Betty and I spent several hours enjoying the beautiful Bellingrath gardens (south of Mobile, AL). It was a little disappointing, but not surprising, that the azaleas had finished blooming, but some of the camelias were hanging on and other gardens were lovely.
A great day spent with Agnita, Henk and the girls:
First the Pensacola Lighthouse (177 steps up and a cardio workout)
A hair-raising and exhilarating practice show by the Blue Angels.
And then some down time on the beach.
We had a lovely couple of days with Agnita, Henk, Lucca, and Julia at their new home in Hastings-on-Hudson, a lovely little town within sight of Manhattan.
We spent all day Friday in Manhattan, visiting their new office space on 5th Avenue, no less! Going to the Rockerfeller Center, the impressive 911 Memorial, and the High Line.
Shopping!
So glad I drew Ian’s name for Christmas!
Easy arrival at Hotel Grand Cavour in central Florence. Dennis and I set off on immediate exploration of surroundings to the river and Ponte Vecchio, where the lighting was excellent.
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A super dinner at a small trattoria that I thought looked appealing, and coincidentally Sandy had read about in her guide. Had we arrived 30 minutes later, a table would have been impossible to have.
After dinner a stroll by the Duomo…
Aaah! Chianti! A little over an hour’s drive through luscious hills covered with grape vines and olive groves. Our attempts to find some out of the way restaurants were fruitless, but once we got into Greve in Chianti and into its delightful main square – we forgot our quest. After inquiring at the small tourist information office about the best place for a late lunch, she spread her arms expansively and said we could go anywhere! So true. I had the best buffalo mozzarella I’ve ever had in my life – the mild flavour just exploded in my mouth, and delicious creamy milk seeped from the center, and to top it off, it was served with fresh figs, balsamico and oil!!!!! Aaah! To wash it down, a Chianti Classico! Life is good…..
A tourist destination, but nonetheless very attractive and worth the day spent here. Dennis and I climbed up to the fortress for magnificent views over the valley and of portions of the town which once had more than 70 towers, but now has only 14 remaining.
A drive over to the coast via the small, attractive town of Massa Marittima.
A beautiful drive through the Tuscan countryside to Siena and then the entire day spent wandering the streets, admiring the lovely old buildings, and of course, lunch!
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We had an amazing dinner of grilled lamb, fresh canellini beans in our salad and pasta!
John hacking his way through the bones to make cutlets.
After exploring Villamagna, we drove over to hilltop Volterra – just 12 kms away.
A Bentley/Rolls Royce Royce rally is taking place and these specimens were parked in the main piazza
This one must be mine – my initials!!!
I don’t think this would get up heir hill in the winter!
Uneventful trip from Dorset to Pisa; supermarket stop on the way and we were set for an evening “in” after a delicious meal of bread, cheese, wine, fruit, olives, etc. on our terrace.
What a lovely villa … At the tail end of a very steep driveway overlooking a valley and hills. We have red roses and cypress!
One of my favourite places … Sherborne and Sherborne Abbey
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The Dorset countryside…
Then crazy good times with family ..
