Man's Disturbing Effect on the Planet

Striking images of elephant tusks being burned show destruction by man

Another documentary I saw on the plane was Anthropocene by Nicholas De Pencier, Jennifer Baichwal and Edward Burtynsky. Baichwal and Burtynsky have also worked on Manufactured Landscapes and Watermark, and Anthropocene is the third of the trilogy about how man is changing the natural landscape.

Manufactured Landscapes was about China being the world's factory, watching hundreds of thousands of workers doing the most mundane tasks to make products for us in the West to use.



Their next project Watermark was about how water levels are dropping around the world due to overuse or pollution, and how dire it is for farmers not having enough water to produce crops and how they have to dig deeper to get water.

And finally Anthropocene refers to our current geological age where human activity is affecting the climate and environment.

Carrara marble being extracted from a quarry in Italy

The documentary takes viewers around to 20 countries on six continents to see the devastating effects humans are having on the planet. For example tone scene shows Carrara marble being cut out of the quarry and one of the workers jokes the success of Carrara is thanks to Michelangelo, who demanded to only use this kind of marble for his masterpieces.

Then there's a shot in a workshop where several artisans make copies of Michelangelo's sculptures -- using the same marble he used hundreds of years ago. I also think of the luxury apartments in Manhattan that feature Carrara marble in their bathrooms.

The film goes to a bleak town in Russia called Norilsk that is considered the most polluted in the country. The main industry is smelting to extract minerals in high heat. Three Russian women are interviewed and one says how the town is dreary, but you get used to it and see the beauty in the stone. They laugh.

Another scene shows an unscripted moment of two workers having lunch and talking about how the filmmakers are recording everything they are saying.

Scavengers, animals and humans, hunt around a landfill

In Germany there is a giant machine that weighs 12,000 tons and scrapes out an entire hillside of dirt. The man running the machine is proud of this piece of technology and not really thinking about the effect it has on the environment.

Then in Nigeria there's a massive landfill with men, women and children literally ripping up garbage bags and scrounging for anything that can be recycled. They dig through the dirty trash with their bare hands and carry what they've found in baskets on their heads. Meanwhile birds hang around them, looking for bits of food to feed on.

Meanwhile in Kenya, a black woman activist talks about trying to stop the ivory trade. She feels guilty for not being able to save elephants' lives, but at least she has stopped people from making a living from killing the animals to get their tusks.

There are scenes of men carrying the tusks one by one and creating giant pyres that are later set alight to show the world that the ivory trade will be stamped out.

However go to Hong Kong, and a master carver prides himself on making intricate masterpieces on these tusks. he has a team of people using various tools to create a sea of people, flowers, trees, dragons and landscapes all on one tusk.

Baichwal, De Pencier and Burtynsky are the film's directors

He boasts the prices can range from several hundred to millions of dollars. But because the authorities are cracking down on the ivory trade, the man speaking Cantonese says he has found another better source -- that is not yet illegal -- mammoth ivory tusks. He won't be idle any time soon.

There's also shots of old growth forests in British Columbia being cut down and the narrator says there are less than 20 percent of the forests left in the world. It's shocking statistics like these that are disturbing and hopefully jolt people into realizing how much we have lost.

Nevertheless, some people in the documentary are indifferent because what they are doing is their livelihood, while others are very worried about the impact these actions have on the environment but are too small to stop them.

The images shot particularly from drones are beautiful and shocking at the same time -- this tension that Burtynsky is very well known for. A bulldozer pushes salt along a path and the camera pulls back to see how big the salt field is, that seems to go on forever.

Anthropocene first premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last year and hopefully more people will see this documentary, and see what we collectively as humans are doing to the planet we live on.

Port Visit: Livorno

The "new" fort at Livorono that is now a park inside

Early in the morning we arrived in Livorno, which is the main port for Tuscany. The town may only have a population of 180,000, but it’s Italy’s third-largest seaport. Livorno developed as a port under the control of the Republics of Pisa and Florence, the Duchies of the Medici and Lorensi, and since 1860 under a united Italy.

