Firenze … First day

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.

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After dinner a stroll by the Duomo…

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Chianti region

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…..

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San Gimignano

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.

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Siena on Monday

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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Volterra on Sunday

After exploring Villamagna, we drove over to hilltop Volterra – just 12 kms away.

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A Bentley/Rolls Royce Royce rally is taking place and these specimens were parked in the main piazza

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This one must be mine – my initials!!!

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I don’t think this would get up heir hill in the winter!

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Villa Frantusa … Buona sera!

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!

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Third 24 hours in UK

One of my favourite places … Sherborne and Sherborne Abbey

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The Dorset countryside…

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Then crazy good times with family ..

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First 24 hours UK

Having a deliciously good time with my family here…

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And some sightseeing too …

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The Smith Arms

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Corfe Castle

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Salisbury Cathedral with its beautiful contemporary font.

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All good things come to an end

Our last port of call was Cozumel, and I was as disenchanted with it this time (third time around) as before. Oh well!

A few pics of the gang before we all went our separate ways and who knows when we’ll all be together again. It was fun!