Ok so I have to call this Part II because I was in Tuscany really only a year ago. It's a little crazy to have been able to go back so soon. It was a lot of fun to see things again and rediscover how things actually are versus how I remember them. I definitely appreciated everything a little more this time. I wasn't just running around trying to see everything but kind of took everything in at a slower pace. Matt along with our visiting faculty Anne Marshall gave us a great introductory tour on the first day which really helped recap some of those art and architectural history courses we've all had along the way. The second day we visited Pisa and Lucca. They were both incredibly fun to wander around in.
Lucca was a beautiful warren of medieval streets surrounded by an enormous wall that is completely intact still. Standing atop it I couldn't help but imagine a warring army in the surrounding fields battling encamped defenders among the ramparts.
Having been to Florence so recently, I chose to continue my adventure-tourism with a motorcycle trip around Tuscany. Sunday was our day to explore Florence on our own so I took the opportunity to go a bit further abroad. I traveled south through Chianti and at Siena angled southwest toward the coast. From Follonica I took the coast highway north toward Livorno and then headed back to Florence. This 200+ mile trip took me about 8 hours. I really can't begin to describe everything I saw along the way. Every other hill has a castle, vineyard or villa on it and the sweeping vistas of the rolling hills are truly one of a kind. In addition, the roads certainly leave no doubt as to why Italy is the homeland of exotic sports cars and motorcycles. So that's the short and sweet of it, perhaps more later.
Ciao
Ciao
No comments:
Post a Comment