The piazza has a fountain with the town crest

In the 16^th and 17^th centuries, the Medici built many buildings, but many of them were destroyed in Allied bombing, and by the Germans who retreated northward in 1944.

We only spent a few hours in Livorno, as there wasn’t much to see – on Sunday practically the entire town seems to shut down. One of our first stops was Fortezza Nuova or “New Fort” to distinguish itself from the older fort near the water.

It isn’t well maintained, but walking around the area we soon realized it has been transformed into a park with grass patches and lots of trees – many people bring their dogs here for exercise, others come here to have chats with friends.

Near the fort by one of the canals, a local stopped us to show us large amounts of fish were swimming in the dirty water by the boats tied up. He made gestures to explain that he would never eat the fish because the water was filled with waste.

The beautiful exterior of the cathedral on Via Grande

On Via Grande we visited a cathedral that was constructed from 1581 until 1606. The ceiling was completely destroyed in the war, but was replaced with a decent copy of the murals on the ceiling. It’s a very beautiful church.

We saw a sign pointing to the Mercato Centrale100 metres away but when we got there it was obvious it was shut down today – it was like a ghost town. However, we noticed an interesting looking building nearby and discovered it was a synagogue.

It turns out at the end of the 15^th century a large Jewish community of traders began living in Livorno. The synagogue is modern looking, a sharp contrast to the church.

Inside the ceiling was rebuilt after World War II

In the Piazza Grande there’s a fountain – many piazzas have fountains – and people use them too. We saw a man take out his plastic bottle and fill it up with water from the fountain.

Unfortunately we missed Terrazza Mascagni, a walkway by the water that features black and white tiles like a chessboard. The area used to be the Fort of Cavalleggeri, but it was dismantled in 1872 and in 1925 made into a public space for strolling and concerts. After World War II it had to be rebuilt.

Also our shuttle bus passed by the Monumento dei Quatro Mori, or the monument of the four Moors. At the top is a statue of Ferdinand I of Tuscany, who built the fortress to protect Livorno from the invasion of pirates, Moors and Saracen.

The modern-looking synagogue

The statue is hardly politically correct these days, because below Ferdinand I’s feet are four Moors who are chained and crouching below him.  

Tuscan Trails: Parting Thoughts

Montecatini's City Hall, where the mayor's office is on the second floor

Soon it was the end of our seven-day tour of Tuscany, and on the last evening together we shared email addresses and took pictures with new friends.

In total there were 31 people in our tour group, seven of us from Canada (and Hong Kong), the rest from the United States, mostly from New Jersey...!

Verdi resided here in the summers (balcony)

Two other women from the US were also Chinese, originally from Shanghai. On the first day they started chatting with us and soon were adopted them into our little sub group.

We had one evening free in Montecatini, the small town we were staying at, and following the recommendation of one of our tour members, we tried to find the restaurant he said had very good pasta.

After strolling a few blocks we found the place, which had a large outdoor area in the front, and indoor area in the back. We approached the restaurant, and immediately I could sense the staff tensing up, seeing such a large group of Asian people tromping up to their entrance.

I asked for a table for nine inside (as there were smokers outside), and they pointed to two tables, one for five people, another for four. At first we agreed, but then asked if the tables could be put together.

There was a flat "no" and so we started walking out. They made a last-ditch attempt to suggest we eat outside where there was one long table, but I said there were smokers. It was too late for them to remedy the situation. Granted the space inside was a bit hard to fit nine people, but they could have tried.

Prawns with vegetables

So we continued on in our quest to find a restaurant.

We wandered into the area where the hotels are cheaper, mostly pensiones, and many had seats out front for guests to sit and chat amongst themselves.

One of the hotels we stopped at had a restaurant attached to it, looked like a fine-dining place, and it was still early so it was empty. I walked in and saw the head waiter put his jacket on and straighten it stiffly, while the other staff stared at us. It didn't seem like a good sign.

I asked if they were open and immediately he replied they were all full for the evening.

