Wednesday  12 December 2012

Wednesday was a wonderful sunny and brisk day in Tuscany.  I wanted to take a road trip to a remote, abandoned abbey which was one and a half hours to the west.  Laura decided that a close to home afternoon walk sounded more appealing so we did “our own thing” for the day.  The countryside did not let me down for the drive.  It was a very hilly mix of farm land and beautiful woods with a healthy dose of charming old houses, castle ruins, and broad vistas to challenge your ability to keep your eyes on the road.  Driving here can be bad for your health.  The temperatures in the sun never climbed more than a couple degrees above freezing and the shadowed sides of hills kept a thick coating of frost on the ground all day.

The abbey was constructed beginning in 1218.  The entire roof is now gone, leaving a soaring stone and brick structure open to the skies.  As  I walked around in silence, having the entire place to myself, I kept thinking how much fun it would be to be able to see this place in all of the different light and conditions that we have experienced while in Tuscany.   It really is a fantastic sight.  It may have been cold but as I left and drove past the parking lot with spaces for 400 cars  I was again thankful that even though my fingers were numb from the cold, it was my abbey for the day.

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Don’t forget to look down.

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I was hustling on the way to the abbey and did not stop to since I was not certain of the timing of the drive.  On the way back there were a few things that I pulled over for.  One car went past me during 5 different stops.  Which is good because there was almost no shoulder and the car was mostly in the road.

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You can see the frost on the ground hiding in the shadows.

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That is a lot of cypress trees to plant and water.

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