May be the Last But...One of our Favorite Days!!

Sitting on a quaint little patio in the province of Siena, we drove by this place many times hoping we would have a chance to stop. The atmosphere superior, authentic cuisine and of course more wine. My pumpkin and ricotta filled home made pasta was delicious!! Scott had his first steak, not quite as good as the ones I had previously.  We spent our morning lounging around the gardens of the property and strolling to the little chapel, Pieve De San Leolini. We've heard the bells ringing for hours echoing to us to come check it out.  It had a wonderful courtyard and great views. On our way there we passed a small 400 sq ft stone home for sale on the corner. It made me quite curious. We also ran into our host returning from mass.  His wife seemed a bit put off mentioning he had already had a bottle of wine and she took off for home. Talkative in his state, he went on to tell us that he was a retired General Electric employee from France. He also confirmed what I was guessing about the Italian culture. They are much more easy going and less competitive in that, all jobs are seen as important with out the hierarchy and judgement we see so much in the states. A garbage man can be proud of the work he does here and it is seen as an honorable position. He seems to enjoy what he does, I think it would be awesome to own an Inn and make sure everyone has an amazing time. The place here, Le Villa Barone, was incredibly cheap for what we got. In addition to the gorgeous grounds, comfortable bed and room we received two four course dinners, one we will have tonight, breakfast each morning, tickets to Uffizi Gallery, bottle of Champagne on arrival all for under $150.00 a night.

After the short stroll we decided to head out for a drive and ended up at a little winery not far from the restaurant we wanted to try for lunch. At the winery we sampled the four wines they make there and a cheese board of various cheeses, another food they do extremely well here, and of course the olive oil they produce there as well, all while over looking  line after line of grapevines varying from dark green to yellow to red. Perfect start to the day. It's been sunny and warm all day so we are off to the pool for more lounging.

Scott got in the pool with me wearing the bright orange 10 euro trunks he picked up yesterday at the beach. He says they make him feel like Johnny, that's gotta be a good thing. Sipping Pinot Grigio our hosts supply from the pool snack bar is welcome, so much honor system here, I love it. No one took our train tickets or ferry tickets to mention just a couple big ones.

Just packing some before watching the sun set. It will be hard to leave this place, neither of us ready to go home. We agree this has been our best vacation to date. Scott walking around quoting from the movie Michael, "I am completely happy". It has made me realize I am interested in traveling more abroad. We have some friends heading to Ireland next  July and are thinking we may have to see if we can join them. It will make leaving here easier if we have a new destination to look forward to. We are so incredibly lucky!!

Pisa to Cinque Terre

Ahhh, we made it on the train with much trial and error and our spirits still high despite small frustrations of being lost often, hopefully our car will be there when we get back as we had to park in the street possibly in a resident only zone. We saw the leaning tower and are now headed to the last of the 5 cliff hanging cities on the coast of the Mediterranean.

Finishing  a lunch of typicale pesto lasagna for me and spaghetti with clams for Scott brings us to the small stone sand beach. Tiny pieces of mica light up like diamonds in the sun. We listen to the Italian grandfathers playing with young children in the crystal clear green water. The Italians seem happier and healthier perhaps despite their strong work ethic, they know how to live moment by moment without stress. It seems to me that our country, with stress the dominate emotion, probably is like a cancer cell to Gaia. The Italian carbon footprint so much smaller than our own with their tiny cars and line dried clothes. I see less trash in their streets and water coming from glass bottles instead of millions of plastic ones. They may look grumpy as they walk past, but as soon as you greet them, they light up as if they know you or would like to. Our time almost up, Scott finishing his catnap, we will move on to town number 2.

It got late fast so we saw very little of the other towns. We did climb 386 steps to reach the town of our second stop where we had a great shot of the sun sinking. Im glad we spent time relaxing on the beach! We stopped for gelato on our last stop it was already dark and we were unable to see much other than the last glow of sun on the tracks. We are headed the two hour drive home now, the last curvy hill road will be a tough one as our eyes already tired. It sucks getting old, is what I think when I realize we can no longer drive confidently in the dark. Another great day neither of us ready to head home yet. Thankful we have a Day to do nothing tomorrow!!

Chianti Feels Like Home

Scott and I sipping wine in a quiet corner of our place here at Villa Le Barone after a day at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. They served us an excellent dinner here last night and we feasted again after the museum. I tried the homemade pasta with wild boar. It was an excellent authentic Florence dish. Scott enjoyed his Taglitaria Bolognese and then we went to see the famous bridge over the Arno River. We strolled along for a bit before deciding to head up our hill to hit a winery on our way home. We stopped at a relatively new place, Monte Bernardi, open only 17 years but with great views of their vineyards which date back to 1964 so they had some older vines as well as the young ones. 

We are going to head to dinner soon. Scott had his Cub celebratory Cuban smoke and I enjoyed the endless pool as the sun went down behind castle like church on the hill just west of us. Life is indeed good!