A Taste of Tuscany

"The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page." ~ St. Augustine

Over the Labor Day weeked, my trip to Tuscany began Friday night in Stuttgart Germany.  We boarded bus which was travelling over night, with a few stops, until we reached Pisa. The main “tourist” area is the Campo dei Miracoli (Field of Miracles)- where the Leaning Tower is located. Most large churches had a separate bell tower and this is the Bell Tower of the Cathedral. Also of interest is the Baptistry. All of these sites can be visited at: http://www.italyguides.it/us/pisa/pisa_italy.htm

We had time to explore the Campo and also to wander through the town before boarding the bus for our hotel in Florence. We stopped at the hotel to unload and get freshened up. We arrived at Florence late in the afternoon, not having time to investigate anything too thoroughly. This was probably the only disappointment of the tour- not enough time in Florence. I did see the famous Florence “Duoma”, Santa Maria del Fiore (Mary of the Flowers)- the fourth largest church in the world. Also, while I didn't see the original David, there was a replica in one of the town squares.  Here is virtual Florence or Firenze as the Italians call the city: http://www.italyguides.it/us/florence/florence_italy.htm

Luckily, my travel buddy Pam had a good tour book which recommended a great place for dinner: Golden View Restaurant, located across the bridge on the Arno River. We had a window table and so a view of boaters as they cruised the river. The food and wine were great. I just love Italy!

The next morning, we headed out to two other Tuscan cities- each having a distinctive feel. On the drive, we saw a remaining aqueduct from Roman times. It didn’t look like it was thousands of years old. Our first stop of the day was Siena: http://www.italyguides.it/us/siena_italy/siena_italy.htm Interestingly, in its Campo, twice a year is a horse race involving 17 clubs or neighborhoods who compete to have the bragging rights as the best in the city. Also beautiful was the Duomo and museum of the Duomo which had beautiful art work.

After Siena, we drove to San Gimignano, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Gimignano which is known for its remaining 14 towers. The vista from this walled town was beautiful. Again, using the tour book, we found St. Augustine’s Church. The altar has 17 frescos that depict the life of St. Augustine. It was a little difficult to find the church, but again worth the trouble.

One of the highlights of the day was a visit at a vineyard, Fattoria La Tancia for wine tasting. Better than the wine was the olive oil that was made on the premises. I have been serving the olive oil with most of my dinners since arriving home. Of course, all it needs is good bread, tomatoes and garlic.

So, Tuscany is named after the Etruscan people who lived here centuries before this region was conquered by ancient Rome. Tuscany is a prosperous economic region with farming (olive oil, vineyards, produce) and tourism being at the top of the list. The region is mostly hilly and mountainous with picturesque farms dotted all over the landscape.

The original name of Tuscany was derived from the Latin word Tuscia. Tuscia was used from the 3rd century BC to describe the area known as Etruria, a region between the Tiber and Arno rivers, occupied formerly by the Etruscans. The word Tuscany first became used in the 10th century. http://www.choose-tuscany.com/tuscany_people.html

We left Monday morning for the trip home. One last stop was in Luzerne, Switzerland. Again, a great city to visit. When I get the chance, I enjoy visiting grocery stores in the various cities. They are usually reflective of the area and the people. I went into Coop. Good bread, coffee and cheese. My idea of fun!

The trip was tiring. Luckily everyone was respectful. No one was a straggler making the rest of us wait. The trip did give what it promised…a “Taste” of Tuscany- so now I want the rest of the meal!!

Berlin's Empty Library

"Dort, wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt man am Ende auch Menschen."
“Where books are burnt, people will eventually be burnt too."
These words were written by the German Heinrich Heine (1797- 1856) in 1821, referring to the buring of the Qur'an during the Spanish Inquisition, but they were quite foretelling. In the Bebelplatz, on May 10, 1933 Nazi students burned 25,000 books by Jewish and politically undesirable writers- the elite of contemporary German literature, such as Thomas Mann, Heinrich Mann, Erich Kastner (who watched in disgust). It is impossible to be in Berlin and not remember and give homage to the past. While WWII ended more than fifty years ago, it has only been twenty years since the Berlin Wall came down. To be at Checkpoint Charlie and enter the museum that showed the lengths that East German Government went to keep their people out of the West and the engenuity of the West to help people escape was amazing. As my friends (Sara and Christine) and I toured the city, it wasn't far from my mind what price the world paid for Hitler and his war.
It took awhile for me to get to enjoy the city. It is very large, but easily accessible with public transit. We stayed a hotel in the Charlottenburg area. Once the car was parked, our travel was on the buses and subways. Saturday was spent seeing the interesting sites. These included the Brandenburg Arch, the Neue Wache- the bronze of a mother and her dead son (which commemerates the Victims af War and Tyrrany), the Televsion Tower, KaDeWa Department Store. Most of these were on the Bus 100 line- recommended by the Berlin City Tourism Board.
While Schweinfurt has its pigs, there were many bears in Berlin. The above bear signifies the city center "mitte".
On Sunday, much to my delight we found a flea market, reommended by the hotel staff. It is in Maur Platz (Wall Park). It was great- from the very old junk to new fashion. My way to spend the day.
Berlin is about a 4 hour drive from Schweinfurt, so I do plan to visit again.