Right.

This is a town of 20,000 residents, has 200 hotels and as our tour guide told us, has 100,000 visitors during the tourist season.

A very hearty pappardelle with duck ragout

None of us in our group said the R-word, but it was definitely on our minds.

After walking a bit longer, we got tired, and hungry. We finally settled on another hotel restaurant in the same area, and this time a young woman warmly welcomed us to the empty dining area that was also part of the lobby. Nine people was no problem and she quickly put tables together.

We made it easier for her to do separate bills by sitting with our respective families, and she was very friendly, smiling and laughing with us. Although she made a few mistakes with our orders, no one minded -- we were just pleased to have a friendly server.

In the end the food wasn't amazing, but we had a good time and generously tipped the young woman who was overwhelmed by our gratitude. She had no idea what we had been through earlier.

On the whole though, the people we met on the trip were friendly and nice. It made us wonder if they knew the difference between people from China and Chinese people from elsewhere.

Chinese President Xi Jinping recently warned his fellow citizens to behave themselves when traveling abroad. One wonders what they have done in Montecatini to result in us getting strange looks?

Nevertheless, I will not forget the fantastic Tuscan scenery, from the hillsides covered in olive trees and grape vines, to the picturesque coastal scenes in Cinque Terre, but in particular the fresh food! That is something even the best Italian chefs can't replicate in Hong Kong! Take me back!

Tuscan Trails: Cooking, Dining and Wining

Some ripe sangiovese grapes on the vine waiting to be harvested

After our short visit to Pisa, we were taken to a Tuscan farm that grows grapes for wines, olives for olive oil and also makes balsamic vinegar.

It's called Fattoria il Poggio and it's definitely set up for tourists to visit, sample the food with wine and hopefully they'll purchase some of the above food products, as well as dried porcini mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, honey, and even the farm's own cookbook to take home.

Freshly made crostini with mushrooms that was delicious

Apparently this farm hosts some 5,000 visitors a week and with some guests taking tins of olive oil and bottles of wine back home, surely this is a profitable business...

But before we could sip the wine and dig into some rustic dishes, we first had a cooking demonstration of how to make basic Bolognese sauce by one of the chefs there, a female chef who didn't speak English, but had a translator.

She chopped up a carrot, celery, half an onion, half a garlic clove, and then sauteed them in a pan with salt and pepper. Of course olive oil was used -- and she used a lot. We all gasped when she didn't stop pouring...

Playing with our dough to make all kinds of pasta

After about 10 minutes you add ground beef, and when the meat is dry, then take the pan off the heat to add some dry white wine. If you use red wine, it changes the colour of the sauce, and dry is preferred, and no sparkling wine.

Put the pan back on the heat and let the alcohol evaporate which will take another 10 minutes before adding tomatoes. Of course fresh, ripe tomatoes are preferred but canned ones are fine (depending on what kind of texture you want, it can be diced or pureed).

At this point add herbs and spices and then let it simmer for two hours. Intermittently add water, but best to add as little as possible to retain the flavour.

The real pasta of pappardelle with bolognese sauce

If making risotto, use olive oil to saute garlic and vegetables, like porcini, and then add rice and water. The general rule is one handful of rice per person. Then keep stirring and adding water. We asked about using chicken stock, but the chef said no, because the chicken flavour overpowers the other flavours, which contradicts what many other chefs have told me previously...

In any event, she also showed us how to make crostini out of leftover bread. Slice up some mushrooms and garlic and then saute them with olive oil, sage or parsley and then add salt and pepper. Then spoon it onto the bread.

Another is to chop up fresh tomatoes and mix them together with basil, oregano, garlic, salt and pepper and olive oil and then spoon this concoction on top of bread slices. Yum.

A pretty good red wine...

Following the demonstration, we were instructed to get up from our seats and do some work. We were already wearing aprons and on the table in front of each of us was a bowl with some flour and a raw egg in it.

