Friday June 14 A Local Day to Remember

It's hard to believe this our last full day in Tuscany!  And we planned it well!  

The O'Connells and Drew and Masa had left at 6:15 so we were now down to 13.   Peter, Tom and I left at 10:00 to explore the old town of Foiana della Chiana, right in our own back yard. First stop, cappuccino at an outdoor cafe!  This is definitely a working town--not a single tourist except us. We strolled, peaked, window shopped but only Peter bought anything.  We talked about returning that evening; Peter had found a pizzeria with a wood-fired brick oven. 

While in Foiano, Peter went into a home store and was immediately attracted to a set of decorative cats to add to his animal collection. When he asked the sales person, "Quanto costa?"  her reply was "Sei Euros" which Peter understood as "Sixty Euros!"  instead of "Six Euros!"  It sounds as though what ensued was a real comedy of errors including the sales person taking 6 Euros from the cash register, pointing to the money and repeating the number!  Much to his surprise, Peter ended up with the whole set for 6 Euros.   

Before we'd even done a complete tour of old Foiano we had to leave because our group had a reservation for a wine tasting at a local vineyard. At Fattoria Santa Vittoria  in Pozzo,  we met Mauro, son-in-law of the owner and quite the charmer, who gave a very interesting tour of the winery. His English was accented but flawless and idiomatic. After the tour we were treated to a light lunch of 3 kinds of bread, three kinds of salami, 2 kinds of cheese and grilled, paper thin slices of eggplant and several tastings of their white, red and dessert wine (vin santo). 

Back at the villa, all opted for a hiatus either at the pool or on a bed!  Some even started packing!  At 6 we went back to Foiano as a group to wander the streets and gaze at the old doorways and faux bois and trompe d'oeil on the walls of buildings. This old city is walled in the shape of a heart, has 5 churches inside its walls, is totally walkable and is home to Foianoese of all ages. Peter and I each met a very helpful college student studying in a small religious museum that contained 2 Della Robbias!

So, in the end we gathered at Peter's new pizza place, La Zinfarosa for pizza, pasta, veal and wine from our vineyard that afternoon. The ambiance was great--al fresco dining, a beautiful sky, overlooking an ancient Tuscan town with old, dear friends. Doesn't get much better!  Off to Rome tomorrow; we'll spend the night there before flying home early Sunday morning. 

Thursday June 13 Another Beautiful Tuscan Day, Another Beautiful Tuscan Town

Another beautiful day in Tuscany.  Another leisurely breakfast and discussion of the day's activities. Four cars left Villa y Y Ponti, one heading to Siena, another for Orvieto, the third and fourth for local venues. 

Bea, Tom, Peter and I drove to Castiglon Fiorentino, a hill town that, on the map, looked fairly close. However, as we continue driving through Italy, we are reminded more and more of the lack of good road signage (or is it our lack of good eyesight?). One  sees at a roundabout a sign pointing in a certain direction for a particular town and at the next roundabout, which could come within the next mile or even less, no sign for that town!  Winnie, we need you!  It's really too bad that we didn't get the Magellan card for Italy!

In any case, we eventually found Castiglon Fiorentino, described by our tour guide Andrea Pastorelli as "a medieval rock on the top of a mountain....beautiful fort and old town."  How true!  We were surprised by the lack of tourists and determined that it is definitely a working, living town perhaps not yet truly "discovered" like lovely Cortona. The inhabitants of Castiglon whom we observed were mostly very well dressed women and children. Were the husbands/fathers professionals working in Arezzo or Siena?

Like every excursion day, our first stop was an outdoor cafe on the main drag for cappuccino. We observed signs and flags all over town and finally realized that a Palio was scheduled for this coming Sunday. We leave Tuscany on Saturday!!  Unlike Siena with 16 boroughs, Castiglon has only 3, so this Palio is smaller but maybe just as exciting as the one in Siena. Just outside the wall of the old town, we watched at a large parking lot as town workers were enclosing the course with wooden walls and laying the course with a thick layer of dirt. Should be a lively day and we're sorry to miss it. 

After our daily cappuccino, we continued our stroll and then bumped into some Americans--Liz, Ed, John, Mim and Tony!!! We chatted a bit and made plans to meet for lunch before leaving Castiglon. Our small group continued to stroll around town, shopping, observing, taking photos and enjoying the day!  

