We spent our last day in Florence at the Ufizzi museum. After hitting the second major attraction, we're now thoroughly convinced that taking time to make reservations ahead of time is the way to go (a suggestion that Kacey Baxter made a last time we came...thanks for the great tip!). You get to go right to the front of the line if you have reservations.
The Ufizzi houses the famous Botticelli picture Birth of Venus and many other works by famous people like DaVinci. Amazing! And, we're only a couple days in and our feet are killing us. Hard to believe you can walk this much in one day!
Next adventure, Avis Rent-a-Car. After seeing how our luggage fit into a taxi, we weren't quite sure how we would fit everything into a rental car. Most of the cars here look like little smart cars. We had visions of looking like clowns spilling out of a vehicle at the circus. It was a nice surprise to see a little station wagon. It took a few tries to get the back to close around the suitcases, but we managed.
Next stop, Tuscany. We hit the road with a set of brief directions from Avis...take a right-a, then a left-a, then go over the bridge-a, and you'll be on your way to the villa. Sounds easy? Well, not quite that easy, but the (long) drive was so beautiful.
We kept looking for "vendita diretta" (or direct sales) signs to find a winery to try. We decided to stop at a little winery just outisde Gambasse Terre called Santa Cristina (pictured above). They have some really great wines. And the best part is that their most expensive bottle was about 15 dollars. After a short stay, we were off to the villa.
Our villa, called Tenuda Quadrifoglio, is located just outside a little town called Il Castagno. The villa is amazing. They host weddings nearly every weekend during the summer. In fact, there were two while we were there. After checking in to the villa, so decided to head to the pool for a rest. Boy, there's nothing like watching the sunset over the Tuscan hills. For dinner, we ventured up the road for dinner to a trattoria about 1/2 mile away from the villa. The restaurant doesn't look like much, but the the food is great. We shared several dishes, including a huge T-bone steak (about 40 oz.) and our first taste of Chinghali (wild boar).
Whew, what a day. Will catch up more next time. Miss you all.
Tom, Theresa, Tino and Collette
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