HELP! I’VE FALLEN IN (love with) TUSCANY AND I CAN’T GET UP

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 

HELP! I’VE FALLEN IN (love with) TUSCANY AND I CAN’T GET UP

Scratch La Foce?

     In late February as Marianne and I started to decide on our extra tours in Florence, and then the third week, the driving week, I started really reading about some of the places we had decided on going in a ‘sane’ and focused’ manner.  I knew if I were to screw-up the driving portion of the trip I would, number one, cause some major problems with treno schedules and albergo bookings, and two, Marianne would never let me live it down.

    And so it happened one unusually sunny weekend in late February, that while reading in “Blue Guides: Tuscany”, I learned that La Foce, the garden estate of writer Iris, and her husband Antonio, Origo is only open on Wednesdays—in the afternoons to the public.  I read it again several times just to make sure it was true.  I couldn’t believe it.  We wouldn’t be near that area of the Val d’Orcia on that day of the week; we would be in Lucca.  I was dumbfounded that I had not discovered this important fact months ago.  I didn’t panic, much, at first, and decided that the book was a good ten years old, and surely they would have surely extended the hours since then.  Confidently I went to the La Foce website (lafoce.com) and read that, yes, indeed, they were only open from 3 to 7 PM on Wednesdays, but that they had included Saturdays, 9 to noon and 3 to 7 PM. 

     Oh, great, I thought!  I have truly blown this portion trip.  How could I have been so stupid as to have not read this information and planned accordingly months ago, before the treno tickets, the car rental, and the booking of hotels?  I was beside myself with anger. 

     Marianne, in her calm, comforting way, just said “That’s just the way these things work out.  You can’t do it all.”

      I thought “oh hell, yes, you can!” and began to devise an alternative travel plan, that literally, threw everything I had done ‘high into the air’.  Quite a ‘paradigm shift’!

    I envisioned that we would have to leave Firenze on Saturday giugno 26, rent a car in Empoli, race down to Montalcino by 3 PM, check into the B & B, drive to La Foce for a 4 PM reservation, and then try to take in Chiusi after 6 PM.  That even sounded stupid to me.

     I panicked and emailed La Foce hoping they would let us in for a quick visit, since we were coming from so far away: 

Buongiorno:

My wife and I have been planning the trip of a life time to Tuscany in June of 2010.  We have worked very hard make sure we could visit the many amazing and beautiful sights of your area.  One of the highlights of our trip was visiting the gardens of La Foce.  I tired to plan carefully and schedule correctly, planned a place to stay and rent a car so we can drive the countryside of Val D’Orcia and visit the gardens and estate.   We can't tell you what pleasure this privilege means to us. 

Unfortunately, I did not see your only hours of operation are only Wednesday afternoons.  We are absolutely devastated.  We are planning to be in Pienza, Montepulciano and Val D'Orcia on Tuesday afternoon, giugno 29th only.  We are heart broken that we will come all that way from the west coast of the United States and not be able to see La Foce. 

Mi dispiace.  Per farvore. Is there any way that we could stop in for a short look around on that date?  It would be such a shame to just drive by on our way to Chiusi.  Please let us know if it is possible.

Molto Grazie, David and Marianne Jones

The response was quick and decisive:

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Jones,

I'm terribly sorry, but the Villa is now available for weekly rentals and the guests have the exclusive use of the gardens and the house, therefore we really can't open to gardens to anyone in any other day but Wednesdays.  I really hope you'll be able to change your schedule a little bit.

Best regards, Benedetta Isidori

   No go, Joe.   I even emailed Fernando, in a vain attempt to maybe switch days of Assisi and Spoleto on Wednesday for Pienza and Montepulciano (Thursday):

Buongiorno Fernando and Rosetta:

     I am sorry to keep bothering you.  I have made a foolish mistake as I was planning places to see our third week in Italy.  We wanted to visit La Foce to see the gardens and the estate.  Unfortunately, I planned it for Tuesday, giugno 29th.  Upon reading the information of the La Foce website, they are only open Wednesday afternoons. 

     Have you ever visited La Foce?  Do you know if they make any allowances for 'dumb' Americans who have trouble reading?  We would love to see it while we are there and it seems such shame to just drive by and not stop.  If you have time let us know.

Grazie, David and Marianne Jones

…but I didn’t hear back from him, so I assumed I set American/ Italian relationships back at least 50 years.  What a ‘stupido’ I was!

     As I looked at the scenario, I came to the awful conclusion that, yes, you can’t do everything.  The change would involve rescheduling everything.  There was go guarantee that any of these places would have opens at the new dates.  I was too much to do to re-book and reschedule.  I, wisely concluded, that there would be no formal gardens in the countryside of Val D’Orcia.  Sorry Iris and Antonio Origo, the cosmic ‘Travel-Nazi’ says ‘No “La Foce” for you--David!

     Then, less than a week later, Fernando emails:

Dear David and Marianne,

sorry for delay ! We are at the moment in holiday in Australia .. a very

biiiig country!

Back to you: About La Foce, if it's: La Foce 61, Strada della Vittoria - 53042 Chianciano Terme we will try to visit it, perhaps we will exchange the tour of Wednesday with the one of Monday a.s.o.

Once we will be back home we will work through.. it's enough also to arrange it on your arrival, just let us remember.

Saluti,  Fernando

I fired back:

Fernando:

You are a blessing.  I don't want to push anything or mess up any of your planning.

Whatever works we will be content with.  Thank you.

We are both just delighted to hear that you are visiting Australia.  What fun!  You will have to share your adventures in the land down under when we see you in June.

Grazie!  David and Marianne Jones

Maybe there would be hope still.  I would just have to patient and wait.

Apartment Woes

Buongiorno Cristina:

We do not want to jeopardize our renting the Calzaiuoli apartment that we have reserved and paid for giugno 19 to 26, 2010, but after consulting with several friends who have traveled to Italy, and especially Firenze, and a several people who run albergos and B & B's there, we have decided not to send you the copies of our passports by mail.  They warn us that the right time to give documentation is upon arrival.  We understand that by law you do need these documents; we have every intention of complying with the law fully and punctually on our arrival.

    We are very concerned about these documents, and the personal information they contain, may not get to your offices without other eyes seeing them.  Identity theft is a very real and growing problem in USA, as I am sure it is all around the world.

We just do not think it is wise to put our personal information out in such an unsecured manner.  The copies have been made and we would like to hand them to you or your representative, along with the cleaning deposit and security fees, when we meet you in person Saturday, giugno 19, 2010.

   We sincerely hope that you understand our dilemma and will tolerate our concerns.  Let us know if this will be all right.  We await you response.

Molto grazie,

David and Marianne Jones

Firenze! Calcio Storico/San Giovanni Festa

Not sure you can get ticket on line, check eventually with your hotel if the y can get for you prior to your arrival. Normally the match starts around 5.00 pm so the consider for the parade a couple of hours before. The fireworks will be at 10pm or 10.30pm.