WI abroad in Florence

April 27th
Sleepers in towns across Bucks stir in their beds and wonder why their neighbours are putting the bins out so early.Not so--it is the WI trundling their wheelie cases along to catch the coach for an early departure to Florence from Stansted.It was my first experience of a budget flight and I cannot see the problem with the legroom on board for a short flight. I think I would like to have an allocated seat rather than queue to obtain an early place but now I know the system I'll rush to stand in a queue at the departure gate with the other seasoned travellers.
Anyway the journey out went according to plan and once we had convinced the coach driver in Pisa that we didn't want to immediately go to see the Leaning Tower because we had been up all night, we were taken to our lovely hotel in Florence.Spacious bedrooms, roof-top restaurant with real live fully grown trees and good food and cheerful staff and the sunshine, what more did we want?
April 28th
The following day we met for a walk around the city with a charming guide and then it was everyone off to do their own thing.Many of the party had pre-booked visits to the Uffizzi Gallery either by phone or by the website, so don't tell me the WI is not computer literate when it wants to be! The art on show is breathtaking and we were able to view the most famous exhibits before having to admit to Madonna fatigue and seek out ice-creams! In a sacrilegious manner I couldn't help remembering the "Allo, Allo" programme with the Madonna with the big boobies! I had Madonna with strange red hat, Madonna with angel with the deformed foot etc.Seriously, it is a marvellous collection and well worth the visit.
April 29th
Next morning we visited the Chianti region. The coach travelled up and down through this marvellous landscape to a little market town of Breve which is a centre for the production of the Chianti wine. It was Sunday morning so the square was free of stalls but all the shops and restaurants were open. Suddenly over 100 motorbikes roared into the square to the acclamation of the locals. How they gleamed and revved--not the locals, the bikes! The driver intimated that this was part of a Tuscan rally.The Italians love motorbikes and Florence is packed with scooters which is a very sensible way of getting about the cities with their very narrow crowded streets.
We boarded our coach for wine-tasting and lunch and travelled up a windy road to a typical Tuscan castle perched on the hillside. Marvellous we thought until we realised that no one was expecting us because the Florentia Bus Company had not booked us in.The vineyard people were very polite and promised us a wine-tasting at the shop on the main road and recommended a restaurant some miles away on top of a hill and a wild boar festival in a nearby village. Off down the hillside (still beautiful) we swing past the wine-tasting shop mentioned and the driver turns into another vineyard which is just closing. We sense that the driver is a very unhappy man but off we go to the top of another hill with a restaurant and obvious signs of activity. The driver reported that we would have to wait 10 minutes and then we could eat outside under the trees.It was more than 10 minutes but it was well worth the wait. The meal was marvellous, beautifully presented, lovely local food and masses of Chianti to drink. We had a wonderful time, made so welcome and our meal with all the wine and the happy ambience came to 10 Euros each! Who wants wine-tasting when you can quaff the stuff in the sunshine ? Who wants to go to eat wild boar sandwiches! A triumph out of a potential disaster to the relief of everyone.
April 30th
Next day we spent in Florence trying to visit the places we had not yet seen. The city was very crowded, very beautiful and we needed more time to cover everything that we wished.Then it was off to look at Pisa on the way to the airport. It was a bank holiday and the traffic into Pisa made our time schedule impossible as we crawled along at the M25 average speed so we opted for the airport straightaway.Our flight was the last of the day and we couldn't risk missing our scheduled departure.
We enjoyed the weekend, met several new people from other WIs and just hope that they will spread the word that these holidays are friendly, educational and sometimes have unexpected elements within them.I'm vowing to have some Italian at my disposal before we go to Sicily in October.