Peter was still searching for "perfect pizzas" so we let him decide where to eat. He had seen and smelled a place,  Pizzeria Roggi, just as we'd entered town so we went back there for lunch and sat outside overlooking the Duomo and the verdant Tuscan countryside. Most of us had pizza and it was delicious...maybe a 19 in the CASTE rating?  Peter did observe that the pie itself had no cornice or edge around it!  Liz and I scooted down a couple of alleys to see if the church was open only to discover a sign "permanente chiusi," permanently closed; it did look like some construction was happening.   

The drive back to Foiano was easier and shorter and we saw many signs pointing us in the right direction. The route went through beautiful countryside where we observed abandoned villas in ruins. Before returning to the villa, we made a couple of stops for kitty provisions. Back at the villa, preparations were already underway for dinner. Some relaxed at the pool, some relaxed in their room and some played cards. 

Meanwhile, Jan, Lou, Masa and Drew returned from their day in Siena and Gary and Carol from their day in Orvieto. Peter and Bill also went on a successful late afternoon scouting mission to find Scrofiano and Villa Bea which we had rented for a week in 1997. 

Dinner with Team 3 in charge began with a delicious Tuscan platter of cheese, cured meats, cheeses and olives. At the al fresco table again we found our places (thanks, Liz, for our new set of place cards) and enjoyed Fuffi's spaghetti and meatballs and salad. After dinner we had a surprise celebration for Gary's imminent birthday. 16 of us participated in "This is Your Life, Gary!"  The first group did a skit about Gary's neck; the second group told stories about Gary's high school and college escapades; the third group sang a song about Gary's annual ski trip with "the boys" and his insistence on bringing his own ski boots out West; the last group, depicting Gary's "adulthood ??" danced to "Mustang Sally" with Drew in costume as Gary (thanks, Masa, for providing the "costume!" The evening ended with birthday cake and goodbyes for Carol, Gary, Masa and Drew who were leaving very early the next morning for Rome. The O'Connells are flying home but some of us will meet Drew and Masa in Rome on Saturday. 

Wednesday June 12 At Home and Away

We were absolutely ecstatic to awake this morning to find the wi-fi working in the front section of the grand foyer!  The first thing I did was to post 4 blogs from Sat, Sun, Mon and Tues just in case we lost the wi-fi to the wi-fi snafu!! 

We had another leisurely morning, drinking coffee, doing laundry and having breakfast. A few of us have succumbed to "vacation crud" in a couple of different forms!  And today was no exception. Six of us decided to take a hiatus from sightseeing and stay at the villa for this beautiful day and enjoy the pool. That is exactly what we did!!  Eat, swim, chat read--it was our  "piece of heaven!!"

After the team did its shopping for dinner, the other 11 Arrows took off for Pienza. One group left earlier than the other. This group drove directly to Pienza, shopped , talked and used the facilities. Pienza was as beautiful as Peter remembered, a great Tuscan town. For lunch they went to a restaurant near the garden with a patio overlooking the Tuscan countryside. They observed a hill town in the distance with a medieval tower, asked the waiter the name of the town, Radicofani, and drove there after lunch. 

Pretty much a tourist free town, they drove to the fort and climbed to the top where the view was magnificent!

Gary and Ed's group also went directly to Pienza, strolled the vias, browsed the shops, marveled at the antiquity of the town and the view and bought gifts for grandkids. John bought 5 small  matted prints of Pienza to replace his parents' severe German prints. They also had a nice lunch and came home quite satisfied. Another glorious day in Tuscany!  "Ed didn't marvel at the sites but was marvelous!"

Team 2 served a scrumptious dinner al frescoe like our first evening meal. Since then it's been a little too chilly to eat outdoors so we've been using the mammoth dining room. Tonight we started  with appetizers and continued with steak fiorentina served over a bed of arugula and tomatoes with risotto as a side. Dessert was Italian sweets. Lots of card playing and fairly late to bed!

Tuesday June 11 Lovely Cortona and Bon Voyage to the Mirisolas

FINALLY:  WI-FI

START WITH THE POST FROM SATURDAY JUNE 8

After a leisurely breakfast and matins we were off to visit Cortona. It felt like we took a round about way, but we did eventually arrive!  After parking we walked up and up, even up an escalator (does that mean it's become upscale or just that they want to be accommodating?).

Cortona is lovely!  And definitely a working and residential hill town. There are loads of boutiques, cafes, restaurants and souvenir shops but also fresh produce shops, pastry and bread shops and butcher shops!  Flowers are everywhere--in window boxes, in pots along the narrow streets and in front of buildings and residences. 

