Our first evening, we gathered outdoors for the first of many, many bottles of wine we enjoyed during our stay.
One of the motivations for the trip was the fact that both David and I turned 70 this year. Kathie and I had found this lovely T-shirt at the Cedar Rapids airport before we left, so we gave it to David that first evening. Sure enough, the next day he wore it.
Each of the two villas was delightful. Both were old buildings, though very well kept. The rental of villas in Tuscany is a thriving business it seems. Each of the two had a pool, although the water was quite chilly, as they were not heated and temperatures, though great for our stay, were typically in the 70s during the day and down into the upper 40s or low 50s at night. My only complaint about this first villas was that insects, both flies and mosquitoes, were numerous, pesky and biting!
Each villa had several bedrooms and nice shared spaces as well. We cooked some of our own meals but also enjoyed local restaurants. During the day, we either relaxed at the villa, reading, conversing, and enjoying the amazing views, or we visited some nearby village or city.
One of our first outings was to the city of Montepulciano, which sits high on a hill. The drive there, along some winding secondary roads, took us past beautiful vineyards and olive groves on a gorgeous, sunny day. After some sight-seeing, we ate a nice lunch in the city.
After lunch, we went drove to the Avignonesi Vineyard for a tour and wine tasting. One of the most fun things of the entire trip for me was the chance I had to watch the grape harvesting. I had always imagined this was done by hand, when in fact, most of it is now done by machines like this one. A little smaller, though not much, than the combines I'm used to seeing at home, these machines straddle two rows of vines in each pass. I really wanted to go out and ride along, but I thought I'd not be welcome to do that. Later I read about the equipment online (New Holland makes a lot of it). They use rotating mechanisms that shake the vines and cause the grapes to drop on conveyer belts that deposit them in a hopper. Trucks are loaded when the hoppers fill and transport the grapes elsewhere. According to what I read, the machines are actually leave fewer grapes behind than hand picking does. I saw little waste on the ground and vines that were stripped clean. Really fun to watch!
Our tour guide took extra time to show us the process for the two sweet after-dinner wines that Avignonesi makes. Here we are in the drying rooms, where both red and white grapes are staged during the first step. Essentially, they let the grapes turn to raisins for a bit, before pressing a very sweet, thick juice from them. Of course, we saw other wine making facilities too, and we enjoyed an extended tasting session.
Our stay at the second villa was the longest (about 4 nights at the first and ten at the second). Sunsets looking out west over the Tuscan hills were often spectacular. This one was taken from the second villa.
This second villa also had a nice pool, lots of lounging spaces, and a hot tub. There were almost no insects here for reasons we couldn't explain. Both villas, by the way, were reached from roads far below via steep, winding lanes.
Another of our outings was to the Brolio Castle and related Barone Ricasoli Winery. The castle, which has 140 rooms, has been in the Ricasoli family since the 11th century, and the family still lives there part of each year. So most of the castle is closed, though we saw a few rooms with interesting collections of weapons, furniture, and other items belonging to the family. Walking through the courtyards and enjoying the views were rewarding, since the castle sits atop a high hill, and one can look all around at the surrounding vineyards and farms. The formula for Chianti Classico was invented by the Ricasoli family, so this was a featured wine when we stopped for a taste. However, I most liked the grappa they offered and purchased a bottle for us all to enjoy back at the villa.
Siena was another day trip, a much larger and more popular city for tourism. There is always a gelato shop or two or three or more in each city. David and I were always drawn to these.
Nearly every Italian city has a central plaza, and some have additional plazas as well. This large one at the center of Siena is the site of the twice-annual Palio di Siena (July and August), a bareback horse race around the perimeter of the plaza. I encourage you to read a little about it here, and to see the photographs of the race. They cover the perimeter with a thick layer of dirt, and the plaza is filled with spectators.
A duomo or cathedral is often a key part of the placement of any plaza, and the one at Siena is quite amazing. The duomo is built of two primary colors of marble, alternating black and white.
Part of the tour Kathie and I did allowed us to hike up a series of narrow, low-ceilinged, spiral, stone walks to reach the top of an arch where we could look out over Siena in every direction.
The inside of the duomo was fascinating too and full of beautiful artwork, including scenes on the floors crafted of various carved pieces of marble, alcoves, paintings, statues, and a music library with displays of hand-crafted books of musical scores and chants.
On the day that Robert, Karen and Dale traveled to Lucca and Pisa, David, Kathie and I went instead to San Gimignano. This walled city (many of the old Tuscan cities are or were once walled) is famous for its towers. The story is that each prominent, wealthy man tried to outdo his neighbor by building a tower yet higher than the preceding one. Not all remain, but those that do make the skyline of San Gimignano quite interesting when you approach it on its hill. This picture looks down from the only tower accessible to the public down at a smaller one.
David and I climbed the 219 steps to the top, and a friendly German tourist agreed to capture a photo of us there.
In the streets below were many food carts or trucks. At least two offered fresh roast pork sandwiches right off the hog. Literally, right off the hog.
Almost needless to say, the food in Italy is fun and quite difficult to resist. I had so many different and wonderful pasta dishes and wines, and the antipasti are often fun too. This one was a cheese and pear with crumbled walnuts appetizer that I tried and enjoyed.
Here's the whole gang of us on one of our last nights together, plus I got nice shots of our friends.
After leaving the villa, Kathie and I returned one of the cars in Florence. (David and Donna: The car return location was only a couple blocks directly behind your apartment there along the Arno!) From there it was a short walk to the train station, where we boarded this high speed train to Milan. Too bad we can't see fit to construct such service in the U.S.! The train was very comfortable and clipped along at 300 kilometers per hour (about 185 MPH) to have us arriving in Milan in just 1-1/2 hours.
Our one free day in Milan, before flying home, was spent wandering the central downtown area. This seemed a common, pleasant, Sunday thing to do there, since the streets were full of people, the shops were open, restaurants were busy, and street performers of all kinds were out and about. Witness the break dancer we saw, for example. His money bag is ready for donations, of course.
The duomo here, like so many we have seen in Italy, is spectacular.
And, as Milan is regarded as one of the world's top fashion industry cities, we had to walk through the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, within which appear shops for all the top fashion labels. The architecture is quite impressive.
The next day we boarded a plane for the first of three flights to take us back to Cedar Rapids and home. Having been able to spend time with good friends, both old and new, in each of the two countries we visited made this a very special trip.
1 comment:
Thank you for sharing these wonderful stories and pictures. I loved Rome and have always wanted to visit Tuscany. Looks like I'd love it just as much. And, Bill, one MUST visit every gelateria possible!
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