We were told to break the egg and then mix it into the flour with a fork. Once it was mixed well, we could start kneading it on the table, adding more and more flour to it. And then we were instructed to roll it out as thinly as possible. Some of ours came out great, others had to be rescued by the chef, who quickly added more flour and water to fix the dough.

Once it was rolled out, we could create pasta, by cutting thick lines to make pappardelle, or cut a rectangular shape, stuff something in the middle, fold it in half and then use the ridged cutter to make ravioli. The same concept could be used to make half moon dumplings too called agnolotti. Also using the ridge cut to make farfalle or bow-tie pasta, and tortellini, similar to wontons.

The best white of the evening...

After we cleaned ourselves of flour and washed our hands, we had a tour of the vineyards and olive groves. For olives, they were picked by hand -- shaking the tree apparently affects the roots and is not good. The olives are harvested and then put in a machine where everything is crushed -- including the seeds. This first pressing is the cold press, and is considered the best extra virgin olive oil. This means no chemicals were used to extract it.

Fattoria il Poggio then sells this left over crushed olives to olive oil producers, will further extract oil from it using chemicals and so it may still be called virgin olive oil but not extra virgin, nor cold pressed.

A word of advice -- never eat olives straight from the tree -- apparently it's a taste you will never forget. The olives have to be put in brine before they are edible!

The farm also makes wine from sangiovese and trebbiano toscano grapes. We tried some of the latter straight from the vine, and they were very sweet, hence they were busy harvesting the grapes when we were there.

Martha the dog gets a lot of attention from visitors

Our dinner was held in the "cellar", which was probably a barn on the ground floor that was remodelled to look like a cellar with barrels hung from the walls. After a meal of cold cuts, followed by pappardelle with bolognaise sauce, and then grilled chicken and beef. Lots of wine was drunk and impromptu toasts made. Following the meal some people got into the dance groove with music playing outside and no one else for miles around.

Also, the farm's relatively new mascot, a six-month old shepherd dog named Martha was too cute to pass up for a pat on the head. Everyone had a good time!

Dancing the night (and calories) away!

Fattoria il Poggio

Via S. Piero, 39
Montecarlo
+39 0583 22088

fattoriailpoggio.net/en

Tuscan Trails: Leaning on Pisa

Despite the leaning, the bell tower is a gorgeous sight

We made a short but fun visit to Pisa and the Leaning Tower is still tilted but looks much cleaner than it used to be. It was such a gleaming shade of white we had to wear shades.

The Baptistry standing under blue skies

The bell tower was built in 1152 and it is believed it was designed by Bonnano Pisano, and the story goes that he realized the first few tiers of the tower were leaning due to the swampy area it was built on so he skipped town out of embarrassment.

However, recent studies suggest Diotisalvi was the original architect as the style looks similar to the bell tower of San Nicola and the Baptistry, both in Pisa; however he usually signed his buildings and there is no signature on the bell tower.

Nevertheless, the tower was built over a period of 199 years and several attempts were made to straighten it out, while at one point a war prevented work on it for almost a century.

The story that Galileo dropped two cannon balls of different masses from the tower to demonstrate speed was independent of mass, but apparently this was not true, as the only source is Galileo's secretary.

Inside the baptistry there are clean, simple lines

In any event, in 1990 efforts were made to stop the tower from tilting further -- but also to retain the tilt for tourism reasons. This was accomplished by removing the soft soil and replacing it with dry soil to mesh with the environment like glue and this was finally completed in 2008.

These days people have to pay 15 euros to climb the tower, and only 25 people can go up at a time in 20-minute intervals.

Given the short time we had here, we just took pictures with the tower -- trying to push it back up -- and marvelled at how clean it was, as it didn't look like that the last time we saw it over 20 years ago.

Before getting to the Leaning Tower though, there are two other magnificent buildings to check out -- the Baptistry and Duomo, or cathedral. There's also the Campo Santo or cemetary, but we visited the first two.

Looking over at the Dumo, or cathedral

The Baptistry was built because in Catholicism, it was believed that if you weren't baptized you were not allowed into the church. And so the baptistry was for people -- mostly babies -- to be baptized and then they could enter the church. Smaller churches would have a tiny corner near the entrance of the church for baptisms.

