Under the Tuscan Sun, part 1

I am going to write this entry in two parts, as it is going to be a long one.

Tonight we set off for a traditional Tuscan meal in Machiavelli's old home in Tuscany. The road towards the restaurant was absolutely breathtakingly beautiful, around every corner, there was a new scene more beautiful than the last. A postcard all the time.

There were often rhododendron bushes in bloom along the way. This is wine country, so there were lots of vineyards too.

The road was very twisty as it wove up and down these hillsides. Often instead of shoulders, there were stone walls. 

These were the road signs:

The farther up the hills we got, the more narrow the roads got. At one point, we met another tour bus. We we didn't think we could pass. You can see the look on the other bus drivers face as we passed him. 

Everyone on the bus was clapping when we successfully managed to pass, we met a small moving truck, and the same thing happened. Each hairpin turn we managed to navigate successfully elicited a small , but audible sigh of relief from the passengers. 

About 3 kilometres away from our restaurant, we met a small dump truck with an escavator on behind. We met him as we were turning  a very tight corner, steep hill and rocks upwards to our left, and very steep hill downwards to our right. You have to understand, these tour buses are large, and these roads were definitely not made for large vehicles.

Our bus.

Wouldn't you know it, the truck got wedged between us and the rock cut, he was unable to move. He was talking on his phone, and says his brakes weren't working! If the bus moved forward or backwards, there we were in jeopardy of tumbling down a very steep hillside! 

We had to evacuate, there was very little room, about one foot to step out onto, and then squeeze between a tree. 

We began walking upwards towards the restaurant, but it was about 2 more kms, and as you are likely aware, it is very hot here! Our tour guide managed to get another bus driver-whose group was already at the restaurant to come and pick us up. Of course, we have blocked the road! So...he had to back up this huge bus up the hill the full 2 km!

Finally, we reached our destination, about an hour and a half late, but more about that in part 2. They had to get a big tow truck to come out, they were unable to budge the truck, but finally used some sort of cable to lift the rear of the bus up and over about half a meter. I believe the bus is fine! What an adventure!

We had a great night, we are all safe, and have a great story to tell. It is now midnight here, and we are off to Pisa bright and early, so I will blog "the rest of the story" later!🇮🇹😉