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Tuscany 5. Florence - the Jewel in Tuscany's crown

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  The Duomo from our apartment roof garden at 5.30am The Italian train system is very good and cheap but especially good if you get a seat, which we managed for the run into Florence. We rolled into town about an hour after leaving Poggibonsi for 8 Euros (£7) each. A nice easy stroll across from the station past the famous and wildly spectacular Duomo to our accommodation, or so we thought. Florence has an interesting numbering system for houses, many have two very different numbers which don’t necessarily keep step. So with a number, road name and description of the house, you’d think it would be simple to find but it took the best part of an hour. I was convinced we’d been scammed. Fortunately we hadn’t and our top floor apartment with a roof terrace and view to the Duomo (this is the famous dome at the eastern end of the cathedral) was about a hundred yards from the cathedral as the angel flies. It was a tremendous location with every necessity close by, e.g.  the ge...
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Tuscany 4. Siena and Volterra

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flags in the colours of of the 17 Contrade, Siena's town districts   Sienna was a bus ride from our hotel and here, tickets had to be bought in advance in a bar or somewhere similar and then validated on the bus. Alternatively, we could just tap in a credit card for the 1 Euro (85p) fare. Any inspector just checked that your card had been used, smiled and moved on. Some tourist unfortunates in front of us hadn’t done this, so their passports were out and I heard 35 Euros mentioned so I think the four of them had a 140 Euro bus ride. I confess to feeling a little uncharitably smug. our first view of the Piazza del Campo   The last time Heather and I were here was probably in 1990 with a four year old Louise and a two year old Tim and they have changed a lot more than Siena in the intervening thirty five years. The streets are generally a little bit wider than many of the places we’ve been and th e city is a big place. The big draw of course is the oddly, almost scall...
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Tuscany 3. Into southern Tuscany

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some classic Tuscan countryside - Stone pines, vines and a dilapidated redbrick farmhouse     Having walked downhill being dragged by our suitcases out of Assisi back to  the carpark, we set course for Montepulciano via a picnic lunch on the edge of Lake Trasimeno. It was quite hot now around lunchtime and I estimate that it was about mid 20’s C, high 70’s F. a town gate and our house right next to it chillin' out in the living room of our house The house we had rented had a large ground floor room which was kitchen, dining and living area all in one with a very high ceiling. Bedrooms and bathrooms were on upper floors and like most of the accommodation we’ve stayed in on this trip, idiosyncratic is the word which springs to mind. It was spacious and importantly had a good sitting area where we could all sit together. Restaurants and shops were close by and we chose what was described as a wine bar but was really a smart restaurant with a proper wine bar where ...
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