Buranco Agriturismo where we stayed in Monterosso al Mare
Getting ready to leave Monterosso and Buranco Agriturismo on Tuesday, May 18, 2010, we were greatly aided when the owner’s wife, Loredana offered to drive us to La Spezia, (where we were going to end up after an expensive taxi ride or an impossible walk with our packs and a train ride through the first 5 Cinque Terra towns!
Quickly (quite quickly, in fact very FAST) she drove us over some hills, down the other side, through some neat inland towns, fantastic views, quick switchbacks, passing cars about every five minutes on a narrow road where you could not see and were completely in the other lane, I think you get the idea?? She gave us a running flow of information, most of which we understood, and if we didn’t we said “Si” anyway, and we watched her have several incidents with other drivers where she made the famous Italian gesture over her shoulder with the right hand (hers was very refined – her husband is a member of Parliament – and not accompanied by any words… if you get my drift.)
Again, quite quickly, we were on the train station, and then on the train to Pisa. The Hotel Milano was quite nice and VERRY close to the train station. We unloaded and began our walk of the town. We got a little lost (although Rick Steves recommends doing that… and had a great meal at a sort of Turkish/Greek place with fantastic filled pita bread meal). I think because of this misdirection we also got to see the remains of a Roman bath, not even on the map for Pisa (See pictures)
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2X1LUE4a5UE
Then we walked toward the “Field of Miracles” from the Leaning Tower end of the field. Amazing… even after seeing hundreds of pictures in my life, I was still floored by seeing it in person, how huge it is, you have to walk far way away to get a decent picture.
The Duomo (Cathedral) and the Baptistery were equally fantastic, and we went to a museum to see the original drawings of the murals that cover the inside of the Camposanto Cemetery. The dirt inside the Cemetery is “holy dirt”, brought back by Crusading Pisasanos from the Holy Land. The “Holy Land” dirt is supposed to reduce a body into a skeleton within a day.
Really fantastic.
After all that we spent 20 minutes finding a Hostel for David, as our hotel would not take a third person.
The next morning we rented a car and were off to the Hill Towns of Tuscany…
Monterosso al Mare, Italy… arriving by train, we knew that the Agrotouristico Baranca was uphill about 10 minutes away, so we called to have our luggage carried uphill for us to our place that we were staying at for two nights. The train arrives in what they call the “new” town, divided from the “old town” by basically a small mountain. After a snack, we walked around the rocky cliff that fronts the sea. One of the more expensive restaurants Ristorante Tortuga (Turtle Restaurant) is built right into the cliff wall (under the walkway). Walking further we enter the old town, and out to the breakwater. From there we can see the two bomb hardened bunkers built by the Germans in the occupation of the town. The Allies tried to bomb the train tracks, but only succeeded in taking out the Town Hall (it has been rebuilt on the same site.)
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIe7V-_do3A
After wandering a bit we came to the main church in town, Church of Saint John the Baptist. It is built of black and white Italian marble in a Romanesque style, and next to it the Oratory of the Dead (also black and white) this was built by a brotherhood of good works, like a Rotary Club called “confraternities”. The town had two, the black and the white. This building was the oratory of the Black group, and their good work consisted of arranging funerals, taking care of widows, orphans and the shipwrecked. Here is their symbol, a skull, crossbones and an hourglass…death awaits us all… (nice huh?)
We followed the suggested walk so we could explore the town and see the sights according to Rick Steves. We went back to the waterfront to start our walk to the Church of the Capuchin Friars (a lot of steps in the “Switchbacks of the Friars”, but great views at the top. This church was also black and white, but a closer look showed no marble, just cheap 18th century stucco!! But the inside was nice and there were some nice paintings attributed to Antony Van Dyck.
Then we walked further upward, to a cemetery, built around and within an old castle. Very nice views. But lots of dead people. Following the Rick Steves map, we continued uphill, for some distance!!! Hard walking (a real hill!!) finally a sign for Buranco Agrotourismo. Down, down, down a hill. Finally, a big party (the owner is a member of Parliament and) had a big party going on. But we had wine tasting and leftover snacks, from the dinner verrry good!! Our place was very cute, sleeps three, basically a small house, over the wine room itself. Only after getting here, a strenuous walk of about an hour, did we get told that there was a 2 minute shortcut to the town!! Oh well, we got to see the sights, I guess.
The next day we visited first, the town Corniglia, high on a hill, we took the bus up (I was so glad), then walked down through the town, nice views, nice food. David hurt himself again (with his sore leg from the Heidelberg bike accident) trying to walk down the 400 stairs.
