Wet and Stormy in Padova

Not very much good can be said about today's weather in Padua. After yesterday's wet welcome the rain continued and during the night we had a huge thunder, lightning and rain storm. Today had dry patches, some heavy rain and a maximum temperature of 16 degrees. Not at all travelling weather.

Between rain this morning we made a trip to the PAM supermarket for some food items then later we walked along the colonaded footpaths in our immediate area to get our bearings i.e. check out where the bakeries, coffee stops, wine sales and other important places are. Our neighbourhood is very much self sufficient with all the essentials, as well as a man making hand made shoes, a dry cleaners, art studios, a music shop, offices and more.

We have certainly seen why the colonaded footpaths are a trademark of this part of northern Italy. With so much rain they are pretty much essential.

The Giro d'Italia cycling race is finishing in Padova on the 23rd and the city is beginning to turn pink (the colour of the Giro). Alas we will be gone by then.

The cake shop display included pink meringues, and the tram had a pink livery.

A statue of Vittorio Emanuele II - Liberator stands in a beautiful treed location    and close by is the Sanctuary of San Leopoldo Mandić, both of which have excellent statues but of very different styles.

Most of the afternoon was spent trying to get reception on the tv to watch the Giro, and doing crosswords or sudokus. A break in the radar pattern sent us out to find the Porta Santa Croce, one of the 16th century access gates in the defensive wall. This gate is still locked every night .

We continued on to Prato della Valle, the main piazza in Padua, but again a piazza with a difference. This eliptical area of 90,000 square metres has been a public space since the 1600s. It has an island, canals and many statues. Despite the ever increasing showers we did manage to get a few photos.

We hurried home along the colonades before a detour for a bottle of wine found us stranded by a heavy downpour. Cancel that idea!

We have a fresh pasta shop very close by our casa and Kel went in to buy pasta and came out with a large serve of ready made vegetable lasagne. We have just finished eating it and it was divine.

Still the stormy weather continues. Our plan for tomorrow was to go to Vicenza on the train however this morning they had a code red alert for flooding and had had 61 mm of rain yesterday. It can only have got worse today so we are not going.

We have to do what we missed doing today ... hope the rain stops soon.

San Quirico to Padova by Public Transport

If any of my travel plans were going to go wrong then today was the day! To get from San Quirico to Padua required an early start and four transport changes, and some of the plans were sketchy.

The only bus that could get us to Siena in time for our first train left San Quirico at 7.30 am from a spot outside the town wall, and nobody could tell us where to get the tickets. Some detective work and some luck meant we found a safe walking route to the bus, and our trip back from Pienza introduced us to the fact that all buses in Tuscany now acccept a credit card tap. And it wasn't raining, as predicted. So leg one was accomplished with ease in one and a quarter hours.

As we circumnavigated the city of Siena I tried to capture some shots of the ancient gates.

Less than twelve months ago we were in this very spot having just completed walking 128 kms of the Via Francigena.

Leg two from Siena to Florence required purchasing the tickets on line many months ago without allocation of seats, then very early this morning I had to check-in on line but still no seat numbers. Weird, even weirder that our tickets were never checked.

We arrived in Florence at 10.52 am and had time for much needed food - a vegetarian piadina. A thought crossed my mind that two couples that were with us in Morocco were probably also in Florence today. A quick WhatsApp chat told us that D & K were on their way to Venice on the train and we had just missed J & B who were going to Pisa. What fun!

Our Italo fast train was fifteen minutes late leaving Florence, and the rain had started. The trip was smooth, fast and quiet and I slept for a lot of it. We arrived in Padova just after 2.30 pm. They have obviously had a lot of rain recently as there was water everywhere. Step three accomplished.

Our apartment, Casa Elena, is quite a way from the station but luckily there is a modern tram that bisects the city and runs past our front door. A dash through rain, a book of ten tram tickets and in five minutes we were on the tram ... and not long after, off at the correct spot.

The  casa is fascinating  because it it a self check-in with a big door on a colonaded footpath. Once inside, the wide corridor opens up to a garden and a pair of apartments upstairs overlooking gardens and rooftops. We can't hear the trams but we can hear the church bells.

Another new conversion with all amenities, lots of charm and class. As it hasn't stopped raining we haven't ventured any further than the panificio next door to get some food and drinks for tea ...and then these two little ducks will be wading off to bed. A big day that thankfully went perfectly.

