May | June 1992 Trip with Cindy and Bill
Italy, Austria, Switzerland


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May 22 - Friday
We lived near Frankfurt Germany and were being joined by my sister, Cindy and her husband Bill for a trip to Italy to include Florence, Chianti region, Rome and the Cinque Terre. We picked up Cindy and Bill at the Frankfurt airport. They were about 45 minutes later than we expected, but we had fun people watching to kill the time. We rented an Opel Vectra with Hanau plates and went to our house to get our luggage, the picnic and batten down the apartment. The weather was gorgeous.

On the autobahn the sun made it a little hot. We had fun talking as we drove until we reached Stuttgart and hit a STAU (traffic jam). It took about an hour of hot stop and go to get past there. We finally headed towards Ulm and the haze cleared and it was cool and sunny. We stopped south of Ulm for our picnic [right] of bread, Rhine wine, salami, ham, cheese and strawberries.

Back on the road we saw the magnificent Alps in the distance. We drove into and up to Fernpass where we stopped for a beer and spectacular views of the Zugspitze [left]. We headed to our hotel. We missed the exit and ended up having to pay 100 shillings to turn around because it was a toll. Then we spent half an hour looking for our hotel. Finally we found the Alpenhotel Tirolerhof. It was a big all wood building [right]. Our room was very large and clean. We took a short walk before a 6:15 dinner - half pension style.

We had: melon balls, egg drop soup, salad from the buffet, choice of schnitzel or fish and a crepe for dessert. Two wines, both Austrian, a Riesling from the Wachau in a blue bottle and a light red both much better than the dinner. By this time Cindy and Bill were fading. They made it to about 8:30.

May 23 - Saturday
We were up at 7AM and ran which felt good. It was a bit hilly. We showered with only cold water (!) Breakfast was typical except for the chocolate chip muesli. We could not recommend the Alpenhof Tirolerhof. Our bill was a reasonable $100 including dinner, wines and brandy.

We got on the road at about 9:45. We crossed into Italy through the Brenner Pass. The road on the Austrian side was spectacular. As we got into Italy the towns got less Germanic and more Italian as we went along. We drove through the Dolomite Mountains, which were very rugged, old and crumbly. They were quite impressive. We drove steadily until about 12:30 when we got off the Autostrada towards Garda on the lake. By this time it was pretty cloudy. We parked by the lake and walked to our first choice which turned out to be too fancy so we ate at the Hotel San Marco - a typical cheap Italian lunch. I had Penne al Diabolo - it was good. We had two bottles of red wine, more than I wanted.

We left and drove through the Po valley on into the Apennines, which turned out to be very rugged mountains. The Autostrada twisted and turned through zillions of tunnels and over bridges. It was quite the feat of engineering.

After a couple of missed exits we headed into Firenze. We had no problem finding the Hotel Principe [right]. It was situated right on the Arno River. The rooms were different. Cindy and Bill got the larger room but we got the nice balcony overlooking the river. We couldn't ask for a better location. The rooms were equipped with TV, minibar, great bathrooms and big comfy beds [left]. The walls were papered in beige silk wallpaper and it had pale green and gold furniture. It fronts right on the Arno and when I leaned out I could see the Ponte Vecchio.

We got a reservation through the desk guy at Cibreo, our restaurant of choice for that evening. We decided to walk which gave us a little info about Florence. We passed the Duomo, etc.

We found our restaurant and had a drink in their café. Dinner was good. No sooner had we sat down than they brought white wine, then a succession of complementary appetizers. We had: bread with tomato basil, which was bread mush (typically Tuscan), polenta with herbs and Parmesan, and 2 bean soups for Luther and Bill. For entrees we had (me) meatballs in tomato sauce, (Luther) duck stuffed and sliced, (Cindy & Bill) Veal served cold. It was good but not notable. We had a Tortollino wine and a Chianti - both very nice. Dinner was 139,000 Lira or about $130.00.

We walked back which was fun. We crossed the Ponte Vecchio. There were lots of black peddlers on it. The shops were all shuttered with old wooden door which were rather pretty. We sat on our balcony and had drinks. A very fun evening.

May 24 - Sunday
We woke at 7AM. The day was bright and sunny. We had planned a full day of sightseeing.

First we walked to the Museo di San Marco. We waited about 1/2 hour in line and saw the exquisite statue of David by Michelangelo. Next we walked down past the Duomo to the Palazzo Vecchio. This was where the Medici family held court. There were beautiful ceilings. They had a map room filled with maps of the world as it was known in the 1500s. We next checked out the Galleria degli Uffizi (one of the best museums in the world). Unfortunately it was closing soon and wouldn't be open the next day. Next we looked at the Duomo. It was breathtaking on the outside but rather plain inside.

At lunchtime we stopped in a little place set back in a courtyard. Outside tables were surrounded by a hedge. It was very cool and pretty. I had a tomato plate and fettuccine al pesto - it was the best I'd ever had - al dente and lightly sauced, I could've eaten 2! We had a bottle of white wine with lunch.

