Month: September 2012

Assisi, Umbria, Italy, Sunday, September 30, 2012 Breakfast today is just alright with nothing special. There is some salami and a little ham but Carol does not like it. They have some fruit filled croissants which are not bad and a blackberry tart that is pretty good. There isn’t much else. After breakfast, we head […]

Assisi, Umbria, Italy, Saturday, September 29, 2012 Early to bed last night because it was early to rise this morning. We walked down the nearly empty streets of Montepulciano to make sure we catch the 0655 bus to Chiusi. Our train is at 0902 and the next bus doesn’t get there in time. On our […]

Montepulciano, Tuscany, Italy, Friday, September 28, 2012 Having an open agenda, we slept in today. Well, one of us slept more in than the other. The other, waking up, did a short early morning stroll around town, and spent time as the only person in the Duomo. We did lounge around in our spacious Palazzo […]

Montepulciano, Tuscany, Italy, Thursday, September 27, 2012 Today is one of the few times we do not have any solid information on transportation to our destination. We have decided to take the train to Chiusi and hopefully find a bus to Montepulciano. They are supposed to exist but information on schedules is scarce. Using the […]

Siena, Tuscany, Italy, Wednesday, September 26, 2012 A lazy morning for us as our agenda is pretty open and consists of exploring the city in random fashion. We get out around 1100 and decide to see the Oratory of San Bernadino since it was included in our combo ticket from yesterday. We stroll through an […]

Siena, Tuscany, Italy, Tuesday, September 25, 2012 We sleep in this morning and then head over to the Duomo. We wanted to do this before too many bus tours show up. We buy a combination pass for the Duomo, it’s museum, Baptistry, and crypt as well as another site. The Duomo dates back to 1215 […]

Siena, Tuscany, Italy, Monday, September 24, 2012 Before we headed out to dinner last night, I told the owner I would like to pay now as we had to leave before breakfast tomorrow. He asked if we would like him to make a little box to go. We thought that was very nice and figured […]

Volterra, Tuscany, Italy, Sunday, September 23, 2012 The breakfast at Hotel Sole was great. This was an Italian pastry and cake bonanza. They also had some small sandwiches of tomato and cheese and meat and cheese. We did not touch those. Homemade Italian cookies filled with jams and chocolate were also there. Carol focused on […]

Volterra, Tuscany, Italy, Saturday, September 22, 2012 Since the bus is at 0945, we get to have breakfast this morning. It is very good with bruschetta, prosciutto, salami, creme brûlée, a few different pastries and tarts, yoghurt, and a several other items. It was all excellent. We make the long, flat, 5 minute walk to […]

Colle di Val d’Elsa, Tuscany, Italy, Friday, September 21, 2012 Today we travel to a few small hill towns in Tuscany. We will test the Italian train and bus system in this area. First we catch the train from Lucca to Pisa, then Another train from Pisa to Empoli, where we switch again to Poggibonsi. […]