Pienza

The one place I would return to. Preferably with other photographers. The town was lovely and the surrounding countryside just beautiful. If I run away from home this may be where I’d run to.

Behind the Scenes

I’ve alluded to some behind the scenes issues that were having a big impact, beyond the usual travel, transport, fatigue challenges. We were forging ahead with the holiday because we didn’t know what else to do, but things were pretty tense. First night in Pienza was the climax and the followings days the denouement as we started to unpack what happened. Turns out Steve had some kind of dissociative PTSD episode. He’d never experienced it before so had no idea what was happening. I’d sure as hell never witnessed it before. And poor 13 yr old Tommy was stuck in the middle of it all. If all that sounds a bit dramatic, it was and it wasn’t. The climax I referred to was almost anti-climatic in that there was no big blow up, rather just an awareness of the severity of the situation and acknowledgement that whatever was happening with Steve meant we were dealing with a different person who none of us recognised and we didn’t know if or when the old Steve would come back. He didn’t turn into a horrible person, just a detached, impersonal stranger. Not the kind, warm, funny, thoughtful, caring Steve we were used to. So we’d been floundering around in the dark for over a week but over the next few days the fog began to slowly lift and we started to get the familiar Steve back. Things improved gradually from here and by our last week in Amalfi we were almost back to normal. It took its toll on all of us but particularly Steve, who is back to his old self but not without a lingering distress over what he’d experienced and the impact on me and Tommy.

Devil's Bridge and The Leaning Tower

So far on this trip I’ve driven in Croatia, Slovenia and Switzerland. So now it was time to venture out onto Italy’s road. Also, with a new navigator. Lawd help us.
First stop was at Borgo a Mozzano, not far out of Lucca, to see the Ponte della Maddalena, more commonly known as the Devils Bridge. Apparently the guy who built it ran into a spot of bother and couldn’t finish it so he made a deal with the devil. In return for finishing the bridge, the devil was offered the soul of the first living being who crossed the bridge. When it was finished the guy supposedly cheated the devil out of a persons soul by luring a dog over the bridge with a piece of bread. Somehow, I don’t think the devil would’ve fallen for it, and hopefully the dog was smarter than that too. But who knows. The bridge was pretty interesting.

Then we nearly killed a few people driving into Pisa to see the Leaning Tower before quickly getting out of there and heading South to Pienza. You can go in the tower to the top but we didn’t. It’s a pretty nice building even without the lean the gets all the attention. If I were in the area again I’d spend some time checking out the aqueducts between Lucca and Pisa.

Bikes in Lucca

Last days in Lucca.

With limited cars in the Old Town, pushbikes are the way to get around. I had on my mind the Level 2 Introduction to Photography class I deliver at RMIT where I set a project for the students to produce a series of photos based on cycling. So I had half an eye out for a bike shot as I was exploring the town and this is what I ended up with.

Cinque Terre on a rainy day.

Five little seaside villages on the Italian Riviera coastline with colourful houses and vineyards perched on steep terraced cliffs, harbours dotted with fishing boats, cliffside hiking trails and panoramic sea views. And it rained and it was cold and windy. The walks were closed due to the weather but there’s a train that stops in each village so access was pretty easy.

Breakfast in Monterosso

We started at the northernmost town of Monterosso, where the crazy boys went for a swim. The main beach was closed, the umbrellas were down but they found a sheltered pocket and went in for a dip.

Lunch at Vernazza

Afternoon tea at Manarola

(We skipped Corniglia)
Manarola was my favourite. If I were to go back I’d spend a day or two here.

Dinner in Riomaggiore

Too tired by the end of the day to be inspired by Riomaggiore. I contemplated going back to Manarola for some dusk shots but decided the weather was really too shit to bother. Pizza and Vino to watch the non-sunset and figure out the best way back to Lucca. Turns out it wasn’t as straight forward as we’d thought and we had to make a quick decision to get off the train at an earlier stop and hope to get the last train back to Lucca. And then there was confusion over which Platform was 1A and a last minute dash to jump on a train that luckily turned out to be heading in the right direction. Dealing with the transport was without doubt one of the most challenging aspects of travelling.
I did consider going back another day for the sunset/dusk shots at Manarola but I just didn’t have the energy. I do wish I had pushed myself to go back though.

