365 Days of Solitude: The Road to Göppingen

There are certainly other areas of Italy besides Tuscany, but once you're there it's very hard to tear yourself away. After leaving Rome, Patrick and I trekked through Montalcino and Florence to finally end up in Riparbella. Last year, when Patrick was in Italy, he spent time at an olive farm a few kilometers from the town picking....you guessed it....olives! Before coming to meet me in Rome he contacted the owners, Ursula and Sigismund, and told them that we were going to be passing through the area in the upcoming weeks and asked if we could come visit. The two of them emigrated to Italy from Germany with their family thirty-one years ago and happily adopted Tuscany as their home.

We arrived in Cecina via the train where Ursula met us to give us a ride to their farm (the train doesn't run to Riparbella). The three days that we spent with them were my favorite so far in Italy, which is saying something because by that point we'd already visited Rome, Montalcino, and Florence. And these cities were incredible too, but there was something about being out in the country and getting to walk around the olive orchards that was so much more meaningful than sightseeing at monuments. The first night there was cold and rainy so we didn't do anything more than stay inside and eat the delicious food that Ursula had prepared and listen to the pontifications of Sigismund. The second day was a work day and Patrick and I helped out with the olive picking. They were right at the end of the harvest so the work went quickly. Our time there passed too quickly though - I would have been happy staying there for a few weeks!

After a day of riding the trains we ended up in snow-filled Innsbruck. We decided on this as a rest point to hang out before heading into Germany to meet up with our grandmother and then, later in the week, Radu and his family. We experienced our first day of super cold weather - I felt like I was back in Crested Butte when my nostrils began to freeze! The Christmas Market was in full swing so after a couple of hours walking around the town each day, we'd stop by for a hot plate of wurst, sauerkraut, and potatoes followed by a warm apple strudel. It's only 10 in the morning while I'm writing this and I'm already getting hungry just thinking about it!

Montalcino:

Montalcino sunset

Ah yes, the little known Egyptian connection to Montalcino!

The local hospital.

Interesting iron work.

Lonely doorway.

Just peachy!

Another old Fiat.

From the inside of the castle.

The vineyards that produce the wonderful Brunello.

The Eye of Montalcino and Chuck.

The Tuscan sky.

Florence:

Ahhhh, the return to Florence!

X + Man = X-man? Good Wolverine impression either way.

My favorite Italian city.

Just outside the city walls.

Florentine graffiti.

It's still here! The food was as good as I remember from two years ago.

Paper snowflakes Italian-style.

Hold that cab....!

On the Ponte Vecchio with Patrick.

The Palazzo Vecchio. Luckily Anthony Hopkins was not hanging around....won't ever think of this building the same after seeing Hannibal.

Walking back to the Duomo.

Florentine pigeons trying to keep warm.

Riparbella:

Signs on the walk from the farm to Riparbella.

I'm working in one of these pictures for every post ;)

Yesssss it was cold!

Make that very cold.

Who's that?!

Sunday in Riparbella....not a whole lot going on.

Peaceful Sunday at an Italian home.

Ursula and Sigismund's olive orchard.

Olives and ocean in the afternoon.

Keeping warm in the evenings.

Innsbruck:

Morning in Innsbruck.

Get your hand out of my picture!

Beautiful Innsbruck.

At the Innsbruck city park.

Who said Italians are the only ones with colorful buildings?

Painting on the wall.

I first took this picture because I thought it was funny to use as advertising for a store. On second look though, that hair/glasses/hat combination bears an uncanny resemblance to someone else....

Ahhhhhh! Scary I know.

An Anthony-Hopkins-lookalike running with the Obama campaign logo and using the slogan "Bla, bla bla". I shudder to think what the commercials are like.