Well, our holiday is about done!  As I tap out this post we are nestled in the Qantas Lounge at T1, Changi International Airport waiting for a flight that will deliver us to Melbourne tomorrow morning, then onwards to home by lunch time.
I’ve had a chance to look back at the first post on this blog, where I said that we hoped to be active participants of the places we visited, rather than passive observers of them.  I think we have largely achieved that - certainly as far as Lucca and Tuscany were concerned.  Its a little more difficult to make that distinction over the course of 9 days in Rome, but I feel that we started to build a rapport in and with the neighbourhood of Testaccio.  Certainly the man in the gelato shop just near our apartment got to know our smiling faces!
A running gag throughout the entire trip has been the wildly contrasting opinions of my innate “Italian-ness” and my fluency in the language.  But even that banter underlines our aim of active participation.  In all the places we have visited we have tried initially to establish our credentials in appalling Italian.  We have, almost without exception, been exposed at the outset.  One proprietor hadn’t even let me drop my best bongiorno on him before he offered, in perfect English, the light switch in on the right.  Italian waiters have an innate sense of nationality.  Many times we entered a restaurant or trattoria, having not uttered a word, only to be immediately offered a menu printed in English.  But, regardless of the degree to which our efforts to communicate in Italian were tolerated, the interactions were almost always fun and our efforts were, I think, appreciated.
Anyway, without writing a full dissertation on the degree to which we met the aims and objectives of the trip, its fair to say that we have had a heck of a time and we consider ourselves to be extraordinarily lucky to have had the opportunity.
Here are some of my highlights:

• The 3 day travel plan to get to and from Europe has worked a treat.  We seem to have been able to incrementally adjust our 24 hour body clock by 9 hours on the way over and 10 hours on the way back without lingering after-affects.
• The Ufizzi Gallery and Vasari Corridor were stunning.
• Our active pursuit of the Buon Ricordo (decorated plate) restaurants was a hoot.  Each offered a very different dining experience.  And Dory and I now have 6 decorated pieces of memorabilia to be mounted somewhere prominent in our house.
• Lucca.  Just go there.
• Puccini and Mozart at the Cathedral of San Martino.
• Our villa in the tiny community of Coll di Compito was a home away from home, and a place to spend time with old and new friends, all of whom will be part of our memories of this trip.  Our hosts, Luisa and Damiano, were a delight, as was the process of discovering the village.
• Rosella the Grocer parking outside our gate and singing her announcement that she had fresh fruit and veg for sale.
• Vespas, geese, dogs, roosters, donkeys, and firm opinions expressed in Italian.
• The quality of Tuscan food and wine.
• Driving in Italy (well, I had fun!)
• The hilltop towns of the greater Lucca area.
• Wine and food at Fattoria al Dotto.
• Jumping herbs.
• Bumping into Maree and Lorenzo.
• The free samples of tonight’s tiramisu brought to us by Niccolo at DiVizie in Vicopisano.
• The climb to Castellaro.
• Lunch at Dario Cecchini’s in Panzanno.
• Seeing famous and priceless works of art.
• Finding Bec Bain’s plaque.

Arrivederci 😉

12 years ago, in October 2013, I scribbled a few thoughts about Rome, based on our first visit here:
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Have you ever tasted a sauce, or a stock, or even a wine for that matter, and found it to be so complex, and to contain so many layers of competing and complimentary flavours, that it takes a little time to form an immediate impression about whether you like it or not?
Rome is that flavour.
Rome goes way beyond sweet, sour, salty, spicy.  These are just some of the elements I've detected in the past several days that go to making up the flavour of Rome:

• The organic chaos of the traffic, particularly at large sweeping city roundabouts,
• The number of people who smoke in the street,
• The charm of waiters and shop-keepers who patiently and playfully engage in faltering attempts to order in Italian,
• The extraordinary grandness and beauty of the architecture,
• The wealth and influence of the Catholic Church,
• Frank and loud public exchanges of opinion, complete with gesticulation,
• Street vendors who can instantly revert from sunglasses sales to umbrella sales at the first spit of rain,
• Aloof boutique vendors,
• Sardine tin buses,
• Beggars, exposing deformities and supplicating themselves in front of a cup which ALWAYS contains a single coin,
• Street performers who endure hours in the sun for a handful of coins,
• Pamphleteers around major tourist sites buzzing and stinging like March flies,
• Exceptional food and coffee,
• The sense of history,
• Statues and fountains of extraordinary beauty,
• Tiny alleys of plum and ochre coloured stucco and undulating cobblestones,
• Mopeds and bicycles,
• Car horns and the sirens of emergency vehicles,
• Double parking / corner parking / crazy parking!
• Pilgrimages.

It's an extraordinarily complex and addictive flavour, and one which I hope to return to one day.
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Well, I consider myself to be really fortunate to have had a chance to return.  And, although it is in many ways a different city than it was in 2012, the observations I noted at the time remain.  Smokers are now supplemented by vapers and, in 2025 the number of pilgrims is multiplied by the Catholic jubilee.

This time we have been staying in Testaccio, which is about 2km south of the historical centre of the city and just a little bit grittier:  lots of graffiti, murals, restoration, uneven street cobblestones and hectic traffic.  But it has its charm too.  Our apartment is in an old building of similar apartments all surrounding a central courtyard and stacked about 5 storeys high.  There is a small park directly opposite, and just around the corner is the Piazza Testaccio, which we first saw at about 6pm on Sunday evening when it was chock full of families, grandparents down to toddlers, who were laughing and kicking footballs and generally enjoying the late summer evening.  Dory nailed it when she called it a happy place.

During this visit I have been a little less focused on the primary historical sites of the city (as if you can avoid such things in Rome!) and more focused on art treasures.  We found our way to the Contarelli Chapel a few days ago and I was surprised to find myself moved to tears standing in front of Carravagio’s St Matthew paintings.  Each time we wander by a large church, cathedral or basilica we have been making a point of spending ten minutes inside soaking up the sheer beauty of the interior.  And today I had my internal art thermostat completely baked by the delights of the Borghese Gallery!  I’m beyond words to describe the sensory overload I experienced there.

There is a feeling of melancholy in the air.  Rob and Jeans are making their high-speed way to Fiumicino Airport in Rome to commence the arduous trek home.  Dory and I are tidying loose ends and faffing about at the villa.  Tomorrow morning we will return the rental car to Pisa and then board the not-so-high-speed regional train down the shin of the boot of Italy for some time in Rome before we too head home.

Our time here in Tuscany has been, I think, more than we expected it to be.  I can only speak for myself, but I’ve fallen in love with the old city of Lucca, and with the greater region.  We’ve managed to ride around the walls and walk the streets of this remarkable old city; feel welcome within the tiny community of Colle Di Compito; spend time with old friends and new friends; marvel at the quality of the food and wine here; listen to the works of Puccini and Mozart performed by extraordinary singers in a medieval cathedral; visit and savour beautiful wineries, hilltop towns and restaurants; see world famous landmarks and the stupid way tourists behave around them; and walk in ancient cities, small villages and rural landscapes.  We’ve been the recipients of kindness, respect and generosity from the people of Tuscany.  I’ve formed a deep connection with this place that will be hard to ignore when we next decide to travel.

Do you remember the Buccellato di Lucca (the raisin and anise flavoured sweet bread) and the legend which says that anyone who comes to Lucca and doesn’t eat Buccellato might as well never have been here?  I ate plenty.  And I feel like I have been to Lucca.

Here are some of my favourite photos from Tuscany.  Onwards down the road!  And we know where all roads lead to …