Flag - 365+1

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Today's prompt is 'Flag'.  I didn't really think I was going to have any chance of seeing a flag today so I have used a photo from our holiday in Tuscany a couple of years ago.

Last Holiday Pics - Poolside

Sadly our holiday was drawing to a close, we enjoyed all the visits we made, but also enjoyed relaxing by the pool, particularly towards the end of the week.

It wasn't particularly busy, so we had our choice of sun loungers, in the sun or the shade.

The pool was unheated, so I took the 'get it over with' approach and jumped straight in, once you had been swimming about a bit it was fine.

I'm not a great on technique but I do love to swim.

Brian, on the other hand, is not quite so at home in water and although he also went in the pool, he didn't stay in long! He was very happy reading his paper.


He also tried to get a photograph of one of the little geckos or lizards that were running around, this was as close as it got.

A last view from outside the hotel restaurant, this Tuscan farm features on many of the calendars of Tuscany, it is certainly a beautiful place.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing the photographs from our holiday in Tuscany, I certainly enjoyed sharing them with you.

Friday 12th - San Antimo and Bagno Vignoni

On Friday, our last day, we went to San Antimo where there is a small community of Augustin monks.

The church was very beautiful and peaceful in it's pastoral setting.

These were the first cows we had seen all week!

The inside of the church was quite simple.

There was no stained glass, so the light was amazing as it shone through.

After San Antimo we moved on to Bagno Vignoni, a spa, where our guide suggested that we could bathe. You are not allowed to go into this pool and there were many steps down to the little bit of pool you could go in, so we decided not to bother and went for a nice lunch instead! It turned out the woman who owned the restaurant was English and gave us some good recommendations.

As you can see I have aquired a new man!!! This is David our tour guide.

More stunning geraniums, I just love them.

Thursday 11th - San Quirico d'Orcia

"The Val d'Orcia is an exceptional reflection of the way the landscape was re-written in pre-renaissance times to reflect the ideals of good governance and to create an aesthetically pleasing picture celebrated by painters from the Siennese School, the Val D'Orcia has come to be seen as icon of landscape thinking."

On Thursday there were no organised excursions, so we wandered into San Quirico d'Orcia, the little village close to our hotel.

This house has it's own cherry tree.

Love these geraniums, in this little lane.

As we walked along the city walls, there were hundreds of swallows swirling around in the sky.

I was very taken with this tower house and more so when I saw that it was available as a holiday let. We bought some bread, cheese, olives and a bottle of wine and took them back to our terrace at our room, then later we went to the pool.

I'm showered and ready to go for dinner.

Brian is still sitting about in his swimming trunks!

Wednesday 10th - Florence

This was our first sighting of Florence when we got out of the coach by the River Arno. In 1966 this river flooded, many people were killed and many art works destroyed.
We met with the local guide who took us to Santa Croce, this church holds the monumental tombs of the great and the good of Florence, including Michelangelo (above) and Gallileo. It was not possible to get photographs of the outside as they use the Piazza there for concerts and were building seating.
We moved on to the Piazza della Signoria where the Fountain of Neptune and a copy of Michelangelo's David are located. The original David was moved inside in the 16th Century.
Here is David, we didn't get to see the original as there wasn't enough time to visit the museums.

Typical street in Florence.

This is the Cathedral Santa Maira del Fiore, the Duomo of Florence, it is vast and seems to go on forever.


The golden doors to the Baptistry are particularly stunning with very detailed scenes from the life of John the Baptist.

Campanile di Giotto - the Giotto Bell Tower

The Roman Gate

A member of our group recommended that we try the icecream at Grom it was well worth it. Brian had Chocolate Fondant and I had Raspberry sorbet and Lemon Sorbet.

We then went down to the Ponte Vecchio, which you can see behind me.

Brian on the Ponte Vecchio.

View from the other side of the Ponte Vecchio.

We met up at the coach again and were taken up to the gardens above Florence where there is another version of Michelangelo's David.

Both sides!!!

This is the fabulous view over Florence.

And here we are, just to prove we have been there!

Tuesday 9th - Montepulciano & Pienza

We visited this church on the way to Montepulciano, but I'm afraid I didn't take a note of the name.
This is the Piazza Grande right at the top of the hill in Montepulciano, it was quite a climb to the top and although there were some beautiful shops on the way up, sadly I didn't have time to do any shopping.

We stopped at the cafe on the left of the well for a cup of coffee.

This was the amazing view from the top of Montepulciano, I had to take this picture 'blind' by holding my camera over an opaque screen.
On the way back down the hill we saw this clock tower and the little man at the top conveniently struck the bell for us!

More gorgeous flowers.

It was quite a long way down and when you thought you had reached the bottom you turned a corner and there was another street to go down.

After we left Montepulciano we headed to another vineyard for a wine tasting. This was a much more modern place and the administrative centre for several vineyards. They provided us with a delicious spagetti dish with fresh tomato sauce, plates of bread, salami, cheese and cured wild boar and were very generous with their wine! You will note that there are no photos :)

We then moved on to Pienza, which is famous for it's Pecorino ewes milk cheese. It was the birthplace of Pope Pius II and a rare example of renaissance town building (or so it says in the guide)
I think I had got 'pretty little Tuscan town' overload by this time so not so many photos.
The coach stopped on the way back to let us take pictures from this view point.