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Globe Trekker: Tuscany
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Presenter: Ian Wright
 Traveller Ian Wright makes the cultural pilgrimage
to the extraordinary Italian region of Tuscany - a finely
made combination of cultural wealth, beautiful landscapes,
quality food, fashion and passion.
Ian starts his journey in Florence, a massive, beautiful
monument to the Renaissance. It's a cultural treasure trove
as Ian discovers touring the Piazza della Signoria,
the Accademia and the Uffizi Museum,
coming face-to-face with priceless works like Michelangelo's
David statue and Caravaggio's Medusa shield. Inspired, he tries his hand at painting
himself, at the Palazzo de Cataloni that's
been teaching art since 1975 - amazingly he's not too bad!
No visit to Florence would be complete without a tour of its
dominating cathedral the Duomo which is so
big there's nowhere in the city where you can see in all its
entirety. A climb into its dome takes his breath away. As
does the Palio, a crazy version of football
combined with wrestling, boxing and rugby, dating back to
the fifteenth century.
He's had his fill of Florence, but not before he tucks into
two city favourites, ice-cream and a Florentina steak. |
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 In Carrara, Ian meets an American artist
who gives him the lowdown on the area. Its marble has been
quarried since Roman times and 40 per cent of US marble comes
from here. Michelangelo even spent five years up in the mountains
here, such is the quality of its stone.
Then it's off south to the home of another Renaissance master,
Leonardo da Vinci, where he visits a museum showcasing the
designs of his great scientific mind - he not only invented
the bicycle but even an underwater diving suit!
Chianti is synonymous with its fine wines;
Ian meets the owner of Castello de Brolio
where the 'Chianti Classico' was invented in the nineteenth
century. Then it's off to Cavaggio, a beautiful
farmhouse owned by Enrico Beni, that's part of the Italian
agritourismo home-stay movement. But he finds he's got to
sing for his supper, helping him pick olives for his award
winning extra virgin olive oil. From outdoor beauty it's onto
the medieval history of San Gimingiano, the
ultimate Tuscan hilltop town, with its fourteen graceful towers.
Moving southwards, Siena is another fabulous
Tuscan city full of Medieval palaces and towers. The
Campo is a stunning square, crowned by the fourteenth
century Duomo, filled to the brim with artistic treasures
including four Michelangelo statues. Once a year, the Campo
goes wild at the arrival of the Palio, a
hair-raising horserace that attracts the entire city.
For a dip in the great outdoors, Ian takes off to the Maremma,
home to Italy's cowboys. At the Boratto ranch he watches a
wild horse being tamed and hitches a ride across the valley.
And for a little beach action he takes a ferry from the Italian
mainland to Elba, place of Napoleon's exile in 1814 and now one of Europe's most popular destinations,
attracting two million sun-seekers every year.
Rounding off his trip, he visits Pisa, home
to perhaps Italy's best-known building, the Leaning
Tower on the Field of Miracles.
Pisa was a maritime superpower in the twelfth century and
two of its biggest festivals celebrate its historic eminence
with great shows of costume, pageantry and pride. The Gioco
del Ponte is the biggest with a massive military
march culminating in a heart-stopping competition of strength
between two teams trying to push a mighty chariot into the
opposition's side of the bridge. This seems like a perfect
way to end Ian's trip which has been full of history, culture
and lifestyle but perhaps, most of all, passion. And the Tuscans
have it by the bucket-load!
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