On the way home: Palleroso

On our last morning, the sun made it's first real appearance of the trip (of course) so we decided to stop at the little hilltop town of Palleroso on our way out of the area.

We had taken the drive up the day before, but the heavy rain made it impossible (and zero fun) to walk around.

The astonishing thing about Palleroso was how new it looked (well, new in the context of something that is clearly very old). It seems that Tuscany is heavy with these little towns only most are in various states of melancholy, quietly waiting for their glory days to return. Memories linger. I think it filled both of us with a little happiness that someone is clearly tending to Palleroso and looking ahead.

We waved at another charmingly small little hill town from atop our charmingly small hill town.

Views from Palleroso

The church in the small center "square." 

And then we headed homeward. Something I learned about Italian rest stops, the bigger ones have great food! The above feast is our lunch, purchased from a chain called Autogrill. Granted, our rest stop meal on the way to Barga was much...humbler, but still, a small nugget of info worth filing away.

Thanks for re-living our trip with me. I hope your Friday lets you off easy into the weekend.

An Easter walk in Lucca

Easter Sunday we drove from Barga to the coastal town of Cecina to have lunch with another of Anthony's relatives. It was a spectacular meal and we tried our best to do it justice. 

When we left later in the evening, buttons and zippers working rather hard, we wondered if the feeling of hunger would ever return. We decided to stop in the old (and by "old" I really mean "founded by  Etruscans in B.C. times") city of Lucca on the way back to Barga and take a stroll around. Having gotten rather acclimated to the desolation of Swiss towns on weekends and holidays, I expected the place to be deserted.

WRONG. There were people everywhere. It was great. Shops were open, families milling about. Very festive. We waddled through the streets taking everything in, musing at the restaurants setting up for dinner. Because...how could anyone in the Euro-verse still be hungry?

Lucca is known for many things: intact Renaissance-era walls surrounding the city, a circular piazza and this, the Torre Guinigi which has oak trees growing on the roof. Unfortunately it wasn't open, but we spent a completely acceptable amount of time staring in wonder at the trees suspended far above our heads.

Did I mention we were stuffed from lunch?

Oh, I did?

Well, really, I mean...we just had lunch you see. Not dinner. No one wants to wake up in the middle of the night going "oh man, if only I had some of that delicious Lucca ice cream." So this was really an insurance policy more than anything else.

Inside the piazza. An number of the buildings have curved outer walls.

The city walls are now used as a promenade with a different type of tree planted along each of the four sides. We were pretty bushed by this point, so we did not walk them, but the phrase "next time" was used with some frequency on the drive back to Barga. There will be a next time.

I'm already waiting for  it.

To top off the day, we were treated to a magnificent sunset. As it had rained pretty steadily since we arrived in Italy, the sight of blue sky was most welcome.

A walking tour of Barga (with sporadic text accompaniment)

We spent our four-day Easter weekend in Barga, a teeny little hilltop town in Tuscany where Anthony's maternal family hails from. Since coming to Europe, I have gotten to see many beautiful things, but I was not prepared for the incredible charm that fills this place.

There is only one place to stay within the city walls - the Casa Fontana. It is amazing.

The owners were very kind and offered us a drink in their garden before we set out to explore. I showed everyone a magic trick with the amaretti cookies above. One minute the cookies were there and one blink later, the cookies were gone. And I was furtively brushing crumbs off my shirt. Magic.

Our window looked out onto one of the many little winding streets that make up Barga. 

I don't know the proper term for these little alcoves, but they were all over the place. I documented as many as I could find - this is one of the um...classier variety as it lacks the Christmas lights and glow in the dark stickers that adorn the more contemporary Mary Abodes.

The streets are so small, that most cars can't drive within the walls. Now and then we came across teeny little vintage cars, like this Fiat. Note to self, buy a vintage Fiat. Grey with red interior and white steering wheel. It can be friends with the Mini. Like a sidekick.

The tiled floor leading up to our room. We spent quite a long time just staring at it, trying to figure out how long it would take the owners to notice if we chiseled it up and took it home with us. In the end, our consciences got the better of us and we left the floor as is. Also we had forgotten to pack a chisel.

We wandered down to the market and perused the vendors. The food is much cheaper in Italy than Lausanne, so we indulged (in everything but most specifically) in a giant wedge of aged pecorino. Let me say that again for dramatic effect, Giant. Wedge. of Aged. Pecorino. I think this place may be heaven. We're only about a third of the way through it, which is good, because as soon as it's gone, we're going to have to drive the 5.5 hours back and get more. I will not let this cheese out of my life. EVER.

Banners in people's windows for the evening's Easter celebration (which we missed because, well, we had stuffed our faces indulged at dinner and fell into massive food comas).

The view from the highest point of the city.

So, the Duomo. Built in the 11th century, an example of Romanesque architecture, iconic landmark of Barga...aaaaaand kinda ominous on the inside. I guess in the 11th century, glass was not really available, so they were like "yeah, sure, natural light is fine, but you know what's better? ROCKS." 

In all fairness though, the few windows that do exists are paned in very thin sheets of stone. How they created this in Thee Olden Dayes is beyond me. 

I think the moss covered car thing (©2012 Kimberly Van Ness All Rights Reserved If You Steal This Idea I Will Hunt You Down) would be a big seller in Portland.

I need an ape (ah-pey) in my life stat. This is a matter of critical importance. Think of all the cool things I could do with it: carry groceries, move very small items of furniture...hang out with my (as of yet imaginary) Fiat...it would be my sidekick's sidekick.

And this is the part where I leave you with some lovely wall texture and go to work. Lots more pictures to share this week.

Happy Monday!

Vevey Pt. 2: The Town

While the market in Vevey is spectacular, the rest of the town is pretty lovely as well. We spent a few hours wandering the cobblestone streets and uncovered all manner of surprising things. (The giant fork in the lake for starters.)

I approached this fountain from too close a range to see the towering mural of a woman's face painted on the wall behind it. But then I stepped back and found myself at a loss for words.

This accordian player was fantastic.

The mountains were pulling a Lion King what with all the streaming sunlight and epic mist. Showing off really.

Tomorrow we'll go up close and personal with some of the political candidates whose posters you can see in the lower left hand corner of this photo.

Cheers!