We crossed the Apennine Mountains this morning, known for its Carrara marble quarries, and passed through at least 50 tunnels on the way. The road was an amazing feat of engineering, and this whole region, known as the Cinque Terre, is known for cliffside hiking trails and sea vistas. It was raining most of the way, a good day for traveling.
In Pisa, we stopped for the obligatory view of the leaning tower again, which we had already seen on our first tour. We went to the same place we had gone on that tour, a little café not far from the tower, for a light lunch, and also a local specialty we had seen on menus everywhere, a spritz. This is an Italian wine-based drink consisting of Prosecco, digestive bitters, and soda water. It was very refreshing – the rain had stopped, and it had turned warmer as we traveled south.
Our dinner that evening was in a farmhouse in the Tuscan
hills called il Poggio, in a large, open dining room where another tour
group was also eating dinner. They were
a little farther along in the consumption of wine than our group, and as they wrapped
things up, their very happy tour director sang an impromptu karaoke song. Not to be undone, our tour director, Lino,
delivered a creditable version of the Sinatra classic I Did it My Way.
Wandering among the tables was Bruno, a St. Bernard dog that the owners referred to as an overgrown “Chihuahua.” Bruno would bump into legs under the tables and occasionally emerge to stare dolefully (or hungrily?) at we diners.
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