Let me tell you about the Tuscan sun. It's hot. They say it's unusually humid, but I never believe people who say things like that. Yesterday, on our way from Rome to Siena, we got caught in 2 thunderstorms. After the second time, Ronnie asked me why we didn't take our umbrellas from the car, especially given that we could here the thunder as soon as we got out. I don't know it's a mystery.
Here's the thing with driving around Tuscany. It's absolutely beautiful. Rolling hills, lots of grape vines, olive trees and sunflowers (not sure what they do with all those sunflowers. I'll have to ask). Every 20-30 kilometers or so, there's another picturesque medieval town perched on top of a hill. It's all very charming to look at, but kind of in the same way birdsongs are charming. But most of the time, birds make those sounds to say "This is MY tree. Keep away!" and of course these towns are perched on hillsides to make it hard for invaders to attack and to make it easy to rain arrows and whatever on them if they try. I can say with absolute certainty that no invaders will ever get to these towns. The access roads are so full of confusing traffic circles and you have to park down the hill and take a shuttle bus up (if you're lucky and there is a shuttle bus), if you can even get a parking place and have enough change for the meter. And if they get too close the townspeople with flatten them with tons and tons of painted pottery, cover them with gelato, get them drunk on cheap wine, and then burn them with espresso.
We've seen several of them now and though we really like visiting them, it gets just a bit repetitive after a while. Which town is this now? Oh, it's the one with all the towers and the Torture Museum (really). San SomethingstartingwithaG? Or one of those ones that start with Mont...?
Don't get me wrong. It's lovely driving around and I really do like walking through the alleyways and alcoves (Clap your hands if you've seen "In Bruges," and if you haven't, rent it). I had a nice lunch and delicious gelato (totally redundant there). And I took some really pretty pictures. And then we came back and I floated in the pool and looked up at the sky and it was a nice day.
We don't love the hotel here. It's more rustic than we were ready for, but there's a lot to like now that we're kind of used to it. The pool is great, the grounds are beautiful, and we have a sort of mini-apartment, which allows us to eat breakfast and dinner at least without having to do any kind of restaurant thing. I think if the bed was more comfortable and the AC a bit less feeble, it would be great.
Here's a few pictures. Unfortunately I can't give you the best view, which was of the sky from my back while floating in the pool.
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