 Tuscany October 2005by John Besnard
Tuscany October 2005 Our first hike was mostly off road on a fairly well-maintained trail, a great way to enter the town of Radda in Chianti, our first hotel stop. We saw the town across the valley from the starting point and we went down into the valley and then up the hill to get there. It was a forewarning of what was to come in the future days. Of course, when we got there, we stopped at the first bar we came to and enjoyed a victory beer. The hotel in Radda is nothing short of spectacular. Our room is amazing -- a fireplace, huge bed with a canopy -- whew! We’re meeting at 6:30 for a welcome drink and then our first four-course dinner. Delicious -- we made reservations to go back on Monday night. Monday, October 17 Monday’s hike was downhill then up to an old monastery/church, then down and up to a cute village for lunch and then down and back up to Radda. We got Sarah, the trip leader, on tape admitting the hike to lunch was the steepest of the trip and then she relented a bit, not quite as sure of herself. Tuesday, October 18 One of the walking directions said “30 meters.” John counted 120 big paces before we turned. Did Linda (our distance-challenged tour leader from New Zealand) do these measurements? The cooking class started at 4:00 and lasted until 9:30. It was the highlight of the trip so far. The teacher and visiting chef, Alvaro, engaged each member of the group. We cooked tiramisu, bruschetta (2 types), pasta from scratch to make ravioli and tagliatelle. Between the cooking and eating, the wine we had been drinking for 3 hours loosened up the crowd -- Sarah sang an aria from The Marriage of Figaro followed by a few rounds of disco dancing. Dinner was delightful -- we were proud of ourselves! Wednesday, October 19 We got our first rain on the longest hiking day. Fortunately it wasn’t too hard. Lunch at Nancy’s house was a delicious picnic. Pat and John sat next to the sweets and managed to make a respectable dent. After lunch, most people shuttled to a ceramic’s shop. The three Johns walked with France to an old castle at the top of a hill. One John walked bareheaded, Jonathan had a plastic poncho and John three carried an umbrella. We must have been a sight. At dinner, Jackie complained we had too much sitting-around time. The next morning, she left alone to walk to Gaiole. Thursday, October 20 The van got stuck in the mud when the guides took off to make sure Jackie was okay. We were told there would be an hour delay. At that point, we all shouted, “Mutiny” and started walking. The guides got a replacement van and picked us up along the route into town. There we fanned out to various establishments to buy lunch. The place we picked had nice gelato, so we had a taste while we waited for our sandwiches to be made. The shop probably could make twenty or thirty different varieties of sandwich, but it took the first group so long to make them understand that we all ordered the same kind. Fortunately it was good. We hiked up the hill to the abbey where we were treated to a delightful tour of the wine cellars and the villa. There were some wonderful frescos in the main room. Someone noticed that the plaster had been removed by chair backs rubbing against it revealing what looked like additional frescos underneath. The guide told us not to mention it to anyone since the state would send in dozens of technicians to evaluate, disrupting the family who still lives in the house. Our final hotel was also very nice. It’s located just outside Florence on a bend in the Arno. Our second-floor room in the hotel annex had a view both up and downstream. Before dinner the guides hosted the “pick or steal” prize picking game. Kathy picked a whisk broom, a prize no one was likely to steal. The top gifts were an olivewood cheese grater and two excellent wine bottle openers. Friday, October 21 After breakfast, we went walking around the grounds of the hotel and saw a pheasant take off. It was the first time either of us has seen a pheasant that wasn’t either in a zoo or under glass. Many hugs and kisses later, we traded in our e-ticket for a real ticket and boarded an earlier train for Sienna. |
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