If you can tell me what you thought or felt when you looked at these photos, then I will tell you what I felt and saw as I was photographing them.
Pienza to San Gimignano
One of the frustrating things about travelling as a photographer is that you simply can’t be everywhere you want to be at the right time of day. We had limited time in Southern Tuscany as it was, and then we lost a day having to back track to San Gimignano. We were supposed to call in on the the way from Lucca to Pienza but we got lost in Pisa and ran out of time. It’s about a 2 hour drive from Pienza so we weren’t going to get there for either early morning or late afternoon light so it was the middle of the day or nothing. We stopped along the way to take photos of iconic sites like the Chapel of Our Lady of Vitaleta below. It was not the right light and you can walk closer but of course we didn’t have time, so I just got what I could and kept on going. I hoped I’d get another chance but it didn’t happen on this trip. I’ve already mentioned I’d return to this part of Italy and allow much more time to explore and be in the right place at the right time of day .
Sunflower season was over so there were only a few stray patches left hear and there. I did find a fabulous field of dead sunflowers which I’ll share in a separate post. One of the hard decisions would be to decide which season to return in as they all offer something different. The sunflowers would be a big draw card but the heat and the crowds would be a definite turn off.
San Gimignano - lots of character, and lots of crowds
(most of which I cropped out to retain the character)
I think we should introduce more of these little 3 wheel vehicles into Australia. They’re like a cross between a motorbike and a ute. How practical is that!
This photo looks a bit cold or austere whereas San Gimignano was quite warm and bustling. It’s just that the street was full of tourists so I cropped them out and the light was shit because it was the middle of the day and adding nothing to the scene.
A bit of a debacle trying to find an alternate route home via the Chianti region. Three times around a crazy busy roundabout before we were on the right road to find a winery for an afternoon Vino. Then a very narrow, very winding dirt road before we back tracked to this little village we’d passed through. Next time in Italy will include more time to explore the Chianti region.
Pienza - An early morning walk around the Old Town
Quiet, peaceful, beautiful. Take me back there!
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.
