Tuscany 1. Rome first and then into Tuscany

 Tuscany 1. Rome first and then into Tuscany

the Ponte Sisto, our route from Trastevere over the Tiber into the centre of Rome

For some reason we’ve been to Rome three times in the last couple of years and we’re staying in an area I particularly like, Trastevere. It lies just across the Tiber from the centre of this relatively small city and all the main sites. Trastevere is very lively and stuffed full of restaurants, more than I’ve ever seen in one place although many of them have either the exact same menu or variations on it. It’s a great place to stay. We were meeting up with our old friends from Massachusetts, Bonnie and Newt for three weeks in Tuscany and as our taxi pulled up outside our hotel, there was Newt walking towards us from a cafe with our first cup of Roman coffee. Bonnie and Newt had flown in from Boston a couple of days earlier and had a five hour or so time difference but we had to suffer only a one hour time change from Greece. This was Wednesday and we’re due to leave on Saturday, the same day as the Pope’s funeral. The BBC report that Rome is ‘muted’ but to me it seems anything but muted. They’re either talking about a different Rome, perhaps Rome, Georgia or they’re conflating the Vatican City and Rome or it’s just journalistic invention. Other opinions are available.

the surprisingly empty centre of Trastevere
 - but it is 7.30am and early for breakfast here

and then just over an hour later we're all
waiting to get into the Caravaggio exhibition

Our first visit here on this trip was to a Caravaggio exhibition, a great artist but a violent man and a murderer. Some exquisite work on show, much of it religious but with a good selection of secular works which I much prefer. It was a very good exhibition, big enough to be worth going to but not so big that my eyes and brain were spinning by the end of it.

I daresay some SatNavs suggest this route

part of one of the many elaborate fountains in Rome
- there are a lot more than the famous Trevi

At a busy and large restaurant in Trastevere we watched a group of possibly 40 young people all leave together and the waiters resetting all the tables like a well rehearsed military operation. We mentioned it to one of the waiters and he told us that they had 70 inside tables, 100 outside tables, 35 waiters, 35 cooks and separate pasta and pizza kitchens. It was incredibly busy and when we left there was a large queue waiting for tables. As it happens it was also a very good meal.

do-it-ourselves Roman taxi

Rome has some wonderful and well known sights, many of which have to be booked in advance and we’d seen all those over the past couple of visits. It is also a lovely city to just wander around, soak up the atmosphere, look at the architecture and most importantly look up and above the shopfronts to see the rest of the buildings.

two shots of the Piazza del Popolo

We weren’t here long and we wanted a good restaurant for our last night so I searched unsuccessfully for the one we’d eaten in on the last night of our previous visit.  That was with our daughter Louise, her man Kev and our friends Ann and Dave.  Having failed the challenge to find it, we went to one that Bonnie and Newt had found. As we turned the corner to it, Heather and I realised that it was the very restaurant that I’d been looking for. Now Rome centre is relatively small by comparison with many cities but to end up at the place we wanted was a very welcome coincidence. And yes, it was a good meal.

Saturday was the day of the Papal funeral which was planned to start at 10.00 and we were setting off at about 9.30 to catch our bus which was due to leave at about 10.30.  Our hotel was on one side of the funeral route, the bus station was on the other side of it and we had a taxi booked.  Fortunately for us the Roman authorities had closed the whole city centre to traffic other than buses and taxis just to help us get through, which we all decided was jolly thoughtful of them.  We went straight past the Colosseum and there were police and army personnel with guns in a lot of places.  Having whizzed through Rome, we had a leisurely coffee before catching our comfortable coach to Siena where we only stopped to collect a car for the next few days so that we could drive to some of the smaller Tuscan towns. We'll be returning to Siena later in our itinerary.

The Tuscan countryside is just as the classic photos show, an undulating landscape of soft greens often with vines planted and a skyline punctuated by giant exclamation marks which we know to be Italian/Tuscan Cypress. Also known as Pencil Pine it’s neither a pine or a pencil but I imagine pencils could be made from it. The other very common tree which is not found in Britain is the Stone Pine which we particularly like. It has a rounded head of leaves looking like a flattened ball and we’ve seen it in many Mediterranean countries. This one though actually is a pine.

a rumpled blanket of a landscape with early morning low light

the main square in Castiglione

Our destination today is Castiglione, a beautiful and unassuming small hilltop town where we’ve rented a small traditional cottage for a few days in the middle of town.  This is another place in which I crack my head on various doorframes and beams as a way of helping me to settle in. Parking, as we were to learn, is often quite awkward. We were here for a couple of days and the car didn’t have to be moved which was handy. The town wasn’t really a tourist town either which was good. It had the regulation ruined castle with tremendous views, a couple of restaurants and shops and not much else other than a jumble of houses and streets only one of which was flat. What appeared to be the younger members of the population gathered outside one of the bars, presumably because there wasn’t really much else to do. People are very helpful and friendly despite our very poor command of Italian and we manage to get by with minimal use of Google Translate.

a view over Castiglione from the castle

same location, same time

which is best, 1st or 2nd ?

After our short stay here we headed towards Assisi which isn’t in Tuscany at all but the next province, Umbria, stopping on the way in Pienza, a delightful small town, walled of course and much improved by Pope Pius II, the local lad who done good and wanted to transform his home town. The streets are very narrow and closed to almost all traffic except miniature dustbin lorries and similar extra small vehicles. Considering the size of the town, the cathedral is enormous with a pleasantly simple interior compared to some other Catholic extravanganzas. Unfortunately, cracks appeared very soon after it was completed and the east end began to subside. It is very noticeable and it seems as if it’s a couple of feet lower than it should be. Despite that and the passage of nearly 600 years the roof hasn’t fallen in and didn’t while we were there. We’d picked up supplies for an Italian picnic en route excluding the red wine and bottle of grappa to finish off. Our problem is that Italy generally doesn’t go in for laybys (pull-outs) and we spent some time finding somewhere suitable. Our table was the car bonnet, we stood and used what we call our travelling kitchen. It’s in our luggage for any self catering accommodation we’re in and ensures that we have essentials like a clean chopping board, some sharp knives, a peeler and corkscrew.

one of the few entrance gates to Pienza

and another Pienza gate

Pienza ramparts with the cathedral
in the background

We’d picked up supplies for an Italian picnic en route excluding the red wine and bottle of grappa to finish off. Our problem is that Italy generally doesn’t go in for laybys (pull-outs) and we spent some time finding somewhere suitable. Our table was the car bonnet, we stood and used what we call our travelling kitchen. It’s in our luggage for any self catering accommodation we’re in and ensures that we have essentials like a clean chopping board, some sharp knives, a peeler and corkscrew.

a relaxing picnic a la layby

Slipping around the southern edge of Lake Trasimeno after our picnic, we drive on to Assisi, where the Canonisation of a new saint had been due to take place the day after we arrive but it has been postponed because at the moment there's a shortage of one Pope to perform the ceremony.  We expect to see many of the disappointed faithful in the town when we arrive.

24 - 28 April 2025