Three Months Count-down
March ‘bleated’ in like a lamb in lions’ clothing. No matter how fierce the weather appeared, it was spring and all of nature, from the green grass on the hills to the swirls of ‘petal’ blizzards and drifts from the fruit trees, winter was long gone.
After re-reading all the Mitford books, in chronological order, Marianne began re-reading the Tuscany books, Rick Steves, Doran’s “Reluctant Tuscan, and Tucker’s “Living In A Foreign Language”. While catching up on Volterra, she can across Tuscan Tours, Annie J. Adair & Francesco Gronchi. She had me get on-line and looked over their web site, drawn by the lure of a 5 euro tour. I emailed:
Hi:
My wife and I are planning a trip to Tuscany in giugno of 2010. We are staying two nights (26 & 27) at Seminario Vescovile Sant’ Andrea.
We read about your tours in Rick Steves’ books and are very interested in it. We think Sunday, giugno 27 would work best for us. Would it work for Annie?
Problem: Marianne will probably be using a walker, so she might not be able to do a lot of climbing, etc. Please let us know if a tour is possible.
Thank you, David and Marianne Jones
Hello David and Marianne,
thank you for your email.
First let me address your valid mobility concern:
Volterra is not a very big city and therefore the distances walked to tour the city are not great.
However most of the city is on at least some grade of incline, which can pose a problem, as can the fact that at least half of the paving in pedestrian areas is made out of large cobble stones.
We can certainly create an alternative itinerary for the walking tour to avoid some of the steepest inclines and descents (for example by avoiding both the Etruscan gate Porta all'Arco and the Archeological park which lies above the rooftops of the city - and frankly isn't that interesting anyway!)
So a tour is possible, we just need to do it with a different lens and at a different pace.
I should warn you, however, that the walk from the Seminario to the city walls is perhaps longer that the walk from one side of the city walls to the other...
I don't want to dissuade you from staying there as it has a lot of character, but should you be interested in a reasonably priced alternative that is a bit closer to town or inside the town itself you might want to look at these places
B&B Primavera http://www.affittacamere-laprimavera.com/
Albergo Etruria www.albergoetruria.it
If you would still like to do the private walking tour with me, I am indeed available for Sunday the 27th of June.
We could start at 9 am and continue until 12 pm.
The cost for the tour is 105 Euro for a half-day, which means up to 3 hours.
I could meet you at the Seminario or in the center of town, whichever you prefer.
I look forward to hearing from you
Kind regards
Annie
Annie J. Adair & Francesco Gronchi
When Marianne read Annie’s email, Marianne told me to “go for the half day tour”. She also had me visit the B & B and Albergo web sites. Once she saw La Primavera, she convinced me to email:
Buongiorno:
My wife and I are planning a visit to Volterra in giugno (26 & 27). Currently we have a reservation with the Seminario. In contacting a tour guide, Annie J. Adair of Tuscan Tour, she suggested your B & B. From the looks of your web site, it looks like a beautiful place to stay. That being said, we are on a budget and the Seminario was more in our price range. However, I was encouraged by the price quote on your web site, 70 euros a night 01/01/10 to 01/01/11.
Please let us know if you have a room available for the two nights we are there and if the total will be 140 euros.
Molto grazie, David and Marianne Jones
info@affittacamere-laprimavera.com
Dear Marianne and David,
for nights 26 and 27 I can offer you a double bed room with private bath room shower at Euro 70,00 for night included breakfast.
The total bill for 2 nights for 2 person is Euro 140,00.
The B&B is at only few step from the centre of Volterra and if you have car you can park it in my private parking.
Please if you need to confirm it please write me an e-mail.
Thank you,
Silvia Pineschi
Buongiorno Silvia Pineschi:
We are so happy to hear you have a vacancy for both those nights.
Deo Grazie!
How do we go about reserving the room and paying for it? Do you
need payment in advance? We will have a car so a place to park is wonderful.
We are so glad we found La Primavera.
Grazie,
David and Marianne Jones
I also replied to Annie’s email:
Annie:
Yes. I we are interested in your morning tour. I am not sure if we can
do a full three hours, but will are willing to try. Marianne says she will attempt
anything... reasonable.
We want to thank you for your accommodation suggestions. Marianne
immediately had me looking La Primavera. We heard from Silvia this morning
and, yes, we will be staying there instead of the Seminario.
Money-wise we are spending more than I had budgeted for, but I think we will
be much happier in the long run.
Tell us how to reserve and pay for the tour, please.
We look forward to meeting you in June.
Saluti,
David and Marianne Jones
We had not heard anything from Cristina and Tuscany Accommodations about the Calzaiuoli apartment in two weeks and frankly we were about very nervous that we had lost the place—and the money. Finely, on Friday of the first week of March (three months before we were to leave) she responded:
Dear Mr and Mrs Jones do not worry your staying in our appartment is not jeopardized! I understand your concerns and I apologize for my request, but as I have to transmit the copy of your document to the italian authority within 24 hours of the arrive, on saturday afternoon (when you arrive) and on sunday (the day after) is very hard to find a post office open to do this communication.( usually hotels do this communication on line, at the moment we are not activated) Anyway this is not your problem! However it would semplify everything if you could take with you a copy of your document to give me at your arrive in Florence. Sorry again see you soon in Florence Cristina Galardi The same day, Cristina from HEM (car rental in Sovigliana) responded:
Goodmorning sir, don't matter for the place: our office in between Hotel da vinci and Banca toscana, when you are here you could see it without problems. Buongiorno Cristina, I have been reading and thinking more about our time driving in Italy and I have a few questions, if it all right. Petrol stations: Do the pumps only take cash, or do they take credit cards, now? What does petrol cost per gallon in Italy now? Do they still close for reposo? Will we have trouble finding petrol stations open on the weekends? Too many? Sorry. I did notice from the Google street view, that there is a petrol station a few blocks northwest of your address on Via Palmiro Togliatti-Da Vinci. Not knowing how old the photos are, is it still open for business? I still did not find Maggiore Rent, but I do see In Coop, Hotel Da Vinci, MP Insurance Brokers (glass building), David Ex, C.E.D. Universo, M & M, Banca Toscana, etc. Molto grazie for your time, David and Marianne Jones For the petrol station: They take also credit card but, as you said then they close for reposo or weekends and in this case is still possible to take petrol or gasoil with the self-service!! Bye, Cristina
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