This particular one in Pisa called Battistero di San Giovanni, or the Baptistry of St John, is very grand. Construction began in 1152 and completed in 1363. The architectural style is a blend of Romanesque and Gothic as well as Byzantine with the black and white marble.

Inside is is relatively simple with the though the decoration is ornate, and visitors can go up to the second floor (walking up 69 1/2 steps) to the upper gallery. It's a magnificent sight looking down. Apparently the accoustics in here are brilliant, but we didn't stay around long enough to hear people singing in this space.

The colourful mosaic of Jesus in the dome

What's interesting about the roof is that half of it is covered in terracotta tile, but then they ran out of money and the other half was covered in slate.

Meanwhile the cathedral is dedicated to Santa Maria Assunta, or St Mary of the Assumption. The gorgeous facade is gray marble and white stone with discs of coloured marble as decoration.

The interior is very ornate complete with detailed ceilings, chandeliers, marble columns and arches, and a massive mosaic of Jesus on the inside of the dome. One of the highlights is the massive pulpit designed by Giovanni Pisano, who spent eight years carving it. Many allegorical scenes are carved around the pulpit, which is supported by several lions.

It's just a pity that there are blue plastic chairs set out to add more seats to the wooden pews -- they threaten to take away from the grandeur of the place. Luckily most people are too busy looking up in awe of the place to notice them...

Giovanni Pisano's ornately carved pulpit

Tuscan Trails: Lucca

The cathedral in St Michael's Square

Lucca is a charming town that still has its three- mile circumference city walls intact, much like Xian. And like the Chinese city, people can bike around the city walls, as the ones here are like a promenade complete with pebbles and trees.

The walls are quite thick, and the Romans made it into the best army base; it never really had to defend itself nor was it heavily destroyed during World War II.

Composer Giacomo Puccini

In 5 AD Lucca was the capital of Tuscany and in 1250 it was one of the richest towns in Europe, as merchants had to pass through this town. However it quickly lost its influence when Florence became strong in textiles, thus attracting talent, technical know-how and power.

As it gained strength, Florence also began conquering other towns except Lucca, which managed to become independent. But Lucca also managed to specialize in silk, in particular weaving gold thread into it.

These days it is best known for making shoes -- particularly sewing the leather uppers, which is why there are many shoe shops here and places to buy leather goods.

One of the most famous people to come from Lucca is composer Giacomo Puccini. Apparently his music is the most played in the world, with songs from La Boheme and Turandot. His childhood home was pointed out to us, and we got to see that he probably had a good view of the church in St Michael's Square, the centre of the town.

Along the top of the city walls of Lucca

The facade of the church is embedded with many images and messages for the common people on how to go on the path to purity. On top of the church is St Michael with a spear to kill the devil.

Somehow the town of over 80,000 people has over 50 churches. Our guide explained that during Roman times, the Romans did not get along with the Christians and so the churches were in a corner of the town. But soon afterwards they proliferated and many of the churches are in buildings that don't necessarily look like a typical church.

Many pilgrims come here to see "the Holy face of Jesus"... it is said in the Bible that Nicodemus took Jesus down from the cross and prepared him for burial. He was Jewish and could not create icons of God. But he had tried to sculpt Jesus' face and left the work unfinished overnight.

Can you see the graffiti from the 13th century?

Somehow the face was completed while he slept, which suggests it was done by an angel. It was proclaimed to have a "perfect face" that looks Syrian, with dark hair and narrow eyes. Unfortunately we weren't able to see it for ourselves; and on September 13, the residents celebrate the Luminara, the day of the crucifix, where the town is lit with candles and there is a procession to the sculpture.

In any event our guide wanted to point out that even in the 13th century there was graffiti on the walls. Graffiti is an Italian word that means "scratches".

