Sleeping under the stars

What is it about my children and the Pope questions? After a wonderful day at Musei Vaticani Lyds was wondering whether the Pope slides around in his socks once the doors close. She figured, because she thinks it would be exceptionally cool to put your socks on and slide along the passages of the Vatican past the world’s most amazing collection of irreplaceable art, that Frances would do the same. Not sure Lyds. Of course the light on in his bedroom window when we went back to see the nativity in the dark meant that he was lying in bed reading a trashy novel. We went back to the hotel after our museum expedition and then headed out to Spagna and a spot of people watching. There were stacks of people around, but it was Saturday night. We wandered up through Piazza Popollo and then across the river to a much more residential street for a nice dinner of very traditional pizza. We walked right along the river, past Hadrian’s mausoleum, which looked gorgeous in the dark. The walk up to St Peter’s was lovely. It was a gorgeous night and the Christmas tree and nativity were beautiful. Whilst the Trevi fountain is empty, and mainly covered in scaffolding, there was a small spot to throw a coin – I need to ensure that I return. Hadrian for Tom and of course the Chagalls for me.

We had a lovely evening in the eternal city with a really long walk past all of Bernini’s beautiful fountains. To the Pantheon, my favourite Piazza Navona, and then right down through the amazing Forum to the Coliseum. I love Rome. It feels the closest thing that one can ever have to a live history lesson. The Forum is astounding. Sitting in the middle of a busy city, I think that it is amazing that one can be just out for an evening stroll and there beside you are arches, temples and forums from a couple of hundred years BC. As we walked and walked and walked the temples became all the more magical as the lights flickered over great Roman columns. Lydia of course had to play with the cats amongst the ruins and it always feels slightly strange that you can stop and have a little sit on a piece of BC Roman history. We really have had lovely places to rest our heads and the Residenzia Cellini was no different. I have stayed there before but not for many years and had forgotten how fantastic the location was – a short walk from Termini and Republica. We had a lovely dinner just around the corner and then fell into a deep slumber – the average of 25,000 steps a day is damn exhausting.

Well the lovely local red might be cheaper than water but it is so good. We are currently on the train with Chianti out the window – both the vineyards and the scenery. The regional trains are so reliable, quick and comfortable. We thought we would go for dinner in Siena – as you do when slumming it in Italy. I enjoyed my last trip to Siena but it was totally mad as the Paleo was on and I rather fancied a walk through the beautiful town when it wasn’t filled with thousands of mad race going fans. Out the window are beautiful hills, deer, olive groves, and whilst the vines are dormant, the scenery is again gorgeous villas on hilltops and the occasional castle in ruins. We arrived in Siena and had to figure out how to get to town. The last time I had been here was on a bus that dropped people at the town walls so this time I really had no idea. The OK stazione was the same as most in Italy, and typical of Italian treni stations, the surroundings were pretty awful. There was really no indication that lurking somewhere here is an amazingly beautiful UNESCO World heritage area. We wandered out and I asked some slightly dodgy looking Italian young men the direction to walk to centro. I could understand some of what they were saying and got the general drift that to walk would be insane and the bus was much better. I explained that I like to walk and with lots of hand gestures I got the idea that there was an escalator through the shopping centre. A bit weird, the thought of an escalator to a world heritage area, but whilst dodgy, they seemed keen to help. We headed off into a shopping centre that could have been anywhere in the world and sure enough there was escalator after escalator going up. We walked out into again a fairly rough looking street but a centro sign made us think we were headed in the right direction. We finally reached the reassuring wall and the enormous gate that thankfully was open. I find it amazing that these walled towns were built to lock up when needed. We wandered through the gates into the lovely tiny streets of Siena. Whilst the roads are really tiny the medieval buildings are so tall so there is a feeling of a closely guarded town, totally protected by the solid stone walls. In Siena the streets all radiate into the lovely piazza. As we wandered through each district their emblems told us where we were. The statue of the pig indicated somewhere there would be great Tuscan food.

The piazza today was much quieter than the day of the mad horse race and the huge crowds had been replaced by the local young lovers who were lying on the cobblestones – didn’t look terribly comfortable to me but then I know – I am old.

We sat in one of the cafes facing the centre and had a lovely dinner. More chianti of course, but fantastic charcuterie, pecorino, lovely tomatoes and great Tuscan vegetables. We picked at pizza and watched the sun go down and the town light up. We have taken to eating a cross between lunch and dinner – cause it gets dark at 5pm we are usually hungry by that time – and after pastries for breakfast we are not hungry until them. We sat for ages and of course managed to share a lovely chocolate tart. Lydia drank (or is it ate?) her hot chocolate with a spoon. I reminded her that good dark chocolate is good for you but she reminded me; one piece, not a whole block melted in a cup. Hey again it is Italy. The hills of Chianti are all dark now and at 7.46pm it feels like midnight. Our Florentine pallazo awaits and Lyds is already pondering whether pasta is required before bed – ohhhhh I don’t think I could eat for a week and am yawning like it is 1am.

Our hotel in Florence is just gorgeous – http://www.ilguelfobianco.it

Lyds and I felt like Florentian princesses sleeping in a Palazzo. Our room is huge and filled with a mixture of gorgeous antiques and interesting modern art. The floor is mosaic tiles, with a lovely old rug filling a large part of the huge space.

Florence is so much nicer without the crowds. The weather is really lovely and no queues at the Accademia or the Uffizi. We are staying really central on Via Cavour so only a very short walk to the Duomo. We wandered in there this morning and were reassured that the beautiful dome is still there. We have been watching the terrible news from Paris, which of course is dominating all news services. Has created some interesting debates over dinner. This morning we had a lovely walk handbag shopping, and smell completely overpowering, as we stopped and sprayed ourselves liberally with perfumes. We now can’t decide which ones we like, as we smell like mixtures of Gucci, Dior, and clothes worn for a fortnight. I am sure that everyone who walks past us coughs and sneezes and I can’t decide whether my sneezing is the perfume or the remnants of my cold. I do love Florence.

We wandered down to join the throng of giggling Asian girls all doing the cheesy poses with that tower. Of course the girls had to join in. I found it highly entertaining how ridiculous they all looked with their feet up, their hands up, and their bottoms in unusual positions. The tower built in 1173 stood there very sedately as all of these ridiculous tourists made photo after photo. I thought Lyd would break her neck climbing onto the boulder and it took her slow mother a while to realize I could move the camera rather than asking Lydia to contort herself into weird and wonderful positions.

  Drinking latte macchiato amongst the paragliding men above us. The hills of the Cinque Terre are all around us and we are sitting on the edge of the water at small tables in front of a tiny bar. When I was last here there were millions of tourists but today we have the amazing views almost to ourselves. It is t-shirt weather with the bright sun shining across the hills. Watching the paragliders is fascinating as they weave their way across the hills, towers and hilltop houses. It looks so peaceful up there, but no, I have no intention of trying paragliding – I am more than happy to simply sit with my very nice Italian coffee. I remain intrigued here that one can buy wine cheaper than coffee or water. A nice glass of Chianti is much cheaper than a bottle of water. There are very few hardy walkers today, just a few people strolling. The beach is all but empty but I did notice one lovely Italian sun couple. An ageing Nona, her voluptuous curves in her bikini and poppa the color of burnished copper. The fact that it is winter didn’t stop them sunning themselves on the edge of the Mediterranean sea. I thought of you Virginia, and made sure I rolled up my trousers and waded through the crashing waves. The last photo is for you !!!