Florence

I’m willing to go on record as being one of the few who was NOT enamoured with Florence. We went early in the week fully expecting to go back another day to see more but one day was more than enough for us. I’ll confess I’m not a fan of big cities and maybe it would have taken me a few days to adjust and see the beauty. But really, it just didn’t do it for me. Even the famed Boboli Gardens were a disappointment. Sunrise or dusk might have helped but I wasn’t enticed to hang around that long. The fucking tourists groups were like swarms of insects. We were there on shoulder season and it was still hot and crowded. I can’t honestly image what it would be like in peak season.

We started out at Uffizi Gallery. I’m not a history fan (interested, but only so much). I’m fussy with my art and I just don’t know how many paintings of Jesus anyone needs to see. Churches irritate me. I appreciate the architecture but the religion and associated hypocrisy on multiple levels disturbs me. And a strategically placed statue can be interesting but after a while they all start to blur into one another. I know, I know, I’m showing my bogan roots and my absolute ignorance of history and art etc, or maybe my expectations were too high.

I’m sure there’s much to love about Florence but it would take me more than a day to get beyond the touristy bits and find some soul. If you’ve been and loved it, what did you love about it?

The old and the young.

I was impressed with the women owning the manspreading way before it was a thing.

Far be it for me to judge (but I will anyway) but why would you park yourself in front of a famous monument to paint and then use your phone as a reference photo?

Quite a story going on here don’t ya think?

Just doin’ their job on the Ponte Vecchio.

Bloody swarming with tourists! Yes, yes, I get the irony of complaining about tourists.

One of few interesting points in Boboli Gardens. Maybe I was just in a bad mood that day?

Trying hard to appreciate new art.

Who commissions and pays for these things? This is worse than the red seats in Venice.

I can appreciate

a fruit and veg shop selling Vino.

All the girls on scooters in Italy was pretty impressive.

Italy - Lucca

More stairs! We had 6 days in Lucca which should have been a good chance to rest, relax and recover from the first couple of weeks and set out with vigour to explore all that Italy has to offer. We had some transport dramas getting there and an airbnb host who was insistent on a precise arrival time so she could explain (with the help of a friend who spoke english, how to turn the stove on, what to do if the electricity tripped and how to negotiate the 4 recycle bins). Lugging luggage up those narrow flights of steps after a long day negotiating transport issues you really just want to relax, not get a run down of how every little detail works. Most of the locations I’d stay up to this point left you to your own devices with often too little information, but this was a detailed initiation and too much information! Still, the place was nice and well equipped. The wifo was dodgy, which turned out to be pretty common just about everywhere we stayed.

Unfortunately, behind the scenes there were some serious in-house issues we were dealing with. Communication, decision making, planning; all were not going well. It was a pretty rocky week and we were all looking for early flights home. A bit of a disaster really. Still, we were in Italy. We pushed through and tried to make the most of it.

Still being fairly new to the concept of Walled Towns, I set out to walk around the top of the Lucca Walls. And wow, these walls are wide and beautiful. Like a boulevard. About 4km long and I was blessed with intermittent light sun showers along the way. Lucca is a great little town with a gazillion churches. Very few cars in the Old Town so lots of push bikes. We stayed just outside the walls with a rural scene from the back door but not far from a main street. I couldn’t live in Italy based solely on the sirens of the emergency vehicles. Like a cross between a high pitched wail and a clown honking a seriously annoying air horn.

I’m not a huge fan of sculptures in general. But I was pretty taken by the work of Andrea Roggi that was dotted around Lucca. I’d have one of these in my garden for sure.