We walked back to the hotel where we were planning to get our Florence walks book, more film and sunglasses. We asked the clerk at the desk to recommend and book a restaurant for us. He did and called us on the ELEVATOR phone to confirm - too funny!

We went back and had a nice walking tour. It was a little wordy and hard to follow I thought. We saw a British couple with the same book! We stopped for Gelato - I had coffee - great! Afterwards we had a beer outside. By this time we were pretty pooped since it was after 5PM.

On the way back to our hotel we saw a tug of war by the river. We also bought some post cards on the Ponte Vecchio. We walked past our restaurant. We saw many Florentine cats that day. They were mostly friendly.


3 travelers
Michaelangelo's David
Duomo
Fountain
Rooftops of Florence

Ponte Vecchio
Tug of war on the Arno
Luther and Nancy

The street numbers in Florence are the worst I'd ever seen. No order whatsoever and to make matters worse there were black and red numbers on every street so there could be two 7s for example, on the same street - and they were not necessarily near each other (!) what a concept!

We rested some and enjoyed the air conditioning.

Dinner was at La Camillo - a trattoria across the river. We were dismayed to hear only American voices. But the food turned out to be excellent. I had pasta della Cassa which was fettuccine with peas and some fried crumbly eat in a light creamy sauce. Then I had chicken livers and beans with lots of garlic - good! Cindy's was best. She had veal scaloppini in a gravy with truffles - yum! Luther had chicken breasts with lots of Parmesan and Bill had chicken parts fried with fried mozzarella. We had two bottles of Chianti and Grappa all around. It was Cindy and Bill's first Grappa.

We walked back. It was a pretty night.

May 25 - Monday
It was another bright sunny day. We rose and all four went running along a good path on the Arno. We showered and packed.

We set off in search of the Via de Sette Ponte, which was a Roman road with 7 bridges [left] - it wasn't on the way to our destination though. There were amazing terraced hills of mostly olives. The think that struck us was how old it all seemed (and it was!)

We stopped at a 14th century church with a painting of the Madonna and child. Legend was that a team of oxen knelt there so they built the church. Next we went to a town called Loro Ciuffonna. It was great. It was set on both sides of a deep gorge. The houses were jumbled up the hill. Most important is the thousand-year-old bridge over the gorge (one of 7). We met another friendly cat. We also went to a tack flea market.

We headed for the Chianti road and drove across the Arno and along a very twisty road - in fact all the roads were twisty. We stopped in Gaiole after a long drive through mostly forest. We bought half a case of wine plus one Chardonnay. We asked about this restaurant La Pineta from the wine road book. The wine guy didn't know it. Cindy and I went into a butcher shop where we actually got directions! It was in Montelucca - pretty far away on top of a mountain.


Old church
Nancy on the Ponte
Chianti
Monestary
Monestary

It was quite the experience. No one was around. We thought it was closed. But it wasn't. A round lady came and we got water and a bottle of Chianti. She recited the primi list and along with sign language everyone but Cindy got pasta in a boar sauce. Cindy got tomato sauce. We had salad and skipped the secundi. It was good and fun too! They had a bunch of beautiful roosters there and it was a hotel too.

We continued down the wine road toward our hotel. Bill and I were in the back seat navigating toward Montepulciano - oops - when I checked the article about the hotel their view was of Montepulciano! So we changed course and arrived at Montefollancino - one too many Monte-s for me!

La Chuisa was about halfway down the hill from the hilltop town. It was a 16th century farm. We flipped for the fancy room and Cindy and Bill won. The rooms were both pretty. Ours was smaller. You enter a door and go up stairs. The ceiling was slanted and beamed with stones (like bricks) between the beams. There was a nice, big bed with white eyelet cover [left], and antique schrank, a four drawer chest, minibar, TV and small chair. The fun thing was the bath. It was up 5 steps. There was a big white oval tub, sink, separate shower and a - wait for it - fireplace [right]! There were low ceilings - the toilet and bidet were out by the steps.

We saw Cindy and Bill's room. They had a magnificent Jacuzzi for 2! The room is bigger than ours and has a fireplace in the bedroom - very cozy.

We each relaxed I our room before dinner. We sat outside with a view over to Montepulciano with the Chardonnay we bought. Then we went to dinner.

The dining room was a big, vaulted room. An older lady made pasta next to each table in turn. It was fat spaghetti called pici. The owner came over. I think his name was Roberto - nice suit. He had told Cindy how happy he was that lots of Americans were here that night.

There was a 130,00 lira menu! Wow. We had spumanti which was dry and pink - pretty nice. I ordered Bruchetti as an appetizer and Pici with fava beans as a primi and all four of us order the beef steak. The reason being this particular beef/veal was world famous called Beef Florentine. Luther had bruchetti misto, Cindy had Pici w/olive oil and spicy peppers. They brought the steaks, rare and sprinkled with raw garlic and olive oil - excellent!

We had a Vino Nobile de Montepulcino for $65 and a $25 bottle of Brunello de Montelchino. We all had grappa and Luther and I had strong coffee. Cindy and Bill had Capuccino. Cindy and I paid a visit to the kitchen. It was a fun night.


Montefollancino
Chuisa
Montepulciano