Then we took the train to Vernazza, it had a nice harbor, we walked to the top of the town, then back again, watching the stream, which in this town, has not been covered by a road. Nice town, but we were on the way back to Monterosso al Mare. A nice dinner and a night at the farm. See the video of our experiences.
Next we move to the Hill Towns of Tuscany, see you tomorrow
I stayed up until 1 am posting Friday’s blog. The built-in alarm woke me up at 6:30 am and I decided to sleep another 5 minutes. Well that was almost a big mistake, instead I was waking up at 7:30 and the bus leaves in 30 minutes. So we all rushed to our final packing and made it to the bus station with 5 minutes to spare.
Leaving Punta Ala by bus, we made it to Follonca in about 35 minutes and hopped a train to Pisa. From Pisa we transferred to La Spezia. Weather ranged between cloudy and steady rain all the way.
La Spezia is not a tourist town and we stayed there only long enough to grab a great lunch of Italian food. Then we took another train to our next vacation stop at Manarola, Town #2 in the Cinque Terra. We are staying there for two nights. The train arrives in the station, where you take a pedestrian tunnel (a two hundred foot long tunnel in which the inhabitants huddled in World War II during the bombings of Italy) to arrive at the main town.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OcSb8brztw
In Manarola, we hiked the trail that winds through parts of the many vineyards that hug the mountain sides. Can you image the labor involved in taking care of these grapes, pruning, spraying, picking, and then finally hauling them off of the mountain? Then we went to the marina and enjoyed a drink and some coffee in the sunshine. Lots of tourists in this town. The place we stayed, Casa Capellini, had a balcony and the most fantastic views. Some of the pictures you see in the video were taken from the balcony of our apartment. As you can see, the town is on a mountain side, and walking is either vertical up or vertical down, or at least it seemed that way.
The next morning we took the Via dell’Amore, (lovers lane) to Riomaggiore, took the requisite picture kissing at the specified seat of love.
The town seemed smaller than Manarola, we did the Rick Steves’ walk to see the town and its churches, had a bite to eat at a Pizzaria, and took the walk back. It had started to rain, so we spent the afternoon in a bar, drinking caffe latte grande (and wine for Judy and David) and discussing David’s crazy construction ideas (among other things).
After a short nap, we went back (our second dinner in as many days) to Trattoria Dal Billy for a wonderful dinner of black pasta (made with squid ink) and assorted seafood, mussels, clams including some things that looked like they were from outer space, sort of a weird shrimp (this was for David and Judy). I had a steak, but it was sort of cooked in a sauce instead of grilled, but very good all the same. The Grapa was complementary, making a fine evening all around.
The next morning we took the train to Monterrosso al Mare… to be continued with the next blog…
By the way, we were in an area without wifi for the last several days and I had some withdrawal problems, not having access to the internet, but now that I have a connection again, things are fine. View Larger Map
We awoke in time to catch the 8:00 bus to Follonica, thinking we had a train to catch at 9:30 AM. Got to town, went to the bus station and bought three tickets… checked the line and sat waiting. Trains went by on both directions at a high rate of speed… time moved on. Finally a railroad employee asked us what we were waiting for? We said to go to Grossetto… we walked him to the sign, and he showed us the 9:30 train only worked on Sundays and holidays… BUMMER.
So then we walked around, somewhat familiar with the town since we has been here the day before yesterday (that was the day we learned to take the early train) Trip to the grocery for David to get some beer, stop for a sandwich, then down to the beach… not exactly hot, but not too cold either. So we sat on the wall and watched Italian society evolve around us, while David drank beer, and ate strawberries and sweet rolls.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69CdovqEaKE
Finally, time for the train… a quick ride, less than 50 KM (that’s what the ticket said) and we were at Grossetto. All the shops in the train station wanted 7 Euros or more for a map… so we wandered, until we could pick up a free map (pretty bad Zerox), but we found a fantastic “Museo Archeological” and spent several hours learning about the old former city of Rocellae, an ancient town of Etruria (now Tuscany), which survived until the Middle Ages before being abandoned. The ruins are about 8 km northeast of Grosseto. There was lots of interesting pottery and other information about how life was lived in that time.
There was also information in the museum of Roman evidence in the area, statuary and pottery.
Then we wandered into the old walled city of Grossetto: The walls were begun by Francesco I de Medici in 1574, replacing those from the 12th-14th centuries, as part of his policy of making Grosseto a stronghold to protect his southern border. The construction took 19 years, the resulting walled city in the middle of the current Grossetto has a hexagonal shape, six straight walls, between each is an arrow shaped reinforcement , for defense. Until 1757 the exterior was surrounded by a ditch with an earthen moat.