San Quirico

Today was our last day in San Quirico so we went to Bar Centrale for breakfast before stopping by the pharmacy and the book exchange. 

At that point we discovered that it was market day. There are not a lot of shops in San Quirico so the market is essential. It was well attended, especially by the ladies who were looking for summer dresses and flowers for their pots. Vegetable seedlings, fish and cheese were also popular.

At the shoe stall Kel found some house shoes so they became a birthday gift for his birthday in ten days time. We then went to a shop in via Dante Aligheri which sells local crafts and he bought me a birthday gift for next week. I had been eyeing off a hand painted Christmas bauble all week.

The farmers were in town too!

San Quirico has four 'quartiere' and 'our' quartiere is Borgo..

Back at Casa della Fonte it was time to re-pack the suitcases and do the house duties. Always love a visit to the recycling and rubbish big bins! 

As the refrigerator was bare we had to eat out. What a shame! First stop was the bar for a drink and a plate of nibbles, then a walk to the end of town where we nearly saw our first sunset for the trip.

Many of the shops have still been closed, the season not quite started yet. Tonight a pizza shop opened so we went there, and even sat inside as it was quite cold with a little rain. The blue cheese, caramelized onions and walnut pizza was excellent. A nice farewell to beautiful San Quirico d'Orcia.

Tomorrow we have a big day ahead of us with a bus leg and two train legs to get us to Padova (or Padua to us non Italians).

San Quirico - a walk to Pienza and a ride back

 It was overcast this morning and quite humid so walking conditions were different to previous days, pleasant to start but quite hot once we started the climbs.

The route to Pienza from San Quirico is an out and back, and the first part is a repeat of the walk we did on Friday to the  Vitaleta Chapel. For that reason we decided to catch the bus back from Pienza.

Being familiar with the first part of the walk allowed us to enjoy it more. Kel was busy using Google View to identify the many flowers blooming beside the track.

Iconic cypress trees dot the landscaoe of the Val d'Orcia.

A small area covered in tiny buttercups was so pretty, the signs indicated that it is a truffle area and truffle hunting was forbidden

Another iconic view.

Then after a stiff climb we reached the chapel once more. We were early so only a few people were about.

Reaching the point where we turned right last time, we turned left and followed the sign pointing to Pienza. Pienza was way in the distance behind the signpost.

We walked quite a long  way on the white (and dusty) road until the lack of signs made me look at the GPS. O-oh, we were heading away from the marked road. As we contemplated our options and had almost decided to retrace our steps, along came a man who asked where we were going. He told us to go back about 250 metres and turn down a pathway. We had seen that pathway but the name on the board did not match anything on our maps, and certainly no mention of Pienza.

It was a long steep drop down into the valley; the views were stunning ...

... and then the path started going up, very up!

The reward for all this challenging (for me, but not Kel) climbing is the view. The Val d'Orcia is one super huge panoramic view.

We finally reached the ancient Romanesque style Pieve di Corsignano, an old parish church outside of Pienza. It also has a long history with the Via Francigena with written mentions dating back to the 7th century. This building appears to be 12th century.

The font is a stunningly beautiful piece, in an ancient way. It is built into the wall therefore not free standing, the metal hinged lid is a treasure and a marble above tells that Pope Pius II and his nephew Pope Pius III were baptised here. 

The interior is bare but there is some Romanesque decoration carved into the entrance portal. The cylindrical bastion-like bell tower is unusual.

Some more climbing and we finally reached the Piazza Pio II, all beautifully covered in a floral display.

We were lucky to find a table at a little cafe where we enjoyed cold drinks and warm porchetta panini. Porchetta is a whole pig stuffed with herbs and spit roasted. It makes the most delicious panini and we both love porchetta.

After lunch we took Aldo for a photo on the belvedere wall overlooking the valley.

After a wander through the Ideal Town we had a perfect gelato (almond, passionfruit and cantucci with vin santo) before heading off to get our 2.54 pm  bus back to San Quirico. Traditionally bus tickets have been purchased at Tabacs or bars. We were directed by ths Tabac in the old town to one out of town. Failing to find it and running out of time, we decided to see if we could buy on the bus. 'Tip Tap' contactless, great, except that you each need to use a separate card. So one of us paid and one didn't, the driver didn't seem to care.

Today we walked almost 12 kms... and we enjoyed our ride home on the bus!