Up
at 6am. Tired from lack of sleep thanks to the extremely hard bed
and no pillows. But we were excited to be out for sunrise. We met
Scott & Luca in the foyer and we were off on our 5mins drive to
the villa. It took us longer to walk to it from where we parked the
car, than the drive from the hotel. We had to cross a ploughed
paddock. Tuscany is clay! So the ploughed clay is big and chunky
and very uneven. In the pitch dark, it makes it dangerous – you
can roll an ankle easily.
So
we finally found a composition after a few stops. We set up in the
dark and waited for the sun to rise. So beautiful.
We
were hoping for some mist / fog to sit in the valleys, but alas,
nothing. We were blessed with a couple of tiny clouds on the horizon
but that was all.
Behind
us higher on the hill were 11 other photographers, and 2 others
arrived later. In summer apparently there can be as many as 40+
photographers every morning! WOW. It is clearly a favourite and
popular sunrise photography location.
Steve’s
images are just stunning!! I really love them! He'll share his really good images separately once he's finished editing them!
We
stayed until 8.30am – thats 1 hours after the sunrise, and then we
were back at the hotel having breakfast with Tim. There were more
laughs to be had at Tim’s expense, thanks to him not joining us at
sunrise. Then we worked out the trips itinerary and what we were
going to photograph. We decided we wont head back to Cinque Terra.
We will stay the whole time in the Dolomites, which is more than fine
with us! Its the mountains that we are really here for, and there
are so many locations to see. Tim and Scott’s trip up to the
Matterhorn – Zermatt looked amazing. We’d love to visit there,
but we possibly wont have time after OOAK. But our trip will include
some pretty intense hiking. One in particular will be a good 4+ hour
hike up a very steep mountain I am sure Tim will do it in 3 hours
flat….. Steve and I will take much much longer!! So kinda
dreading that.
Was
a great spread of food we had at breakfast. Yoghurts, breads &
pastries & cookies. Eggs, & cold cuts etc. And of course the
cappuccino machine….even better hot chocolate than Rome! We ate
our fill and went back to the room to shower & look at our
photos.
We
will join the others in a few hours where we will drive to a smaller
town to look around and have a late lunch before finding another
location for tonights sunset. Unfortunately the next few days
weather here is just sun, sun & more sun! So no clouds for us.
But thats ok – to be here is just amazing, no matter what the
weather!
My
cold is going away thanks to the antibiotics I got before I left
home. Unfortunately, Steve is now getting it. Of course his
stubbornness to take any form or drugs or even cough lollies is going
to be the end of us. My constant nagging is already getting on his
nerves. I just hope he doesn’t get too sick before the big hikes.
We
are looking forward to heading up to the mountains where it is minus
5 & away from the humidity of the coast! :)
Luca
took Steve and I out for a drive in the afternoon. First little town
was Pienza, and it was even prettier than where we are staying! Many
tourists during the summer. Tiny streets, all so picturesque with
their colourful doors and gorgeous old brickwork and windows adorned
with wrought iron. Another large central piazza with a church. This
was under restoration so inside was half hidden in scaffolding. But
still very nice – plain, but nice to see.
Luca
found me a Gelati shop (god love him!) Steve and I had the same –
Coconut with Chocolate, Salted Caramel & Cappuccino. Not too
sure what Luca had – Pistachio I think.
We
had a coffee and we had a hot chocolate and some cannoli not long
after.
Then
we went to the next town on the other side of where we were staying.
This town was even tinier, but it did not have a central piazza, but
a central “pool”. A water feature of sorts. This was so
beautiful and I can imagine a long lunch by the pool when it is
warmer.
We
were very grateful to Luca for showing us around. Luca is not too
well. He has just returned from some photography tours in Scotland
and Brittany France, so he is quite fatigued and he is feeling tired.
So we Thank Luca for taking the time. He is so wonderful!
We
met Tim and Scott back at the hotel. The boys had a late lunch and
were talking before Tim went off to have a massage. Scott went to
have a rest, and Luca, Steve and I did some photo processing. Well,
Luca did some processing and we watched. He is very good!! WOW what
he did with one image from last night was amazing!
We
had our laptop and cameras out to try and do processing too, but we
ended up just watching Luca.
Steve
and I still have a lot to learn with our processing. I think once we
get the hang of doing composite images there will be no stopping us!
Once
Tim returned we grabbed our gear and raced off to do sunset. Not a
cloud in the sky all day!! But there were some whispy ones forming.
We went to the cluster of Cyprus trees that we stopped at originally
on our way into Tuscany. On the other side of the road, is a couple
of single Cyprus trees on top of a hill. So we all walked up there,
as that was where the clouds were. But alas it was not working. Too
dark on our side of the hill.
So
we all ended up at the cluster of Cyprus trees. The whipsy clouds
looked ok. Better than no clouds at all. We all moved around a lot
looking for a good composition. The sky lit up and then it was over.
We
drove back to get some dinner. Luca recommended a restaurant he has
eaten at many times before and said it was very good. It just
happened to be at a Petrol Station – it looked like it was part of
it, but it wasn’t. It was where the locals ate….very good! But
Tim was freaking out – NO WAY was he going to eat at anything on or
near a petrol station! It was quite funny too look at his face. We
got as far as the front door and then Tim couldn’t do it….so back
to the car we all went.
Scott
was trying to clean his muddy boots with the window washer squidgy,
but the petrol station attendant caught him and told him off! Ha ha
ha – we were all laughing so hard at Tim and now Scott!
Poor
Luca couldn’t understand why Tim wouldn’t want to eat there. We
had to explain to him that Steve is fussy about his food and what he
eats….but Tim is very fussy about where he eats! I think Luca
understood.
So
back to the hotel and restaurant we went. The food was ok, but Luca
did not like – was no where near as good as Girabaldi at the Petrol
Station and of course was more expensive.
We
laughed a lot of over dinner….mostly at Scott and Luca. Poor Luca.
I am sure between looking at Scott and then back to Tim he suffered
whiplash. Scott and Tim were trying to work out where we were going
in the Dolomites and Luca said we might not get to see the 3 peaks of
Laverdo because it might be closed, so we could hike up 21km one
way…. You had to be there to understand why it was so funny….but
we were in tears with laughter.
Finally
we all went off to our rooms and to sleep to get up at 6am for our
last sunrise in Tuscany.
Buone
Notte Tuscany
