aloha every day

aloha every day

Friday, July 22, 2011

Mount Amiata

We Scaccos consider ourselves part hippy.  
It's true. 
Largely, we like natural things.  Our wedding rings are made from recycled wood, we try to eat locally-grown foods, and we'd rather spend time outdoors than anything else!
We decided that we'd break up the town explorations with an excursion into the mountain that was right next to our rental.

 Here is the ski lodge...circa 1980's.  It reminded Nick of the movie "Hot Tub Time Machine."
 This hill looks unassuming.  It was STEEP!

 Top of the mountain!  Our little rental was down there somewhere.
 Looking a little crunchy today.

 There was a very cool iron cross at the top.

 Ski lift!

 We started down a trail that didn't say how long it was.  We thought, "Eh, we'll turn around when we get tired."


 The trees were so tall!  We were used to hiking in Hawaii, so I was ready to tromp through muddy walkways, swat at mosquitos, and cut through overgrown brush...yah, Italy is very different. :)
 At the bottom left of the picture is a sample of the markings that told you where to go.  


Somewhere along the way, we got lost and didn't see any more markings.  We were, however on the ski run and decided to hike back up the ski run.  Holy steep ski run!
 If you don't know where to ski, follow the gnomes.  Gnomes?  Italian gnomes?


Another view of the ski lodge.

After our hike?  We drove to the next town, Castel del Piano, and got...
Espresso and gelato, of course!

Quick story:  One night, we were watching "I Survived a Japanese Game Show" and one of the teams was called the "Monkey Baby Team".  We laughed really hard because it just sounded funny.  So from then on, Nick has called me the Monkey Baby Team.  Flattering, really.  So here we were in a small town in Tuscany, and what did we come across?  A Monkey Baby.

 If I was an Italian, I would own one of these three-wheeled buggys.  Very economical, with lots of utility!

 Nick surprised me with a bouquet of wild flowers that he picked in the olive orchards.




Sunrise through the chestnut tree.  Taken the next morning from the lanai.

Up next?  Siena

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