to buy tickets for 30E (about $50) each which is still pretty reasonable. There were plenty of seats and although the concert started 50minutes late due to technical difficulties it was well worth the wait. He performed non-stop with a great back-up band for almost two hours. For the uninitiated George Benson is a black American singer/guitarist. He sang a mix of R & B, jazz and romantic love songs all in English. It was wonderful. It started at 10.20pm and finished at 12.15am - outdoors in the Piazza. The accoustics were great, the polizei were on patrol stopping the use of cameras, the gelataria was doing great business especially during the long delay at the start and it was altogether a fantastic evening.

Sunday 10 July
We started the day with a run from our apartment to the walls of the city. Although the wall is wide like a road no cars are allowed on it so it was great, safe, uninterrupted running among lots of cyclists, walkers and a few runners (NOT wearing the proper running gear - it's just not available here - CJ we have to start that business). It's a 4 1/2km run round the wall and Dave ran with me for the first loop then I continued alone as his knees were playing up. However, he found some grass and joined me again for the last 10 minutes then we ran back to our apartment which added 2km so I guess that was 11km in total. We ran the first loop in 23mins and I ran the 2nd loop in 25mins so I guess Dave keeps me honest - he likes to start fast!
After a shower we had our interesting Italian breakfast then went for a walk round Lucca. It's so peaceful here, unspoilt by tourism, paved streets, very few cars - only the locals and the pace is slow. On a Sunday we discovered there are few shops open and in fact the shops are closed here until 4pm on Mondays! However, we did discover a cycle shop selling local gear at a reasonable price at last. We have still not found a single running shop that sells running tops or shorts. In fact we have seen very few runners in Italy, not nearly as many as one might expect.
The motor racing and some of the Tour de France was on the telly and we decided to return to the apartment to watch some of it. However, Dave fell asleep and missed it all! I think the run wore him out.
Tonight we ate at a lovely little restaurant and listened to a Canadian school concert band performing in the piazza. I could happily live here for a few months. It's so utterly unspoilt, peaceful and Italian. The locals speak very little English. If we lived here we could pick up the language very quickly. There's an Italian language school to help us!
We organised to stay an extra couple of nights here just to give us a rest.

Monday 11 July
After brekkie, a walk and a disappointing cappuccino in a different bar, we collected the car and drove to Bagni di Lucca, stopping at Ponte della Madelina (The Devil's Bridge) on the way. This bridge is purported to having been built by the devil in exchange for sacrificing the first one to walk over it. The locals sent a dog over the bridge to foil the devil! We walked over it and it's really very pretty in spite of that little story!
We arrived at Bagni di Lucca (about 20km from Lucca) and 'took to the waters'. These were supposed to be hot spa baths. In order to enter them we had to pay 10E ($15 each) and purchase a swimming cap (another $6 each). The water was definitely only tepid and various jets of water erupted from high up on the walls as well as the normal spa jets - still not warm though. It wasn't quite as hot a day as usual either unfortunately. Never mind, it was an interesting experience and very relaxing indeed.
On the return journey we did a bit of a detour (as we do) to Lugliano which was a village perched on a very very high hill with roads far too narrow for a car - scary stuff. I think it was only meant for pedestrians somehow!
We arrived back in Lucca about 5pm to find everyone had suddenly woken up. Where had all the people suddenly appeared from? The shops had been closed since Saturday and suddenly everyone was out spending money. We even saw a medieval parade going through the streets with flags, crossbows and loud drums.
That evening we went for dinner at another fabulous restaurant - grilled chicken for me and steak for Dave with all those fantastic roasted veges with olive oil, followed by real Italian tiramisu - heaven in the mouth. Never have I tasted such a divine dessert - mouth-watering even to remember it. It has definitely spoilt me for tiramisu ever again outside Italy - drool, drool!