After dinner, a quick trip back to the train station for the return to Follonica, and finally to Punto Ala, home until Friday and we venture on! View Larger Map
Lisa J. Lehr is one of the local contributors to this website. I’ll have more about our travels in Italy tomorrow. By the way, I really appreciate Lisa’s contributions and welcome anyone else who would like to contribute to this site.
by Lisa J. Lehr
Have you heard about the tool that can bring in 90% of your sales?
If you have a website to promote your business, product, or service, there’s one tool that could literally bring you 90% of your sales. If you’re using this tool, you’re in a good position to capture the lion’s share of your market niche; if you’re not, you may be getting only 10% of the sales that could be yours. And if you’re not—and your competitors are—well, good luck!
This powerful tool is an auto responder series.
You may have heard the saying that it takes “seven touches” to turn a prospect into a client. Auto responders are the perfect way to accomplish those seven touches. Here’s why:
1. They’re automatic. Once you’ve placed the opt-in form on your web page, and composed and queued your series of seven (or more) messages, those messages go out to your list with no further thought on your part.
2. You create top-of-mind awareness. When your potential clients need the product or service you offer, you’ll be the first one they think of.
3. The system is flexible. You can add, delete, or edit your messages, and/or broadcast to your entire list at once if you need to announce a special offer or news item.
4. No one gets angry with you. Part of the automated system is an opt-out link at the end of each message. If someone is tired of hearing from you, one click and they’re removed from the list.
5. You can up sell. You may be able to split your list into those who’ve bought from you and those who haven’t, and offer things like higher-end products and services, continuity programs, and affiliate products to your satisfied customers.
6. You can partner with other local businesses. You send your subscribers coupons for your partners’ businesses, they do the same for you, and you multiply your list of prospects!
Auto responders are particularly useful if your product is a one-time type of purchase, or a seasonal or big-ticket item that people buy only occasionally. You don’t want your prospects to forget about you between that first “curiosity” visit to your site and when they actually need what you offer.
An auto responder series is an important part of a complete marketing program; the other parts must be in place in order for them to be effective. You need good web copy, for example, so your site visitors will stick around long enough to fill out the opt-in form. A news release may lead to a feature story about your business, which could bring in a flood of website visitors.
Your auto responders must be written well too, and can be created around any of a variety of themes: based on case studies or testimonials; focused on particular products or services you offer; or written like informative articles, establishing you as an authority in your niche.
Auto responders can truly mean capturing 90% of your potential business—or letting your competitors have it!
Lisa J. Lehr is a writer and copywriter living in Grass Valley. She can help you promote your business with a full range of online and offline marketing pieces. A member of Empire Toastmasters, she’s available to speak to your business or professional group. Visit her website www.justrightcopy.com for more information, opt in for the message series, and receive a free Marketing Guide.
—
Lisa J. Lehr
I write words that make you money–just ask me how. www.justrightcopy.com
Visit my website and sign up for my free marketing tips.
New! No cost Marketing Guide now available at my website.
I made a video of a few pictures I took around Follonica and Punta Ala. However, I am still learning and this video is not too good. I lowered the resolution of the photos before I made the film and it shows. The next one will be better.
We left Florence on May 8 and continued by train to Follonica. The train ride took three hours. It was fast and very clean. From Follonica, there is a bus or taxi that goes to Punta Ala, our final destination for this leg of the trip. Our choice to go to Punta Alta was a taxi for 35 euro’s or 2.5 euro’s for a bus. Although we had to wait two hours for the bus, it was very comfortable and a short ride of 30 minutes. Punta Alta is in the Tuscany region but located on the Mediterranean coast (actually called the Ligurian Sea). After much difficulty and wandering aimlessly, due to an almost complete lack of signage, we came to our destination, Residencia I Borboli.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2-vTEUDyeU
Turns out this is a very exclusive residential area, with a huge marina filled with millions or more likely billions of dollars worth of yachts, sailboats and a few smaller vessels. It is off season now, a little early (probably why Judy was able to get the timeshare on a trade), their season starts in June. So not too many people and some restaurants still closed. A little market (things cost 4X what they do in Follonica) which is really about the size of a 7-11 store.4:30 or you are there for the night! On our way to catch the bus, we walked the block in a different direction. Looking at one of the closed stores, we saw what we thought was a bum. Hadn’t seen any bums since we had arrived in Italy, only a few beggers. But lo! It turned out to be David, Judy’s son! The night before he had a bad bicyle accident and was laying down in pain. He had just arrived in Follonica, and was waiting for a bus.
So after our reunion, we all waited for the bus to Punta Ala. It was a good thing because given the hard time we had at finding our place to stay, at least we could save David the search, and given that he was crippled and in pain from a bicycle accident in Heidelberg before he left yesterday, that was a good thing.
