Fiesole - view from hotel

This morning was the first opportunity to look at the view of Florence from the hotel.  if you look closely, you can see the Duomo between the building and the first tree.



This is a close-up.



And even in Fiesole. Looking the other way.

Day 1 - updated

Today the group tour began.  Our first stop was lunch,  at a restaurant at Vicopisano.

Then our first stop was Villa la Pietra.  This villa and its garden are now owned/been bequeathed to New York University.  The gardens were being restored in the Tuscan tradition.  Apparently in the first part of the nineteen century, Brits bought up the villas and converted the gardens into English-type ones.  Locals also followed this fashion.  At the end of the nineteenth century and the  twentieth century, there was a move to restore these gardens in the traditional Tuscan format.  Which was happening here.  I heard one of the British people comment that a garden could be beautiful with just green.  So gardening isn't just gardening!
Villa la Pietra - the front
  And some views of the gardens:



Apparently this villa is subject to a lawsuit involving a descendant of an illegitimate child of Arthur Acton.  Arthur's son, Harold inherited the property, and bequeathed it to NYU. Case ongoing. Details here.

The Pisa dance

When you walk through the Piazza de Miracoli, you could be forgiven for thinking there is a special dance that visitors to Pisa engage in!  Some examples below...

The Leaning Tower of Pisa (LTP)

I did make it up the LTP!

This is the view as we were lined up waiting for admission, security check etc.  No bags were allowed, but my camera and water carrier were ok - just.

Entering....

you can see and feel it is seriously tilted.

And looking outside.  Another view of the tilt - and security.

Looking up.  The section where the bells are is now covered by glass.

Then upwards.  Estimates of the number of steps varies, but 296 and 297 are the most common.  This includes the last level up to the bells which I guess is about 40 steps.  All the steps are quite low-rise, which makes them nowhere as strenuous as, say, getting up St Marys,.  The steps are deep enough for secure footing - so nothing to trigger my anxiety!

The 6th level appeared surprisingly quickly.  Then came the last 40 or so steps to the bells.  They are narrower, and more worn, but still enough area to get your foot on them!

These are the main stairs, looking downwards.

Then the level with the bells.  Some pics.
This seemed to be the tenor, hung on the side least likely to aggravate the tilt.

They are chimed.

And it is possible to climb above the bells.  But not today..

And the view.  There is the cathedral.

And this...

And the view down Via Santa maria.  The hotel is marked!

And lastly, remember those military types with guns in the fourth picture? Their transport was parked outside the cathedral.

Pisa

Finally in Pisa and found my hotel.  It is old, but it is close to the famous sites.  This is the view in one direction...a bell-tower no less!

and looking the other direction.  It reminds me of what we saw in Spain

Flew over some snow covered mountains

and these hills nearer to Pisa.  There are little towns.villages tucked away in them.  I hope our walking is not only in these hills!

And aircraft:  Today was an Embraer 195.  No aerobridges, we were taken by bus to the plane.  Mind you, I like to board up the stairs - you get a real feel for the aircraft.  Bit fancy having a roof though - not in my day!

This is another plane, exactly the same as ours.

Pisa airport is small - no aerobridges anywhere.  We were transported by bus to the terminal.  And my luggage did arrive!

As for the rest of the day - 3pm here but more like 1am in Sydney.

Cold and foggy Munchen

Safely in Munich, waiting for the small plane to Pisa. My luggage was checked through from Sydney to Pisa - so place your bets!  Results announced an a few hours.

It was a foggy morning landing - one of those where you can't see anything and then the wheels hit the tarmac!  It was also 6 degrees, but fortunately I don't have to go outside.

More later!