We were then led to a square that was actually oval because before it used to be an amphitheatre and over time it lost its use and people modified the space into other more practical things, like a marketplace in the 1830s. Today it's a "square" surrounded by restaurants and touristy shops.

Some enticing buccellato in the pastry shop

Our guide tried to continually tell us that even though Lucca is an ancient town, it is still alive thanks to the inhabitants. And we liked wandering the streets and could have done so for a whole day.

To snack on, the best known food here is buccellato, a bread that is slightly sweet.

Two of Florence's Basilicas

The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore is so huge I can't take the whole thing!

There are so many things to see in Florence like the Uffizi, the Baptistry of St John, and Ponte Vecchio, but we only had time to see a few sights, like David in the Academia, but also the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, or Basilica of Saint Mary of the Flower, the main church in Florence. It is also known as Il Duomo.

Inside is austere and has plain pews

Construction of the basilica began in 1226 in the Gothic style and completed in 1436 with a very ornate exterior featuring white, red and green marble, that coincidentally are the colours of the Italian flag: green means hope, white is faith, and red is charity.

Inside however is very severe and restrained. Our guide explained that it looks bigger when empty and gives man the feeling he is insignificant and small. Nevertheless the importance of the city is indicated by the size of the church and this is the third-largest one in Florence.

It also has a dome designed by Filippo Brunelleschi, and the inside of the dome is decorated with frescoes of the last judgement which cover an area of 3,600 square metres, which is larger than a football field. It is considered the largest fresco in the world which took seven years and 15 painters to complete, led by Giorgio Vasari Federico Zuccari.

The front facade of Basilica di Santa Croce

They had to get up to the top of the dome and build a wooden scaffolding so that they could lie on them and paint. Talk about a precarious occupation... Basically at the bottom of the dome are images of hell, and heaven at the top.

After the September 11 attacks, the basilica was considered a target and the original pews were taken away and replaced with plain ones. We were told the original pews were beautiful but they were designed such that one could perhaps easily hide a bomb in them. Now there are some wooden pews and plastic chairs which don't quite match the grandeur of the cathedral...

Another wonderful place to visit is Basilica di Santa Croce, or Basilica of the Holy Cross, about 800 metres southeast of the Duomo.

Michelangelo's tomb with three women...

The basilica is best known for being the final resting place for many famous people, including artist Michelangelo Buonarroti, astronomer, physicist and philosopher Galileo, composer Gioachino Rossini, writer, politician and philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli, poet Dante Alighieri, as well as Guglielmo Marconi, the inventor of long distance radio transmission.

Our guide pointed out to us that Michelangelo's tomb has three female statues, representing architecture, painting and sculpture, while Galileo only has two for astronomy and surveying; the church does not acknowledge him as a philosopher.

Santa Croce is like the Italian equivalent of Westminster Abbey, where many of the great (men) of Italy are laid to rest.

In the end we had a very short (and wet) visit to Florence... but perhaps that gives us a reason to come back again...

... while Galileo only has two...

Michelangelo's David Up Close

Visitors capturing a shot of David in Florence

On the day we planned to go to Florence, it was already raining in the wee hours, and we heard the rumbling of thunder, though no sharp cracks of lightning.

Nevertheless, we had to arm ourselves with raincoats and umbrellas for the day. We took the train there which took about 50 minutes and after we arrived our first order of the day was to go to the Galleria dell'Accademia, where we had tickets to go in between 10.15am and 10.30am.

An unfinished sculpture for the pope's tomb

After a short wait we were able to go inside, be subjected to a security check and then head straight for the room with Michelangelo's David inside.

But before that our guide told us a bit about the sculptor, painter and architect. He was born in Florence in 1475 and his family, the Buonarroti, were aristocratic, so Michelangelo had a good childhood and education.

At the age of 14 he recognized his calling to be an artist and practiced his craft until he died at the age of 89 which was very old in those days, where the average lifespan was about 50 or 60. He never married, nor had any children, which perhaps also explains his prolific output.

