Tuesday & Wednesday - Greve, Panzano, Sienna

Corniglia

I'm posting few pictures that should've gone with the "Sunday & Monday" post.  Something screwy happened before I was finished uploading pictures, and I could not get these pictures uploaded.  This first batch is from the Cinque Terra tour - Riomaggio, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterossa. 

Riomaggio



Riomaggio




"Il Gigante" in Monterossa



  

On Tuesday morning, we headed for Greve in Chianti. On the way, we stopped in Varese, where it was market day. Leaving Varese, we drove to Carrera, famous for its marble. We had lunch in a small piazza, then drove up to the quarries, where they are literally carving away the mountains. This part of the tour made me fairly nervous, as we had to drive through long tunnels and negotiate curving roads which were also being travelled by huge trucks carrying marble. I was glad to get out of there!

Market Day in Varese

Outside Carrera

After investigating the quarry, we drove on to Greve. It was almost dark when we arrived, and we could not find the vineyard. Finally, Jo called Alessandro, the owner, and he came to retrieve us (we were only a few hundred yards away from the entrance). We took our bags to our rooms, and since it was too dark to look around, we went back into town for dinner. Our waiter was a jolly fellow, and spoke good English. We drank local wine, ate local cheese and other local dishes. It was yummy.

Grapes on the vine at the Fattoria Viticcio



View from the vineyard

Wednesday morning, it was drizzling rain, but the rain didn't last long. After breakfast at the vineyard, Bill & Jo walked around to investigate the grapevines, almond trees, and olive trees.  Joey & I set off in another direction in the vineyard.  As I was snapping pictures, my camera battery played out. I could not re-charge it without an adapter since the electrical outlets in Europe are different from ours. Bill had an adapter, but he and Jo were hiking, so we could not borrow it. Joey and I drove to Greve, bought an adapter, walked around the town square, then went back to the vineyard. I was able to charge the camera battery a little before the four of us headed to Siena.

On the way to Siena, we stopped for lunch in Panzone and ate on the patio of a tiny restaurant overlooking a beautful hillside. As in almost every place we ate, the food was delicious, but this might have been one of the better meals we had, partly due to the scenery. Joey & I had local sausage with white beans. (If I can figure out how to make this at home, we'll be eating it often this winter!)

In Siena, we went straight to the Duomo (Cathedrale di Santa Maria), a Gothic cathedral built in the 13th century. 
Siena Duomo (Siena Cathedral) - Siena, Italy
It was magnificent! 

Cathedrale di Santa Maria

Joey and I spent almost the whole afternoon inside the cathedral.  Bill & Jo walked around the city a little, then we all met for a cappuccino in the Piazza del Campo.  It was dark when we started back to the car, and we had trouble finding our way back to the Gate of San Marco, the entrance to the city where we'd parked our car.  At last we found the car, and headed back to Greve.

A few miles outside of Greve, the car began to make strange noises, as if the gears were not engaging.  We struggled up a hill on a dark, curving road.  The car began to smoke and roll back down the hill.  We put on the parking brake and got out of the car.  Other cars stopped to help.  One man looked in our trunk, found a caution marker, and set it in the road.  We called the rental car company, and they said they'd send a tow truck.  We had no idea where we were, but, fortunately, we had a GPS with us and were able to give the rental car company GPS coordinates for where we were stranded.  While we waited, about a dozen other drivers stopped to offer help.  The tow truck arrived in about 45 minutes.  The  driver hoisted the car onto the flatbed truck, told Jo and I to get inside the cab, and told Bill and Joey to climb inside the car - while it was ON the flatbed.  With ravines on both sides of the road, the driver turned the big tow truck around in the road, and rushed back to Siena at breakneck speed.  We all just hung on for the ride.  He dropped us off at a train station where taxis were waiting.  One of them (with a driver who we've named "Mario Andretti, Jr.") rushed us back to Greve.  It was almost 11 p.m. when we got back to our rooms.  We staggered up the steps and fell into our beds.
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