Early in the morning, May 4, 2010 the alarm rings and our day starts, a drive to Sacramento where it takes a map and a phone call to find the address of the person storing the car and driving us to the airport. Not a good start for a 6 week trip to Europe.
But everything is fine from there on, United Airlines is on time and arrives early at Dulles International Airport. The flight from Sacramento to Dulles Airport normally takes four hours and eleven minutes. We had a tail wind so we arrived a little early. A decent lunch and we await the next leg, Lufthansa to Frankfurt, Germany. So far it has been painless, as I read the paper and do Sudako, Judy has finished one book on the new Kindle. The next trip will be the grueling one, but an overnight trip, so we shall see.
The wait for our next flight is four hours. But somehow we end up at the wrong gate and miss the connection. Another one leaves an hour later and we arrive in Frankfort just an hour after our planned flight…however, the problem is our flight to Florence has left, and all flights are full until the next day.
So it is a night at a German Hotel by the airport, and a trip to downtown Frankfurt on the subway for the day of May 5, 2010. We find this fantastic shopping center called “My Zie” which has a glass tube going through it from the front to the top of the building. Very modern (and expensive inside) At the Food Mall there was every kind of food (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, and Italian) except German. So we went on the street for some German food. And the good news was we were able to change both out reservations in Florence and the Walking Tour of Florence and famous art galleries to the following days without added costs.
Myzie-Frankfurt
Arriving in Florence, it is raining. Luckily I had brought an umbrella, and Judy had a hood on her coat, and our room at Katti House were only a few blocks away. After lunch, we explored the town, (all within a 20 minute walk from our rooms. I recognized all the 14th century buildings and main historical sightseeing spots from my three months of playing “Assassin’s Creed II, a Play Station 3 video game!! Assassin’s Creed II is set in the 13th century with a very realistic recreation of the cities of Florence, Rome, Tuscany and some other minor towns. The historical buildings are in the game with a history of the time they were built and by whom.
We visited both the Galileo Science History Museum, and the Da Vinci Museum, to find tons of fascinating inventions and scientific findings, that were then somewhat lost through the dark ages to be rediscovered later.
On Friday we had three (3!) different Walking/Art Tours of Florence. The first walked us through the history of the city from Roman times, with a small walled city and tiny streets, through the Renaissance, with a second set of walls, further out, and then a third set making the town very large, to now where of course the city expands past all those walls, most of which were ripped down and re-used to build other buildings, churches, etc. We went inside the Beautiful Duomo, once the largest Church in Christendom, made entirely of white, green, and pink marble from Tuscany. Fantastic! You could see one side, recently cleaned and the other being restored with much soot and dirt on its outer walls. Luckily the current mayor of Florence has 4 weeks ago ordered all traffic diverted from the area, so hopefully the dirt build up won’t happen so fast. Much better for us pedestrians too!
Via Pietro Metastasio, Over looking the City of Florence
See Google Map below for location
The Uffizi courtyard was filled with famous originals (and some copies) from famous Renaissance sculptors. The Orsanmichele Church, in the 9th century was a market place, later turned into a church (with grain stored in the top two floors) because miracle started happening in front of a picture of the Madonna in the market! And Point Vecchio, the famous bridge in Florence, filled with gold sellers, and the crossing place for the “Prince’s passageway” the Vasari Corridor, allowing the ruling Medici family to go from the Pitti Palace ( their home) to the Uffizi (the center of government) without having to go out in public (including the smells), or be subjected to the dangers of open courtyards (the ever ready thief or assassin). We then toured the Uffizi itself ,packed full or famous artist’s works, and then to the Accademia, to view Michelangelo’s David, a truly amazing sculpture carved out of marble, with no models, working from the top – down to the feet.
Point Vecchio Bridge
By the way, I have a new Samsung camera which has GPS built in. That way, I get a map and location of where the pictures were taken. Kind of neat, since I’ve taken many pictures and wondered later where they were taken.
Hi to all of you who have been reading my blog. I’m leaving for Florence, Italy tomorrow. We fly out of here tomorrow from Sacramento, then to Dulles Airport. From Dallas we fly to Frankfurt Germany and from there to Florence. We plan a trip from the north of Italy to the most southern part. We’re also going to Heidelberg, Germany, were Judy’s son David has been working as a physicist for the last three years. Back in the States in six weeks.
So my blogs are going to be off and on, but I’ll be taking lots of pictures of our travels and I’ll post on this site.
In the meantime, here’s a really cute video of the true meaning of dog sledding.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcXX60tZZow
John J. O’Dell
Real Estate Broker
General Contractor
Civil Engineer
Looking for property in Nevada County?
Sign up for free e-mail at JohnOdellRealty.com