Walking in the footsteps of Leonardo & Michelangelo - Countryside, gardens, villas & sculpture in northern Tuscany

26 September
Sydney to Singapore
SQ 232. Depart Sydney 11:00  Arr Singapore 17:20
 
27 September 
Singapore to Munich to Pisa
SQ 328   Dep   Singapore 00:30  Arr Munich 06:55
LH 1950 Dep   Munich 11:15      Arr Pisa 12:35
 

Hotel Grand Duomo (2 nights)

Via Santa Maria 94, Pisa, 56126, Italy

Phone: +39050561894

 
28 September
Pisa.  Will I make it up the Leaning Tower with its spiral staircase and European style bells at the top?

29th September
Join tour.  Villa La Pietra, Fiesole.  Villa La Pietra was built in the 15th century by Francesco Sassetti, manager of the Medici Bank, and owned and embellished last century by aesthete and historian Sir Harold Acton. Tour the magnificent garden and visit the villa’s interior. Drive to the hotel in Fiesole for the first of three nights.


30 September
Fiesole, San Domenico. Visit Fiesole’s cathedral and then walk through the town to Monte Ceceri on small roads and woodland paths, passing stone quarries where Leonardo launched his flying machines (4.5 km, steeply uphill at the beginning of the walk). Visit Villa Medici, built in the 15th century and subsequently home to Sibyl Cutting and Iris Origo, and Villa Le Balze, where Cecil Pinsent designed a series of green ‘rooms’ which cling to a steep slope. Walk the old road to the convent of San Domenico where Fra’ Angelico first worked, and see his altarpiece there.


1 October
Settignano, Pian de’ Giullari. Morning walk to Settignano on farm tracks and chalky paths through olive groves and woodland (easy to moderate, undulating, c. 5.5 km). Villa Gamberaia is one of the most perfect examples of garden art, 18th- and late 19th-century with a formal water garden and high hedges. Drive to Pian de’ Giullari for lunch and a visit to Villa Capponi, to which Cecil Pinsent contributed. Overlooking Florence, San Miniato al Monte is a splendid Romanesque basilica with a superb Early Renaissance Chapel.


2 October
Pistoia, Lucca. The exceptionally attractive town of Pistoia has important sculpture including the pulpit in Sant’Andrea by Giovanni Pisano, one of the finest Gothic ensembles south of the Alps, and a silver altarpiece in the cathedral, the product of 150 years’ workmanship. Arriving in Lucca, there is time for a climb up the Guinigi Tower to admire the panoramic view of this exceptionally well-preserved city. First of four nights in Lucca.

 

Kin Mun: Sydney to Singapore

SQ

 

3 October
Lucca, Matraia, Villa Oliva Buonvisi. San Martino is a Romanesque cathedral with the exquisite Gothic effigy of Ilaria del Carretto. Drive mid-morning to Matraia to begin a walk through the olive groves, a route beside some of the finest of Lucca’s summer retreats. Lunch and olive-oil tasting at a farm overlooking the hillside. Continue walking downhill to Marlia on country paths and lanes (total 5 km; a steep downhill section at the start, walking poles are essential for this part of the walk). Visit the 15th-century Villa Oliva, once owned by the powerful Buonvisi family.

 

4 October
Compitese villages, Pietrasanta. A walk on footpaths and country roads through the villages of Sant’Andrea di Compito and San Giusto di Compito (c. 3.5 km, moderate to easy terrain). Pietrasanta is famous for its skilled marble workers; visit a workshop where classical and contemporary works are produced using methods unchanged since the Middle Ages.

 

5 October
Camigliano, Villa Torrigiani. Drive to Camigliano to begin a 7 km country walk on grassy paths and lanes to Sant’Andrea in Caprile (of which 3.5 km is steadily uphill). Picnic lunch before visiting Villa Torrigiani and its garden. Dating back to the 16th century when it was owned by the Buonvisi family, the garden was transformed in the late 17th century by Niccolao Santini, the Lucchese ambassador to Louis XIV. Return to Lucca for an optional cooking demonstration; a wine tasting is followed by dinner.

 

6 October
Pisa to Rome to Singapore

AZ1666 Dep Pisa 07:20  Arr Romne 08:10

SQ 365  Dep Rome 12:00 

 

7 October

Arr Singapore 06:00

 

8/9/10/11 October

Singapore

 

12 October

Singapore to Sydney

Depart 23:35

 

13 October

Arrive Sydney 10:15

 

Time Zones 

Sydney       AEST     UTC + 10

                   AEDT     UTC + 11 (after 1 October)

Singapore   SGT       UTC + 8 

Pisa            CEST     UTC + 2