# Salute’ from Italia!



## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Greetings from Italy, that is! Lol
I actually got here a few days ago and I'm with family in Firenze (Florence). 
I have ventured into Tuscany quite a bit and guys I have to tell ya, these Italian farmers are a good bunch. First thing that blew my mind is there are round bales EVERYWHERE. These boys can ROLL. They do the really steep stuff, too.

Lots of Fendt and Hesston hay equipment. Also see some Same, Lamborghini and even a few Deere & Kubota pieces.

It's been 100-105 degrees! Amazing, hot hay drying weather. 2 or maybe even 1 day hay even looks possible. Lots of straw, too. 
Trying to get a few pictures here and there. 
Hope it's all good at home with you all. Heading to Cinque Terre for a few days. Been wanting to go there forever. Beautiful, ancient colorful villages splashed on the coastline.

Later!


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Cool beans, I want to get to Rome and Venice on one of our trips to the UK. Venice might be iffy since the wife claims to hate boats of any kind and even gets motion sick backing down our driveway if she's the passenger.

Personally I like to do my traveling during the non tourist season. First everything is cheaper, secondly you don't spend near the time apologizing for the stereotypical ugly American. We have maybe a dozen people or better claiming to want to visit the UK the next time with us, out of those I'd take at best two couples and only one of them for sure. The rest just couldn't comprehend the fact we aren't in the states, they don't do things there the same and don't want to hear about how things are done in the states.

Another nice thing about the slow season, people have more time to talk. Our trip to Scotland we had the cook and a waitress employed by the lodge we stayed at drive us into town. If it'd been the busy season they'd been wiped out and probably wouldn't of been near as chatty. Scottish drivers make English ones look sane and sedate by comparison and the English are nuts.

BTW, shouldn't you be mowing hay?


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

I got all my 1st cutting baled, then left
I was baling up to just a few days before leaving. My wife asked me a few times over the past winter what would be best time to go. I thought between cuttings and the kids out of school and not playing their summer sports. Also having some truck problems repaired while I'm gone. 
So far We've been treated great here. They like Americans if you just show some respect and make an attempt to speak a little Italian. It goes a long way.
It's my second time to Italy, but first time to Chinque Terre, Sienna and Pisa. Been all over Tuscany. Sienna is simply amazing. You can't believe the enormity of the churches. You don't have to ever touch water to go to Venice. You take the train and then walk the town. St Marks Square and Basilica De San Marco are breathtaking. 
Got to see the Alps mountains in the city of Lucca where so much of the white marble comes from. 
You'd be shocked at how big the chunks of marble are- they look like they're bigger than 4x4x8 square bales and they are mined I'd guess 8,000 feet up, then brought down the mountains in mining trucks.
I have seen many, many vehicles I know some of you would love to have. I will post a picture I took of a Toyota "LX" turbo diesel. Looks a lot like the older Toyota Land Cruiser, but even better. Had a TDI and a PTO winch and would be an awesome replacement for a Gator or a side by side on the farm. Had great tires and such a tough look about it.
Chinque Terra is so beautiful (or should I say "Belle"?) We cliff dived into the clean, clear Mediterranean Sea. My daughter and son couldn't get enough diving off the cliffs with some of the locals. 
We headed into town for some of the towns specialties (calamari, stuffed anchovies, squid, fish, etc) there are Gelato stands everywhere. Beautiful scenery and women!!! We took a boat ride along the coast and looked at the 5 sea villages from about 1 mile out. Very colorful and fun. The towns churches and original castles dat back to the 11th century! Amazing mideval history juxtaposed with colorful cliff side villages. 
Well that's about it for today. Trains running on time!
Later


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