Last night’s sunset was glorious.
We have friends staying and we drove them around Pendennis Point for the wonderful views across to St Mawes. It was a bit murky but still beautiful.
Monthly Archives: May 2024
Sunset and St Mawes
Chickens and Donkeys
These are the chickens that lay our beautiful eggs and the donkeys that are their neighbours.
Lucca in the Rain
Another deluge, this time in lovely Lucca, so much that we were all wet through so after a very good lunch, we went for an earlier train back to Montecatini Terme. The sun shone on us there so we explored some more.
I love how the patterns look like a suit jacket.
Duomo San Martino
Rain
A few moments after I took this photo, the large ‘balloon’ broke away from its moorings and barreled away down the street.
Lovely side street
Chiesa San Michele
Rainbow bench
After a very good lunch, emerging into the rain
Abandoning his busking spot
On the Basilica San Frediano
Window near the medicinal/edible plants
Plants with medicinal or edible qualities
Florence in the Rain
The heavens opened as we left our hotel, boarded the train and visited Florence, along with thousands of others as we visited on a bank holiday, it being May Day! We were taken around by a guide who filled us with information, most of which I promptly forgot. Dodging the puddles meant looking up to see the beauty in Florence was quite hard but we had fun anyway.
I had a mission for the day – to buy myself a red purse with Firenze on it. Many years ago when I was about 17, my Daddy had been on a school trip with his pupils and he brought me home a lovely red purse from Florence. Sadly, I left it in a phone box and though I returned within minutes, it had gone. Now, 70 years later, I have another.
Umbrellas in the crowds
Santa Maria Novella
Baptistry
Gates of Paradise, Baptistry
Dragon in Florence
Statue in the rain
The San Lorenzo market stall where I bought my purse
Beautiful coffee and ice cream shop we sheltered in
Wedding couple – in the rain
In a brief respite from the rain, with calm waters, the Ponte Vecchio
A First Taste of Tuscany
We took the train to Tuscany – well, several trains! After three days by train and two overnight stays – Redruth to St Pancras, St Pancras to Chambéry and finally Chambéry to Montecatini Terme where we stayed for the next eight nights and a first day of exploration and adventures.
Montecatini Terme is a spa town with a beautiful park and a wonderful old spa building, Terme Tettucio where we spent the morning with new friends.
We then went up the delightful funicular to the old hilltop village of Montecatini Alto, found a lovely place to have lunch and enjoyed the architecture and the very extensive views. Enjoy the gallery and click on any photo for a bigger picture.
Gateway
Entrance
Fountain
Waters for the drinking
The funicular
Square
Colours
The café where we had lunch (more of that in another post)
Café Giusti
The view
White, Pink and Lemons
We are back after a fabulous holiday by train all the way to Italy. On our return, our front garden delighted me, all white and bright in the sunshine.
Libertia Grandiflora, Three Cornered Leek and Silver Birch stems
At the back, the Nelly Moser clematis is stunning this year.
I brought two beautiful, enormous Italian lemons home with me for a taste of Tuscany here in Cornwall. I’ll zest and juice them both and keep it all in the freezer to use whenever we need a touch of Italian sunshine.
I’ll share lots of photos of our holiday over the next week or two as I get them organised. We’ve spent the last two lovely sunny days working very hard in the garden, tidying and planting, catching up on everything that we couldn’t do for the rain. May is not the best time to leave the garden!