Our first stop was for cappuccino!  Then we pretty much split up and made plans to meet back at the car at 2. Besides the shopping there was the Cathedral of St. Mary, art galleries, a Chiese for St. Francis that contained 3 of his relics, museums and so many small, classy shops. We did keep bumping into each other and eventually all met for lunch in the Piazza Grande at Trotteria Antics where we sat at 3 different tables. Peter rated today' s pizza 17 on the CASTE system and yesterday's was a 18.

It took the 4 vehicles different amounts of time to get back to the villa. One followed a GPS, some followed signs and some followed their noses!  Our car followed signs, went to the Penny Mart to do the evening's shopping and was the second one to get home. Tonight we were back to Team 1 for dinner. While dinner was being prepared some went to the pool, some played cards, some did laundry (what a system!) and we all chatted. 

Dinner was appetizers which contained fennel and foie gras from Dordogne and the entree which was sausage roasted with potatoes, mushrooms, tomatoes, peppers and onions. Dessert was coffee, chocolate and vanilla gelato served with a large chocolate chip cookie. Yum!!!  Liz gave a vacation presentation about crashing 2 art gallery receptions!  That Lize!

Sat outside for some post dinner conversation, some played cards, some had an early night, some stayed up past midnight. 

Monday June 10 A n Amazing Day in Arezzo

Still no wi-fi!!! One of these days we'll get it straightened out!  We awoke to blue sky and sun so the day looked very promising. Team 3 left to do shopping for tonight's dinner. The rest of us headed for a day in Arezzo using Andrea Pastorelli's guided tour. 

Before we got to Arezzo, we stopped in Foiana del Chiana, our closest town, when we saw that it was "market day."  Lots of stuff, food and clothing. 3 of the ladies bought scarves, Peter bought a pasta rolling pin, Gary bought a wooden spoon, etc. We can't pass up a local market!

On to Arezzo, the largest city in this area of Tuscany, the Valdechiana. Andrea, who is Seth Doane's fiancé, grew up in Arezzo and gave us a written overview of the high points in Arezzo. We've named him "our own Rick Steves!"  Plus, his mother and father have a cafe in Arezzo, Le Bar Senese, just outside the wall of the old city. After parking the car, the 10 of us headed there for a cappuccino. After explaining that we were American friends of Andrea, his father Ernesto became overjoyed!  He was so surprised yet so beside himself to see us. He spoke NO English so between Carol and me (mostly Carol!) we managed to converse a bit. He absolutely refused to let us pay for our coffees!!  We took lots of photos, Ernesto recommended a pizzeria which he actually called to tell the owner we were coming and we promised to return after our tour of Arezzo to meet Alma, Andrea's mother. 

Wow!  You can visit awesome, ancient cathedrals with chandeliers, beautiful stained glass windows, lofty arches and statues created by masters but nothing compares with making real contact with another human being. Ernesto was so joyful to see us and treated us as though we were the most special people he had ever met!  As I said, he spoke no English and yet he was full of conversation!  We all had goose bumps!  

We left Le Bar Senese with a promise to return to meet Alma. Walking up the main road inside the walled city, we passed chic boutiques, a pieve, a crowd just down a side street craning to see Leonardo DiCapri and crew filming a movie and a "living sculpture" of a mountain of books coming out a second story window. You have to see it to understand. We spent some time in Piazza Grande and then started descending back toward the Pizzeria Miva. Made a stop at Chiesa di San Francisco in the Piazza San Francesco to view the frescoes and to take a photo of Caffe dei Costanto where a scene from "Life is Beautiful" was filmed. 

We eventually found the pizzeria where a table had been set up on the patio for the 10 of us. Beer, wine, pizzas, Tuscan soup, pasta--we ate very well!  Just as we were leaving, Ernesto  arrived to guarantee we had been well taken care of by the staff at Miva. We walked back to Bar la Senese where we met charming and chic Alma, Andrea's mother. Alma did speak a smattering of English so we were able to communicate a little better. She misses her son and told us so. 

On the way home we made a quick stop at Penny Market for some staples. 

At home Team 3 was already prepping for dinner which commenced about 8. We had melon wrapped with prosciutto, veal parmigiana with pasta and Italian sweets for dessert.  Thanks Team 3:  Francine, Bea, Lou, Mim and Ed.  Cards, conversation, more wine and then bed. 

