Tuscany

Monday: Barberino Val d’Elsa

Posted on by Susan

Our hosts in Tuscany gifted us with a wine tasting coupon, so we headed to Barberino Val d’Elsa to check it out late this morning after another grand breakfast.

We made a stop along the way and when we got back into the car, the Check Engine light was on. The nearest Citroen service station was 35 minutes away in Florence, so away we went. The mechanics there were so nice and took a look right away, fixed whatever it was in a half hour, and charged us nothing.

We left busy Florence ( we plan to spend tomorrow or Wednesday there, but go by train) and went to the wine tasting, which was very good and it was interesting to hear about the wines they produce. After, we drove the long and winding dirt roads to the vineyard where their wine is made and got a fantastic nice long tour of the facility by one of the owners.


photos: the narrow road into the city. Below: an easy way to move furniture out of an apartment; olive trees are all over the place

Sunday: Scandicci

Posted on by Susan

We are loving life in Tuscany after just 24 hours here. Our hosts are fantastic, and their attitude is that if you’re staying with us you are part of the family.

A lot of that ends up meaning food, and we are all for it. After an extra hour’s sleep because of the time change, we had a delicious and grand breakfast of eggs, cheese, pancetta, bread, jam, fruit – all grown by the family or prepared by Teresa, the host. It was delicious, needless to say.

We met a young couple from Canada who had been staying in the second bedroom for three days but were leaving that morning. They were fun to hat with a bit before they had to leave for their flight put of Rome.

We wandered into town, which was quiet since it is Sunday. When we came back to the villa, we were treated to wine, and mushroom lasagna, then a beef and potato dish, again with every ingredient grown or made on site. We were happily finished with eating when along came a mascarpone dessert with chocolate shavings on top. It was all better than any restaurant food we could have had, and all unexpected.

We left and stopped by an open house at a small nearby olive oil factory, and although we watched the whole process of olive and leaves going into the machine, the olives being separated, the fruit being chopped and blended, and eventually olive oil coming out, we did not sample anything because we were not at all hungry.

We came back to watch the sunset – an hour earlier than last night – and Teresa offered us wine and prosciutto on small warm rolls she had just made. Which of course we ate.


photos: Sunday sunset; an evening snack (plus wine); blending the olives – olive oil being made

Saturday: Collodi

Posted on by Susan

(I am not sure why this post came up blank for a few days, but I only realized it thanks to my friend, Daniela. I’ll summarize my original post.)

Collodi is an interesting and somewhat quirky little town and the place where Carlo Collodi created Pinocchio. It was on our way to Scandicci, where we will stay for the next five days, so we made a stop there.

What a delightful place. We walked around the gorgeous gardens of Garzoni – the 17th century estate built by one of the most important families of the time. Probably because it is so huge and expensive to maintain, some of the upkeep seems to have slacked off but the stairways and statues are beautiful. We enjoyed checking out the expansive grounds.

We had lunch at a cafe next door and then walked around seeing the cute Pinocchio-themed everything that is a huge part of the town’s livelihood.

We took a series of winding dirt roads to the absolutely perfect Tuscany villa where we are staying. If not for GPS, there would be no way to find it.photos: Pinocchio is at the entrance to the town; the entrance to the gardens; waterfall statue at the Garzoni  gardens