Thursday, April 14, 2011

Florence

Matt last visit in Florence was a very bad one. The pollution in town was just awful, and
since he almost suffer from an allergy attack in Rome, we decided that it would be better
for him to stay at the villa for the day, while I took my mother to walk around Firenze.We cruise around the Via Del Purgatorio (fitted for me don't you think?) LOL
Discover a cool sign next to it! LOL
And finally made it to the famous Bridge!
Cruised some more! Had to get some fresh fruit!!
And discovered a pretty handsome view! (You decide what it is!) ;-)
And made it to the Duomo which was just incredible!!
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Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Abbazio di San Galgano

Driving for a short while along the SS73 southwest of Siena you will get to San Galgano Abbey which dates back to the 13th century. At present it is in very bad conditions yet what remains shows how magnificent it was in its Gothic splendour. The admission to the abbey, one of Italy’s most remarkable ones is free.
In Val d’Elsa the monks of Abbey San Galgano used to administer justice and keep
the books of the municipalities of Volterra and Siena. Therefore they were very
influential in building Siena’s Duomo and exercised authority over
between Siena and Volterra. Sir John Hawkwood pillaged valuables from the Abbazia San Galgano twice or
maybe more in the 1300s. Disrepair increased and in the 1500s the Cistercian
monks of the abbey were not as powerful and rich as centuries before. In the 18th century the bell tower and the ceiling vaults caved in.
Today the abbey has no roof but its stone and brick walls have survived
the centuries and keep watch of the landscape around. By the church are the vestiges of the monastery and cloisters where today a tourist office is housed (tel. 0577 75 67 38; open 10.30am-7pm Easter-Oct).
The abbey plays host to summer concerts which the Accadema Musicale Chigiana supports.
At first the monks used to be housed in the Cappella di Monte Siepi which watches over the abbey later constructed by the Cistercian monks on a lower level. This minute and round Romanesque chapel was frescoed by Ambrogio Lorenzetti. His theme was San Galgano‘s life events. Unfortunately they are in quite bad conditions. San Galgano, to whom Saint Michael appeared, spent the last years of his life in here as if it was a hermitage. According to legends, the sword stuck on the floor meant that he would never surrender to earthly pleasures.
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Monday, April 11, 2011

Sienna

We arrived in Sienna on a beautiful sunny day. We headed toward the center of the town.
Our first stop was at the Mother Teresa of Calcutta Church.
We went inside and I was sneakie and took pictures. I wasn't suppose to be doing that, (and got reminded about it by the nicest church caregiver ever... NOT!!) however it didn't stopped me!
The front door was pretty interesting too!!
We went to the center of town and Rafael and Mutti climbed the tower.
Then we went around town and discovered some more!!
the next picture is one of my favorite from the day, I called it:
What do Italian men talk about while in front of a pretty car?
Bellisima Sienna
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Sunday, April 10, 2011

Pisa

And here we are in Pisa, Rafael had to do the usual typical Pisa Tower pose.
It was very cute the way he was wanted to hold it right away! LOL
I dragged my "excited" family inside the Duomo, look at them so happy to be there!
At least they had a nice view no??
Wall of the Cemetery from the Baptistry
Marble Closeup!!
Rafael Closeup!!
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Tuscany Agritourismo

This is our beautiful Villa that house the appartment that we stayed in, you can go to the website and rent it for a week or more, and they have lots of different size appartments.
Agriturismo Chiusdino Siena vacanze in Toscana » La Chiusa
The view from our bedroom!! Gotta love it!
The little village of Chiusdino from our villa.
Early morning from our entry floor!
Even the Roster participate with the waking up... even in the afternoon!!
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Saturday, April 9, 2011

Casino

Our plan was to sleep in Cassino, drive to Rome and then come back after a day of visiting Rome.
Then sleep another night in Cassino and drive to Naples to go visit Pompeii!
Well we had a change of plan on our second visiting destination. We decided that going to Naples was going to be a little too long, so we ended up going to visit Monte Cassino.
For those of you who don't know about the battle of Monte Cassino here is some infos:
Monte Cassino
It was pretty awesome as we went up the hill.
Fog all over, and not small spot, you can see how thick it was. We couldn't see too far!!Between September, 1943 and May, 1944 the town was occupied by the Germans. The Germans had a great strategic position - on the mountain - and were able to see the entire area. The Allied Forces made many unsuccessful attempts to conquer Monte Cassino. Finally after a battle that lasted seven days, the Polish soldiers overtook the German army. 860 Polish soldiers died and 2800 were wounded in that fierce battle. The battle also resulted in the bombing of the monastery. More than a thousand Polish soldiers are buried in the Polish cemetery located on the mountain across from the abbey. The town of Cassino and the Benedictine Abbey were rebuilt after the war. After we paid our respect to those Polish soldiers who lost their life.We headed up the hill to the Abbey to visit it! It was just incredible. Everyone know that the Italian are amazing on their architecture.
This abbey was a pile of dust and rock at the end of WWII, and take a look of what it is now. Just amazing!!While visiting the inside of the Church, we could hear singing coming up from the
basement of the church, so we headed down and came up to the most
beautiful mosaic covered walls and ceiling.
A little picture that my mother took, just for you to see that I do exist, it isn't just a automatic flying camera that use the Happy Trigger Finger!! See it is I in my blue turban! LOL
We left early afternoon to get to our villa. Next stop the Tuscany hills!!
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