We got back from Italy!

[raid]

Walking home each evening made us walk by this restaurant. The M9 handled it well.

Walking home in the evening ...... The girls always stopped at Baby Land, to see what they would get the following days.
It reminded us how young they really are.

 

[Highway 61]

Robert says "this is Italy!

This is Italy and any latin European country too. Casual dinner time is 8:30 PM, with most of customers arriving at 9:00 PM.

Well when you travel in a foreign country, you get to live according to that country habits. That's so simple.

BTW in Siena did you try "La taverna di Cecco", via Cecco Angiolieri, 19 ?

Very nice place, where tourists are of course a target (they would be stupid not to try to gather the more customers they could) but which could keep its authenticity nonetheless. I noticed that many customers looked to be locals and used to come here frequently, which is a very good sign.

I could park easily and for free in a quiet street located at about 10' walking from the Porta Camollia.

 

[raid]

San Quirico D'Orrice is an old village located about one hour driving south of Siena.
Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Quirico_d'Orcia
We would never have thought of visiting this old village hadn't Robert and his wife stayed there briefly. We drove over there to meet with them.

 

[raid]

It was our children being hungry that caused some unhappiness for them.
I am used to many cultures.


Raid

This is Italy and any latin European country too. Casual dinner time is 8:30 PM, with most of customers arriving at 9:00 PM.

Well when you travel in a foreign country, you get to live according to that country habits. That's so simple.

BTW in Siena did you try "La taverna di Cecco", via Cecco Angioleri, 19 ?

Very nice place, where tourists are of course a target (they would be stupid not to try to gather the more customers they could) but which could keep its authenticity nonetheless. I noticed that many customers looked to be locals and used to come here frequently, which is a very good sign.

I could park easily and for free in a quiet street located at about 10' walking from the Porta Camollia.

 

[raid]

Robert and his wife led us around in the village.

 

[raid]

Then, we drove to places close to this village, and we visited Pienza and Montecchino.

Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pienza

Pizza in Peinza:

 

[raid]

 

[raid]

Window Shopping.

 

[raid]

 

[Bingley]

This photo was not taken in Siena but in a small village south of Siena where Robert was staying with his wife. . I will write about it more.

Great photos, Raid! I particularly liked this one. 🙂

We just got home last night from two weeks in Lisbon, southern Portugal, and Sevilla, so we're experiencing jet lag, too.

 

[Bingley]

Thank you, Fred.

It was a bad penalty for us when we returned the rental car. It is real rip-off. I am not giving up a Penny though. I have been before through such a case.
The Hertz guy said "Hertz in Italy is different from Hertz in the USA". We had to pay several hundred EUROs for getting service via Hertz for fixing a flat tire and for jump starting the car!

Sorry to hear about your car problems. I rented a car from Hertz in the UK in 2011 and got similarly gouged. Never again! This time, we rented from Avis in Lisbon and had no problems.

 

[Bingley]

S T E F A N E L

These are a very nice set. We visited Siena in the late 1970s, and would love to go back.

 

[Bingley]

Hi everybody, it was nice to meet Raid in Italy! And I had my Rollei with me ...

and the Leica x1 as well ...

yes, the weather was a little...rainy and windy...

bad weather helps the photographers, sometimes...

robert

Very nice squares, Robert! We had some bad weather in Portugal last week, which made for (I hope) dramatic black and white skies. 🙂

 

[raid]

I hope that you had a great trip to Portugal, Steve. When you have time, post some images from the trip at RFF.

Thanks.

 

[raid]

Sorry to hear about your car problems. I rented a car from Hertz in the UK in 2011 and got similarly gouged. Never again! This time, we rented from Avis in Lisbon and had no problems.

I will wait to hear back from Hertz USA before dumping Hertz forever. EUROPCAR treated me very fairly a few years ago.

 

[raid]

As for the off brand batteries, I will put them away as I have two OEM batteries for the M8 and the M9. This is safer.

 

[oftheherd]

reading and looking at these kind of threads make me always feel a bit guilty towards my country... I dream of long journeys all over the world and I still haven't visited many wonderfull corners of Italy...

That is pretty much the way of it. There are still places I want to visit in Washington DC and environs. Even son, I have been lucky to visit many places in the USA and around the world due to having spent 29 years in the US Army.

 

[oftheherd]

Raid, thanks for all the photos! I sometimes think I enjoy your trips as much as you do. Great shots.

 

[raid]

Here are a few photos of us that Robert and Simo took.

Two macho men showing off their gear!

 

[raid]

My daughter reading in Italian to Nico's daughter!