This was huge - this tops July 4th in Southport - this was EuroChocolate! While my friends persued their own interests in Florence, I decided to once again ride the rails through the hills - this time to Perugia. Several people had told us about the big chocolate festival so I went to check it out. I slid right out of Tuscany and into the region of Umbria (Italy has 20 regions - like our states) after making a transfer in Arezzo (where I witnessed the winning football/soccer team arrive). When I got to Perugia, I just followed the crowds onto waiting buses and up to the old medieval part of the city and became part of the throng! Thousands of revelers made their way among the chocolate tents and vendors, tasting and buying all sorts of Europe's best chocolates. It was quite an adventure to add to my long list of life experiences! Perhaps I'll go back to Perugia someday to see what its like on a normal day. Tomorrow it's Venice again! More later!
I HAVE SET UP A NEW PHOTOBLOG SITE FOR THE 2014 TOURS. YOU CAN STILL SEE PHOTOS FROM 2008 TO 2013 HERE. TO VIEW THE LATEST TOURS GO TO: WWW.INTUSCANYWITHPATRIZIA.BLOGSPOT.COM
Un Tour Guidato de Tuscano - A Guided Tour of Tuscany
Today we had arranged for a 12-hour bus tour of Tuscany to include Siena, San Gimignano, the Chianti countryside and Pisa. What a great day we had! The sun came out beautifully by the time we reached Siena for our tour of that unique city. Later we enjoyed a video on the bus of the Palio horserace held there twice each year. We saw some truly Tuscan countryside as we continued on to our lunch venue, a winery farmhouse where they also produce olive oil and honey. Our typical Tuscan lunch was quite good and we tasted their wine specialities too. A short ride took us to "San Jimmy" and it was truly a photographer's paradise - you'll see when you look at the photos! Late afternoon found us in Pisa where we took in the classic Leaning Tower of Pisa in the "Field of Miracles". We were there until the sun went down behind the walls then it was back to Florence - arriving about 8:30 p.m. This was a highlight day of our Tuscan sojourn - enjoyed by all with memories to last a lifetime! More later!