To market, to market.

After the past few days in Rome visiting palaces, galleries and museums, we needed a little break and as always try to see normal Roman life at least once.

A great way to do this is catching bus #83 to the Testaccio region just south of Circus Maximus.

What do you mean, I can't take photos

Last night we tried a couple of restaurants after performing some Internet research but found them closed, this information was not listed on their websites.

We got on the wrong train.

Departing a city is like departing a friend, staying in places more than a day or two does allow one to learn more, see more and break through the tourist whirlwind.

In the end, we stayed just five nights in Florence and unlike the past, weren't rushed to see 'the sights'.  For me the Pitti Palace was my favourite, it is a gallery, a residence and also a museum. Pitti Palace isn't crowded as it does not have famous works of art like the Uffizi.

Katie's favourite place in Florence, after long deliberation was Uffizi. She said she was able to absorb more of the gallery this time as there were fewer visitors compared to our previous visit in Summer.

We packed our bags last night and had the final additions after showering and dressing this morning.  I keep saying they are getting full, but this time I almost needed to unzip the expander!

Police, Bridge, Palace, Museum and Baptistery

We took a walk across town this morning to take up Stefano's offer to see his place of work at the Carabinieri barracks.  It was an unexpected and interesting insight to see inside the Italian military force.

On route, we passed a crochet shop that was unfortunately closed and we passed through the local market, Sant'Ambrogio Market. This was mostly a fresh fruit and vegetable fare.

Culture and life on the streets

Breakfast Italian style, an espresso, a cappucino and a croissant each.

It was then time to walk the damp streets in the direction of Uffizi gallery.  This morning was chilly but not freezing.

Head North

New territories were to be discovered again today and this time we covered a sanctuary dedicated to St. Francis, the small hilltown of Poppi and ventured a little further north for some real Tuscan countryside.

La Verna is a sanctuary dedicated to St. Francis (a living and working Monastery) and sits on top a cliff with sweeping views for miles. 

Anghiari, a little place on the edge of Tuscany.

Mattino Toscano (a Tuscan Morning)

First thing this morning we headed to the local pharmacist where Katie purchased a selection of goodies, that will help make this little cold more bearable and hopefully kick it sooner, rather than later.

It then was time for some new explorations; this time a hilltop town north from Agriturismo La Maestà, Anghiari.

Lago Trasimeno and Laundry

Both suffering from a little winter cold, we decided to take today easy and didn't leave LaMaesta until 11am, this allowed for a sleep in and also restful morning.

Our first of two stops was Castiglione del Lago, which

Head East

After a very long day yesterday we slept in a little and didn't have our cornflakes till at least 9am today, it was good to have a little sleep in.

First stop today was another revisit Perugia, home of amongst other things, Perugina chocolate. Perugia is a large city and as it is on a hill has implemented a Mini Metro, a great little invention to transport people from the lower areas and parking spots into the historic town.

Head West

One of the reasons for this trip was to visit some fo the hill towns we have been to in the summers seasons past, as to get a better understanding of what they are like without the thousands of tourists.

Today we visited San Gimingano which we have been to before and also added a new town Volterra.

We initially noticed a difference in the parking lots, it was easy to get a park outside the walls of San Gimingano, then when we passed through the gate, found the streets much less crowded.