Pope Julius II commissioned Michelangelo to work on the pope's tomb and wanted him to carve 40 statues in five years. This meant he had to work on each of them bit by bit. But then the pope changed his mind and decided Michelangelo should paint the Sistine Chapel even though painting -- or painting frescoes was not his forte. But when the pope orders you to do something -- akin to a king -- you do as you're told.

The Virgin Mary holding the body of Christ

So just before seeing David up close, visitors can see seven blocks of marble with various states of carving. Some the faces are barely made out, while a leg muscle is starting to be formed after chiseling and then polishing.

The guide told us it is said that if you are a good artist, your hand follows the mind, and in a block of marble, a person is waiting to be liberated by the artist.

It is also interesting to note Michelangelo lost his mother when he was around five or six years old. And so his portrayals of the Virgin Mary are more human than angelic with a halo over her head.

We finally got to the highlight of the Academia, the statue of David. He is made out of one giant block of Carrara marble and Michelangelo began working on it when he was 27 years old for two years. He did it all by himself, working from top to bottom.

David looking like he is ready to strike Goliath

It's pretty awe inspiring to look at, pretty much anatomically correct except for the extra large hands and feet. Nevertheless, you can see the veins and muscles, and the leather strap of the slingshot, signifying he looks ready to strike Goliath.

There is a tree trunk at the bottom of his right leg to support the statue, though it has some cultural significance, being an olive tree which represents peace. The enlarged hands may mean the importance of strong hands, the hands of a worker.

After the statue was completed, it was painstakingly transported from the Duomo to City Hall, carefully lining the path with carpet and the 11,000-pound statue was pulled by 50 men. It took 10 days to reach city hall where it stood outside for some 300 years.

It was then moved inside to where it stands now, while a replica stands in its place outside.

See the leather slingshot over David's back?

In 1991 a man attacked the statue with a hammer he had concealed in his jacket. He damaged the toes on the left foot before he was restrained. You can see the restorers have tried to do the best they can to patch it up, but we're just glad he's still in one big piece for everyone to admire.

Tuscan Trails: Montecatini Alto

The entrance to the funicular

Montecatini is a town that has two parts -- Montecatini Terme, the spa area, and Montecatini Alto, a medieval village above the former. It is also much older, originally built in the 1300s.

The car at the top of Montecatini Alto

It's not hard to get up there -- if you're feeling energetic there's a trail that takes about an hour to hike up, or there's a funicular, a cable railway where there are two tram cars that pull each other up and down a steep slope, passing in the middle.

That explains why they go every half hour from 9.30am and then there's a break after 1pm until 2.30pm.

We caught the 11am up for 7 euros return and sat in an old wooden car painted red, that are named either "1" or "2". 

Passengers face each other on wooden seats and then if there isn't enough room (squeezing a maximum of five per row), then there are standing room only sections in the front and back of the cars.

The fantastic view overlooking Montecatini Terme

At the appointed time, the doors were fastened and we made the slow ascent that took over 10 minutes. We climbed higher and higher through a path in the trees that included cypresses and olives.

When we arrived at the top we were awarded with an amazing view overlooking Montecatini Terme. Today the sky was so clear we could see very far into the distance, but geographically we didn't really know what we were looking at.

Nevertheless, we wandered around the village and it was evident the place was very tidy, and everyone put some pride into their homes. There is a path for cars -- but only very small ones -- to get past very narrow streets. We were surmising that perhaps this was the equivalent to The Peak in Hong Kong, but it's only a guess.

Contrasting pictures over 100 years apart

We wandered into a church that interestingly held a community-organized photography exhibition, showing pictures from the 1900s and today. A good number of them were taken in the same spots to illustrate the changes. Some had more trees in the area, or rustic bricks were plastered over and smooth walls were made, or others looked pretty much the same.

Then we made our way into the centre of the village which wasn't far and there were a few souvenir shops for tourists. In the middle of the square are several restaurants, one after the other and our guide recommended we try La Torre, or The Tower.

