Week 7: Tuscany

Sunday:

Beach day! We arrived at the beach at around 10.30 then Alessandra Stefano and Bea went grocery shopping whilst me and Fede stayed on the beach. They got back around 12.30 and we had a picnic. The sea is wonderful, not clear but warm and the waves are huge and powerful it's great fun to swim in. We stayed until 4.30pm and then went to see a friend of theirs who they had met in the supermarket. 

The beach

Cucumber for the sun burn!

Monday:

Another day on the beach. By this point I have rather bad sunburn on my shoulders and back, despite wearing factor 50 sun cream. The sea is nice huge waves to jump over and when it is calm it is great to swim in. 

Tuesday:

It threw it down with rain so we went to visit some mines. Il Parco archeominerario di San Silvestro. It was good fun. We got a guides walk through tour through one mine and then on a train through the second. It was very interesting. We also went to look round the village of Bolgheri and found an olive tree planted in 1720. 

The mine train

Inside the mine

The guide

The olive tree

Wednesday:

Still raining. We stayed in the house all morning it rained so much and then in the afternoon went round Marina Castagneto. Took ice creams and ate them inside the restaurant because it began raining heavily again. Went to the beach on the evening to watch the sun set. 

Thursday:

Went to an archaeological park in Baratti on the gulf. It was very interesting all roman remains of temples and streets and Etruscan houses. We also went to Necropolis to see some burial tombs of the Etruscan tribes (pre roman) that were dug up. Then we spent the afternoon on the beach. 

Pirate ship in the gulf

Foundations of temple A had a secret underground passage 

Remains of the baths

On the Roman road

Me and Fede on too of an Etruscan but

The castle

Etruscan burial tomb

Sarcophagi

Friday:

Last full day in Tuscany so we spent it on the beach. We stayed for the morning then spent the noon hours back at the house because the sun gets too hot and then went back for the afternoon. We made friends with the adjacent people who have a cute little dog called Pino! Went our for dinner at a pizzeria. 

Saturday: 

Packed up to come back to Rovescala. Went home via a terracotta shop - Tuscany is known for making terracotta. They bought a sundial and Fede chose a beware the cat sign. I picked up some little starfish. Hopefully they will make it back in one piece. As soon as we got home it started raining. Also thunder and lightning. 

Day 10: Buses, Trains and Trams

Last night it was throwing it down with rain and this morning it still was. It was so heavy and thick it was like a wall. We had planned to explore Milan in the morning but it was too wet and thundery and lightningy so it wasn't very safe.

Instead we spent the morning inside. I plaed chess with Fede and read English books with both Fede and Bea to help with their pronunciation. I taught Fede how to tell the time in English and quizzed him on it throughout the day also. 

After lunch it had brightnened up, we went to tutor Elga's boys but only Alessandro today. After the tutoring we went into the centre of Milan to sight see. 

We took a bus to San Androgomo which is a Romanesque style church from the 900's. Parts of it are much newer though. They expanded it during the renaissance and their are baroque side chapels and tombs in other styles.

You can use the tickets for bus, train and tram. When you get on transport your ticket is dated and timed by a machine and it is valid for use an hour and a half after your first use. 

San Androgomo

I couldn't decide if this ceiling was painted or stone worked?

Mosaic behind the altar

Medieval fresco

In the church you could go down into the crypt. They have the skeletons of three saints buried there it was a little freaky they were in a glass coffin so you could see all their bones. 

After the church Alessandra took us to the university she studied law it, it was opposite. Also nearby was the Milano monument for the dead unknown soldiers of World War II there are about 5 thousand soldiers buried in it.

We arrived there too late because sometimes it is open and you can go in and look round it.

After that we walked into the centre of Milan. They have a huge shopping centre full of extremely posh shops. I saw Louis Vuitton, Versace, Cartier, Prada etc. they also have Abercrombie and Fitch and more high street shops like H and M. 

The buildings of the shopping centre were very big and beautiful. There were frescoes above the shops and huge mosaic floors. 

Glass roof and a fresco

The crest of Milan as a mosaic on the floor.

After looking at the shops we went to see the remains of a Roman Imperial Palace that was once here. The diagrams show it to be huge but all that is left is pretty much rubble. 

Also, like at the castle we visited last week there were lots of the protected cats around enjoying the sun.

We went into a bookshop to pick up something for Bea to read. They had an English section! After much deliberation I chose to get the Book Thief over the Fault in our Stars. It promises to be a good read! My first purchase in Milan. 

After the bookshop they took me to see a famous theatre and opera house called the Scala. It's well known for it's ballets and orchestra but it has been clasped for two years or so for renovations to the inside. Opposite the Scala there was a statue of Leonardo da Vinci who helped design and build it. 

Leo

The Scala. 

In the evening lots of Mosquitos come out, so they put out boxes with candles I to keep them away they also look very pretty. 

Buonanotte