Italy: Sicily and Tuscany 2019

What a treat it was to spend the week traveling with my mom on a Tauck tour! Having someone else take care of all the planning and stress, not worrying about transportation, and being treated to such luxurious privileges was beyond amazing! I sure hope Greg and I are going to be able to adjust back to our backpacker, "dollar-a-day" version of international travel! Substantially cheaper to fly home on Sunday from Milan, Greg and I have to spend one more day eating gelato and pizza, drinking wine, and gazing at wondrous monuments. Kill me now. Choosing Florence over Milan, we spent the day leisurely putting in five times the steps of any Tauck tour day. It is a breath of fresh air. I literally feel like I can breath better, and even Greg admits it was a nice day, walking around doing our own thing. We start with the incredible Renaissance art at the Pitti Palace, one of Florence's biggest museums. This enormous palace is one of Florence's largest architectural...

How do you say it? Pronouncing the name of today's town stumps many visitors, especially me. San "Jimmy-yawn-oh". Seems obvious enough but I still can't say it ten times fast. San Gimignano is yet another beautiful Tuscan hilltop town. It is a perfect portrait of the Middle Ages. What makes it unique are the amount of intact medieval towers. In the Middle Ages the place was an important stop on the Via Francigena – the ancient pilgrim route from Canterbury to Rome. So focused on our bucket-list item of the more famous pilgrimage, Camino de Santiago, we will need to look into this one as well. Home to a rich aristocracy, at one point San Gimignano had up to 72 towers. Today there are about 14. The only function of the towers was to show wealth and power. San Gimignano's medieval architecture almost looks like a line of skyscrapers since the town sits atop a hill. Everywhere you look there is another tower Our tour of the city included the Torre e ...

Today we hit a whopping 5,000 steps with all of our strenuous sedentary activities. If the fit bit could count arm movement, with all of the drinking and eating, I'm sure we'd hit at least our daily trip norm of 20,000-25,000 steps. I can't wait for the scale back at home to confirm at least 5 pounds have melted off. Guess what, it is truffle season! So it was apropos to start our morning with a real truffle hunt! We met up with the dogs and the "Tartuffaio" (truffle hunter) and went into the forest that belongs to Castelfalfi, kept for cultivating truffles to use in their restaurants. For Matteo, our Tartuffaio, truffle hunting was a great passion that has turned into a job. The first step is to train the dogs. To the dogs, finding truffles is a game; the more truffles they find the more biscuits they get. Dogs love truffles! Matteo has to hold Gina back or she will eat the prize - a $75 gulp! Any breed can be trained as long as they have a great sens...

Even though the alarm goes off at 6am, today is a fabulous day! I think it is funny how there is no complaining about the plans for the day when I am not the one controlling the schedule. Greg seems to have no trouble surrendering control to Tauck. I myself cannot resist the urge to maintain some autonomy. Today we are off to Siena and I have devised an escape plan. Especially after two cappuccinos, I am ready to bolt. I become the rebel and wander as far as I can from the group, tethered invisibly by the Vox (audio tour guide system). As long as I can hear the guide's voice, I know they aren't far. But getting lost right now is the adventure I am yearning for. Siena is near and dear to my heart. Every day, several times a day, on our stairs I pass my favorite picture of Greg and me - from the top of Siena's tower, the second tallest in Italy. Like 2011 was just yesterday, I remember our nap right in the middle of Siena's great central piazza, Il Campo. Siena...

Tauck has been meticulously arranging the details of these five days for the past four years. Although there is very little physical activity (compared to our travel norm), almost every minute of each day is planned out - so when my head hits the pillow I am out cold until it is time to leave again. (Or maybe it's all the wine causing that.) Each day the 6 groups divide and conquer. Today, the only rainy day in the forecast, our group is assigned to Volterra. I recognized the name from Twilight, the vampire series, but I know we are safe because it's daylight and they won't kill so close to home. It is actually a super small walled hill town known for its production of alabaster, a very soft stone that can be carved till it is translucent. We spend 2 1/2 hours with a guide hearing about the town's legends, views, mysteries, and treasures. After a surprise private opera performance in the town's theatre, we are released for less than an hour to eat and wander the ...

Having the morning to enjoy before our Tauck adventure begins, we started with one of my favorite things in Florence: climbing the dome - the most miraculous edifice of the Renaissance. With each visit to Italy, you cannot count on consistency; it must drive Rick Steves crazy to try to be accurate in his books. Even though now reservations are required to climb the dome, there is still a long line for our opening 8:30am reservation. Boldly capturing freedom in stone, Brunelleschi's dome rises from the terra-cotta sea of Florence's roof tiles.  (View from Giotto's bell tower, which I climbed right after the dome.) Climbing between the concentric shells of the two domes. Top of dome View of Florence and Giotto's bell tower from dome The duomo complex ticket includes the duomo museum which has the original sculptures like Michelangelo's Pietà and the baptistery doors. Under renovation during our last stay in Florence, the museum is high tech. M...