Girls' weekend in Dullstroom

Johannesburg winters are the perfect time to snuggle up, sit in front of a fire and drink copious amounts of red wine. So that is exactly what the girls and I decided to do. We booked a quaint little cottage in Dullstroom, called Brigadoon for the weekend, packed up Van’s Fortuna and headed for the hills. Dullstroom is a fly fishing community complete with quaint high street, whisky tatsing venues and sweet shops! It was also Vanessa’s 30^th birthday weekend, so we turned it into a bit of a celebration as well.

Piazzas, Pizzas and Pinot Grigio..

The Italian Job

A 7 day road trip through Florence, the Chianti region, Siena, Lucca and Lake Como.

As many of you well know by now, I need little incentive to pack a bag, grab my passport (and maybe the obligatory visa as I hold the green mamba of passports) and hop on a plane, especially when it is to venture to pastures yet undiscovered. When you combine that wanderlust with the chance to see family and discounted air fares, well the answer is always yes, or in this case ‘si’.

As I could barely recall when last I’d seen my sister Ju (although this could be a by-product of turning 30 this year), I decided to join her, my dad and step mom, Wendy, on a seven day road trip of Tuscany starting in Florence. Ju and my Dad had already driven through from Ju’s current home town, Romagnieu (in the South East of France), collected Wendy from her conference in Milan before meeting me in Florence. Ju’s little Orange Citroen C3, aptly nicknamed “the pumpkin” was our mode of transport for the tour d’italia.. and let’s just say I’m glad I can pack light. Taking only hand luggage put me straight into the good graces of my family as it allowed plenty of room for their big bags.. and even then, it only just fitted in. For those of you who may be impressed that a gal can survive on hand luggage alone for seven days.. let’s just say I did do some shopping. Although I am not too sure how leather handbags, wallets, a camera a mini laptop quite compensate for lack of clothes. And yes, I did wash (both my clothes and me!).

I’d barely landed in Firenze (Florence) before we grabbed an espresso and started seeing the sights and stopped in the markets to peruse the leather goods and negotiate a few purchases. Coming from Durban, I have learnt from the best when it comes to bargaining. Battering a few eyelashes never hurt either.. especially in Italy! We spent two nights in Florence, heading up into the hills, stopping at gorgeous cafes (yes, for more espresso and occasionally a glass of pinot grigio) and enjoying dinners at roof top terraces with amazing sunset views.

Before we left Florence for Siena, I heard tell of some arguments between driver (my sister Ju) and navigator (my Dad), so I was nominated as replacement navigator while my Dad was relegated to back seat driver. All in the name of enjoying the scenery of course, although he insisted on having a map of his own so he could assist with good places to stop for lunch. Only once, was there a blow out which resulted in Ju and my Dad getting out of the car and heading off in separate directions, leaving Wendy and I to chat and wait for their return. 20 minutes later it was if nothing had happened!

En route to Siena, we took a country road down through the Chianti region, stopping at many little towns along route and admiring the gorgeous, post card like scenery. Upon arriving in Siena, we managed to take the wrong off ramp and hence could not use the directions we’d been given. It took three attempts at taking the same little round about route (on and off the freeway) before we’d figured out where we were. Wendy quickly retracted her statement that she did not mind getting slightly lost as it was all new scenery to her. Third time lucky, we finally got it right! We stayed in a gorgeous little guesthouse on a horse stud just outside of Siena and had the perfect weather to have an impromptu picnic outside for dinner that evening. The abundance of Lavender bushes and Cyprus trees made me realise that it’s not just all for show in the movies!

The following morning, we walked through the streets of Siena and the famous square where the annual bareback horse race is held before heading off to San Gimignano for lunch. San Gimignano is a quaint medieval type town, compete with gorgeous towers which create a breath taking view from afar. Our final destination that evening was Lucca, an ancient medieval town that still has it’s ancient walls intact. They are thick, 5 metre wide walls which you can cycle and walk around on and as we stayed in an old apartment in the city, it really gave one a feel for what life must have been like back then. Bikes on the streets (ok.. so it would have been horses and carts), gatherings of little old Italian men to share the day’s gossip.. you get the picture. Leaving Lucca, we stopped off to see the majestic leaning tower in Pisa before heading up the coast and then inland to Lake Como. When I was working in Milan two years ago, I had always wanted to get to Lake Como and it was well worth the wait. Only thing that I wouldn’t advise is traveling in Italy over the public holidays, as some infuriating Italians came out en masse. The theory of queuing is a concept that has not reached the general Italian public.. to name but a few frustrations. A chocolate gelati soon helped ease the pain though! It was fabulous to be back in Italy (I clearly like the place as it was the 4^th visit) and it won’t be my last. Maybe next time it’s Positano….?? Anyone keen?