Sunday June 9 A Day of Rest

Sunday was truly a day  of well-needed rest!  Although we thought we were staying at Villa gli Stemmi, the name of the villa is actually Villa y Ponte.  Apparently many owners  don' reveal the true name of the property until renters arrive. 

Many of us had been traveling for 2, 3 or even 4 weeks!  Some read, some played cards, some went to church, some went food shopping  (a couple of times!), the team did some meal prep, some napped and, of course, lots of conversation. Peter and Ed drove for a couple of hours in search of a pizza and ended up with risotto. They did see a lot of Tuscan towns!

Team 2 did dinner:  for appetizers we had 2 cheeses, fresh figs with flower honey and for dinner roasted chicken served with roasted and grilled potatoes, onions, asparagus, red peppers and zucchini served with Caprese salad.  Dessert was assorted Italian sweets and Limoncello.      Deliciosa!!

The first vacation dinner presentation was Lou with his car size snafu in Venice. Was the car really a 4 door?  Peter told everyone about our trip to Bossiers in Provence in particular the impressive family cemetery and the tribute to a mother and wife that really impressed him. I read it in French and he read it the translation. Ed    talked about the toll road fiasco and getting the ticket out of the machine. And then there was Bea who had composed a poem/song  (Frere Jacques) about our 47 years of friendship and this trip in particular.   

A lively discussion ensued about activities for the next day. Bed was late but everyone had rested during the day. 

Saturday June 8 On to Tuscany

We actually did what we intended!  Met for another great buffet breakfast and then set off to explore Camogli.  I'm pretty sure we traversed the whole city!  We started with the statue of Simone Schiaffino, Peter's ancestor, just outside Hotel Casmona. Took MANY photos and tried very hard to figure out what all the Italian carved into the statue meant. We made only some progress in our translation.  So we proceeded on our walk admiring all of the trompe d'oeil artwork on the buildings. We found the end of the jetee, the basilica with 37 chandeliers, the old chateau/fortification and even a Schiaffino street named for one of Peter's ancestors!

Back at the hotel after a little shopping, we made plans to meet on the patio to check put at 10:15. Peter and Tom took some small items with them to retrieve the car from the "secure private" lot, a ten minute walk. After 45 minutes, Bea and I got concerned. I called Peter, he sounded stressed but said all was okay. Tom arrived and Bea, Tom and I left the hotel with ALL the rest of the luggage and SCHLEPPED it to where Peter was with the car. It was another case of narrow streets, one-way streets and closed streets! So, off we went, finally. 

Tom became the navigator and I sat in back with Bea. Our trip to the villa in Foiana Della Chiana took about 3 hours. Arrived shortly before 3; Osentons, Wards, Gallaghers and John were already there.  

First things, first!!  We started the kitty, wrote a shopping list and Bill, Peter and I left for the town of Foiano. It took us a short while to find the supermarket, the Coop, a large and very well stocked supermarket, where we began our next adventure. First of all, we had to drop a 1 Euro coin into a slot to free and begin to use a shopping cart. Then, in the produce section, we had to weigh everything to get a sticky price ticket to put on the bag. After that, we progressed fairly well to find everything on our list. Fortunately Bill found a woman who spoke English and directed him to the trash bags and the sugar. We ended up with 2 carts full of provisions and then we had to bag our own stuff AND pay for the bags! But, lo and behold, upon returning our 2 carts we got a euro back for each one!

Our next adventure was finding an ATM to replenish our personal funds. Foiano is a town of 10,000 so we figured it would be a simple task!  NOT!!  After driving around and asking directions of several people in our VERY limited Italian, we finally found ourselves on a street we had been on a couple of times and.....there was the bancomat!!  Mission accomplished!

Back at the villa, the kitchen team for night began preparations for dinner on earnest. The Combes, Drew and Masa had arrived so only the O'Connells were missing. They arrived in due time, we had cocktails (no ice) and appetizers and began vacation conversation.  The team consisted of Peter, Jan, Drew, Carol and Tom. They served tagliatelle con pompadoro fresca e saucisson along with a delicious salad and bread.  After dinner we began our individual "Vacation Highlights" presentations. Francine described their Viking cruise disaster...the ship went aground!!  Bill told us about their Rome hotel fiasco...they finally got another room. I talked about my magic day in Dublin with my new cousins.  We sat around the al fresco dining area on the patio talking and drinking wine until we went to bed in the fabulous, 3 story Villa Ponti.