I had a rustic soup of barely and canellini beans served in a mini green Le Creuset pot, and shared a tuna salad with my dad. He had another soup with chard, beans and tomato. In my soup the beans had disintegrated, which meant it had been simmering for a long time. The antipasti dish was declared delicious as well.

What was also interesting was a kind of bread we were given, not quite like pizza dough, but had a similar taste to spring onion cake but without the spring onions. It was crispy and had a pastry kind of texture seasoned with salt.

A rustic bean and barley soup for lunch

There wasn't much more to see in the town and we decided to get a head start in getting into line for the 2.30 funicular ride back down. It turns out we didn't have to wait that long because the staff allowed us to sit in the car shortly after 2pm and by 2.15pm we were slowly making our way back down.

Too bad by the time we arrived at the bottom the shops were closed for siesta! So we also napped before doing some window shopping...

Tuscan Trails: Greve and Chianti Classico

The picturesque Castello di Verrazzano in the Chianti wine region

Yesterday the skies looked hesitant with a bit of haze in the morning but we were assured it was heat haze that would burn off and it did.

We first headed to another small town called Greve in the Chianti wine district for a short visit. One of the shops we headed into was called Antica Macelleria Falorni, a butcher shop that sold lots of salami and pecorino cheese.

The rustic farmhouse restaurant featuring Verrazzano wines

I got some wild boar salami to bring back, as well as cinta senese, a hybrid of half wild boar, half pig that is apparently highly prized. Will have to report back later on how these taste. I did get to sample ice cream mixed with bits of salami in it, which was a weird combination, but had to be tried (savoury and sweet).

There was more food, but specifically wine in our next stop -- the Castello di Verrazzano, a gorgeous vineyard and farmhouse overlooking the Chianti region.

The place used to belong to the Verrazzano family, which made its money in producing olive oil and wine in the 10th century.

Massive wooden barrels that hold 4,600 litres of wine each

The family's most famous ancestor is Giovanni da Verrazzano, an explorer who was hired by King Francis I of France to find another way to the Orient and in 1524 ended up discovering the Atlantic coast of North America, from the Carolinas and New Foundland, that includes New York Bay and Narragansett Bay.

In New York, the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, named after the explorer, links the state with Staten Island and Brooklyn.

Meanwhile the wines here are named Chianti Classico, which means a minimum of 80 percent are sangiovese grapes. The balance is made up of red grapes.

The most promising of the three wines

We were told one plant growing grapes is equal to one bottle of wine, but that depends if the vines are seasoned enough to have a big yield. Another measurement is 400kg of grapes can produce 16 litres of wine.

Nevertheless, after the grapes are crushed, the juice is left to ferment in giant oak barrels. We were told that up until modern times, the barrels were cleaned from the inside which meant a very small person had to squeeze himself into a small opening and scrubbed clean. Sounds like a claustrophobic occupation.

At lunchtime we had a fantastic rustic meal. We were first served a selection of salami and cheese, followed by penne a la pompodoro that we could season with parmesan cheese and/or a spicy dry herb mixture.

Next came roast pork with a side of beans and salad. The greens were so simple -- lightly dressed with olive oil -- and yet so delicious.

Simple penne pasta with tomato sauce

We were given three glasses of wine to try -- a pinot bianco with some chardonnay in it that was light, fresh, herby. Next was a 2011 Chianti Classico that was much too young and acidic. Finally the Chianti Classico Reserva 2009 was the best of the lot and could be aged further.

Each guest also got a small spoonful of the estate's balsamic vinegar aged 10 years that tasted more sweet than sour. Many were tempted into buying bottles to take home. We were told to age the vinegar for 10 years, you may start with about 100 litres and by the end of the decade there's only 20 litres left.

To finish off the meal we were given small glasses of Vin Santo or sacred wine that Verrazzano makes, and was delicious with biscotti soaked into it. A gorgeous dessert wine that wasn't too sweet.

Thin slices of pork with beans and salad

And the views from here were so pretty, from the vineyards to the gardens complete with a fountain, and trees growing olives, lemons and shrubs with capers -- it was definitely a picturesque setting.