Tuscany…. Siena and Bagno Vignoni

Here we are parked up at a wine co-op, my kind of place. Free to stay and with electric, the vino is dirt cheap. The last couple of days have been eventful, hence why this blog is late. The last I wrote we were near to Pontedera in the quaint little village of Vicopisano. Sunday being daylight savings we left at 7am to get to a car park in Pontedera. Scoping out which was closest to the hospital. A Romanian man helped us with the choice, even moving his car for us. Parked up in front of a cool pastry shop, that sold yummy chocolate filled croissants for a €1 each. Sunday was a day for chilling before Jas had to master the hospital system in Pontedera on Monday. People watching became somewhat of a game. Men with their over the shoulder and chest man bags as well as the italian parking styles. One thing here they respect disabled parking, not one person without a badge parked there. Choosing to circuit the car park 100 times over parking illegally. I decided to go off to the supermarket COOP.fi. This was an experience worth mentioning. It’s in a mall, as you near the supermarket all you see is queues, 25 check-outs and at least 10-15 people in each queue. As you enter the store, the fruit and veg section. A madness on its own, in Italy you have to weigh and ticket all your fruit and veg. Queue again, but don’t order to much as you have to remember the number for each of the items you have picked. Finally at the checkout and 15 minutes of queuing I am out of there. Back at the motor home, I am glad to chill. Monday arrived and at 7am, the car-park a hive of activity. The african immigrants have taken it upon themselves to try to park everyone in the free car-parks. Asking for a change as payment. A lot of Italians ignore them and their on selling of umbrellas and tat. By 7.30am the carpark was full, thank goodness we hadn’t tried to park on this day. Jas goes over for his appointment and scan. Arriving early, he meets the receptionist Lorenzo, who speaks english and who later ends up translating for the doctor. All good with the results we decide to head off before the storms start. We arrived at Poggibonsi, a roadside aire with free electric. Parked up 5 minutes and a huge deluge of water hits, thunder and lightning. That night resulted in conkers falling on our roof and the sound so loud it was like branches falling. The damage one cracked skylight, that Jas siliconed up. We are hoping it will be ok, but time will tell. Siena was next on the list so 7.30am we were on the road and 30 minutes later we were parked up in a free car- park. The day showery we walked right in to the centre and around the Il CAMPO, where the famous Palio horse race is held. We were told they had an extra race this year a week or so ago due to an anniversary. The piazza is magnificent and grand in its size. We walked to the Duomo with its grey and white marble. Stopping for pizza, Siena style. Bit like a toasted sandwich we headed back down the steepest street. We have a photo but it doesn’t do it justice. Deciding to head off with the weather being showery, we headed to Bagno Vignoni. Parked up on the hillside overlooking a castle in the distance. Tuscan countryside of rolling hills with trees dotting the ridges. Vineyards and olive groves all around. We walked up to Bagno Vignoni and the roman baths. What a sight, the old roman baths and the thermal waters that run down over a waterfall to the ice blue baths below. The town significant as a stop for many pilgrims over the centuries, due to its water. Plenty of hiking trails around, it would have been good to stay a couple of days. Jasons sim card decided to die, so we had to do a bit of swapping and cutting of an old one to get him up and running. The joy of being on the road and unable to access, the things you are used to. A challenge but always works out in the end. Italy has been devastated by storms in the last couple of days and we hope so many of the travellers we have met in the last couple of weeks are safe. Venice’s squares are under water, Liguria on the coast has been battered, with boats in the marinas destroyed and the sheer amount of water around is scary. The north is definitely been taking the brunt, so heading south we hope for some sunshine and safe travels.