Everywhere is an exaggeration for the small triangle we made below Switzerland. In the course of a week we weaseled our way away from Geneva down to Arles, France, then Pisa and Rendola, Italy, and stopped in Florence for a few hours before making the long journey back.
Our route was chosen based on the fact we were exhausted of big cities. They’re nice but they all contained the same things in them, big shopping centers, christmas decorations, old buildings, ten very expensive art museums, etc. We wanted to get out to the country, and that we did. Here’s a little about our experiences in each place:
Arles, France 21-23 Nov
Scenic, beautiful, worth traveling to, highly recommended. This is the city where Vincent VanGogh spent a year of his life, and where they say he perfected his style. I know it sounds cliche but you could almost see his brushstrokes in the water there. The city also houses a museum rich with drawings by Picasso that I hear is worth checking out (Catherine did this, I did not!). In the evening we were given an amazing gift by Joan and Mary to get hammam and gommages done (steam bath and body scrub). This was a very interesting European experience for us, but in the end we enjoyed it. The morning we left we walked through an incredible outdoor market that stretched around half the city.
Pisa, Italy 23-25
I loved Pisa. We were going to stay in a smaller city but the hostel here was in our price range so we decided why not? When we explored Pisa, though, we found it was just our size of a city. It’s not overwhelming and you can find niches of vendors and outdoor vegetable markets. It was warm and we stopped for gelato (the gelato tasted like ice cream with extra butter). We laid on the lawn with hundred of others in tshirts in front of the leaning tower of Pisa. We took cliche pictures of us holding it up.
Then we cooked a three course Italian Thanksgiving complete with antipasto, bread, pasta, a meat and veggie dish and red wine. We’ll save the rest of that evenings story for another time.
Rendola Riding, Montevarchi, Italy 25-27
We heard of Rendola from Catherine’s Aunt Joan who had stayed there nearly 30 years ago for one night on her birthday. When we visited the same woman was still running it, a small horse farm/cottage you could come visit and stay in. It was a working farm with hens, chickens and pigs to tend to. We spent two days staring at the tuscan countryside, had wonderful sun, and ate really delicious home cooked Italian meals both nights. It was a truly spectacular experience.
Florence, Italy 28 Nov
We only stopped in Florence for two hours. It was a pity, we had planned to stay longer but the trains were on strike and we had had so many issues with travel we decided it was best to go earlier than later.
Florence was lively the day we went – because there was a huge marathon happening. The streets were easier to navigate because of no cars, but because there were so many metal barricades you often had to follow the race – and the hundreds of fans cheering. We departed knowing we had seen some beauty but hadn’t really gotten a sense for the city.
Geneva, Switzerland (current)
Now we’re in Geneva working to finish our sketchbooks and sending out all the postcards tomorrow. I will be leaving for Oxford to visit my cousin, Brian, on Wednesday and Catherine will be going to Tanzania, Africa to visit her Aunt & Uncle for a month on Thursday. I return home early Saturday morning (yay!)