ANTIGONISH TO CASTIGLION FIORENTINO

 

Travelling is never without a little anxiety and as we were flying to Rome via Philadelphia we worried that “Frankenstorm” might get in the way.  Our flight out of Halifax was delayed by 1.5 hours making for a tight connection in Philly.  However, we did make our flight just before the airport was closed indefinitely.

Arriving at Fiumicino Airport we caught a train to Termini where we switched  (with only a few moments to spare) to a regional train for our 2-hour trip to Castiglion Fiorentino.    Filipo, the owner of our villa, met the train and we were soon at our beautiful spot where our tiny rental car as well as a bottle of the neighbour’s wine awaited us.

The trains in Italy seem to be very efficient, running exactly on time (Mussolini’s heritage?) but I wish the stations provided coin operated fork lifts, or some other device, to aid in getting Betty’s suitcase up and into the 2^nd class railcar.

Upon arrival we drove into the very pretty walled hillside town, where without GPS we immediately got totally lost.  We do have these things called maps but I cannot remember how they are used.  Our intention had been to find a nice Trattoria for our first night in Italy.  However, we were too tired after the 25-hour trip so we picked up pizza and pastries as well as a bottle of Vino Nobile de Montepulciano and returned to our villa.  By the way Vino Nobile de Montepulciano (not available in Nova Scotia) is a very famous wine not to be confused with Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, but I’ll save that for a WineWhine.

DRIVING IN TUSCANY:   Yesterday we visited the beautiful towns Montepulciano and Pienza.  Getting there was, however, more than half the fun.  As I mentioned above we do not have GPS in our rental so our process is for Betty to read the map and for me to avoid being driven off the road by Italian drivers.  The problem is that the map gives route numbers but none of the signs do the same.  Thus as we approach an intersection Betty suggests we turn on route something or other.   As I circle the roundabout the signs suggest going to this or that town.   By the time Betty has located the town on the map (which may be 30 or 300 kms away) I have already driven 15 kms on the wrong road.  I don’t know if the Italians copied this stupid system from the French or whether the French copied the Italians, but these two countries seem to compete on who can confuse the most tourists.

Italian drivers have perfected the art of tailgating.  Driving the speed limit or slightly above leads to one seeming like an engine on a many car train; each car vying for being the closest to the one ahead.  Sometimes I think a match could be lit by my rear bumper and the front bumper of the guy behind.

FOOD AND WINE:   So far the food has been excellent, even when it seems that we are ordering at random from the Italian menus.  Last night, for example, I got an appetizer of cheese served with honey, which was much better than it sounds.  Wine lists are a little easier, although here the problem is too many bottles and too little time.  We have learned, however,  that if we skip going into the 13^th century churches there is more time to spend in the wine tasting shops.