Beauty!

 

a perfect shot for me

it has a red poppy, my favorite and purple and the background and lines of grasses.

 

North of Vicchio, Tuscany

 

Lasagna and a beer made from Farro in Castlenuovo di Garfagnana.

at the top is a bread made from farro...very good.

Saturday menu

view from my table...it was packed outside so I sat inside, just where I sat last time.

Excellent local beer made with farro.

super lasagna, yum

 

Grasses

 

A beautiful poppy in Norcia

 

Impression, sea off Celle Ligure in the ra

 

My friend Flo.

I think she is facing her end...I can just feel it. I spent as much time with her as I could. She got in bed with me in the morning and in the evening before I would sleep. She waited outside my door all day when I was gone. She got me through Covid  2 years ago. I love her and I know her beautiful soul will be flying up to heaven soon. I thought I would have one more photo session with her in the green grass, which she loves, but when I tried to coax her , she would not come and seemed to not want to say good bye to me...I didn't push it. It's what she wanted. She knows I love her...I know she loves me. It may seem odd to non dog people but a dog is a special creature with so much intelligence love and spirituality ,  I don't think I will ever go back to that agriturismo. It will not be the same without her.

 

Dinner at The Belvedere

This was excellent, cooked perfectly for me. Could have used a bit more arugula. My favorite go to dish in Tuscany.

Pastas ( skipped it!)

I had the 4th down, Tagliata di Manzo con Rucola et parmigiano

and I always have the white beans with red onion. No dessert.

30$...to include a beer.

 

Last night stay.

The last full day was a bit of a scramble as I wanted to do a bunch on things on my way out. Eventually I ended up at the hotel which is not on mapquest...additional stress after I lost my phone and then found it...I know this area well even though it's a bit rural, hilly and wooded. I think i've been up almost every road...but I could not picture this hotel...after my experiences on this trip I was ready for mediocre at best.  When I finally arrived I was happy. I had driven by this place a million times. It's huge, up on top of a hill, and unassuming. What threw me is the property photo you see here, it doesn't show the huge hill it's on from the road. I didn't even see the pool, it's way at the top of the hill behind the hotel...but, you had to wear a bathing cap! You can borrow one from them...

I loved this place...it was stuck in the 1960's/70's. It had the most gaudy art, all by the same painter, a local that the place is filled with ( see attached.) It is a family affair...all men..uncles and brothers, all from the family. It's a very interesting place and I would love to go back and photograph there, the view ius incredible.

This area is a favorite with motorcycles and biking people and they cater to them. I had dinner and it was excellent...pics to follow. The only thing I would say I did not like was the thin walls...they need to soundproof...I would go again but would stay in another room...They were also very gracious, excellent service.

View from the room...you can walk out to the edge and the Alpennines spread out in front of you.

bar/reception

This borders on scary clown to me...This is this artist...he is prolific and paints all kinds of subjects.

This was a present he made to the parents that started the hotel...a surprise.. from a pic of them in their 20's.

 

Awful traffic! on the way home on Sunday. It was a holiday in Italy ( Ascension) but not Fra.

The French border...i've never seen it like this.

This is just when the travel began...going to La Spezia ...maybe 60 minutes here.

 

Grasses

These were shot on the last full day, when I temporarily lost my phone. I should have kept shooting instead of giving up.

 

Some numbers....

 It took me 6 hours to get back home yesterday after a crazy traffic filled drive...usually, it would be 4....very tedious. I would stop at rest areas and they were insanely crowded so I just got back in the car and kept going. There was nowhere to park.

Somehow, I lost 3 pounds!!!!!!

and, as with the last trip...the number of photos I shoot turns out to be very close to the number of kilometers I drove... in this case,

2485 photographs

and

2495 kilometers!   ( 1550 miles)