Last 24 hours in Italy

All packed and ready to go home! Its been a fabulous trip but I am pretty sure we are all ready to get home to friends and family (and animals ;)

Yesterday we left Tuscany and drove 3 hours to Venice. It was a pleasant drive and we had no problem navigating the drive, rail, waterbus and stroll to our hotel. We stayed in a lovely place called Ca d'Oro. We quickly dropped our bags and headed to San Marco Square. While there we did the typical "allow a pigeon to land on you for a picture", drink a bellini, and sit in awe over the beautiful views.

We, of course, managed to cross one to many bridges and got lost (no bother to 3 of us as shopping unsued). Guess who was less than thrilled.

Eventually we made it back to our neighborhood. Enjoyed a nice dinner and called it a night.

This morning we split up. Tom and I headed to Il Ghetto to tour. Lornna and Karen continued their shopping expedition. We checked out by 11am and headed back to the car and back on the road to Florence.

Our lodging in Florence is a fantastic surprise. A villa/hotel called Hotel Stanley. Its gorgeous! If ever I venture back here...this is where I will stay. We settled in, did some repacking, and took off for a afternoon of touring Florence.

A seriously short stay in Florence. Just enough time to see one or two of the sites, have a nice dinner, and head back to hotel Stanley.

Its a early day for us tomorrow. We leave the hotel at 0430. After being up all nite following the Clemson game on ESPN last night (I love our Tigers) I will be ready for a long flight/nap.

Next check-in will be from Maryland! Special thanks Kurt Jaysah, Alex, Kirsten and Michelle for holding the fort down in our absence. See you all soon.

Last day at Romitorio di Serelle

We really should stay longer, much longer. Maybe a month or two. We have barely scratched the Tuscany surface.

We didn't venture far today. We went to Badesse to mail a good portion of our loot home. This was not a easy task since they didn't want to ship wine, oil, balsalmic, limoncello, or anything used to consume food (plates, bowls, glasses, cups). Yep, thats basically everything. I signed a sworn statement stating that all dishes would only be hung on walls and used as art. Hmmm. Not sure how I'll hang the espresso cups. 

We can carry up to 800 dollars worth of goods on the plane and ONE liter of alcohol.  Ha! Anything over the above limits will be taxed. We managed to ship the ceramics so we should be good on the dollar limit. We will definately exceed the ONE liter limit.

Tom and I went to Colle Val d'Elsa today. The short afternoon trip wasn't enough time! I loved Colle. It was extremely quiet (of course it was also between noon and 3pm, when everything was closed ;) the old part of the town was beautiful. We enjoyed a light snack overlooking the valley and a crisp glass of vernacca.

Tonight we finished our pasta and enjoyed our last evening at Romitorio di Serelle ...and we made a weak attempt at decreasing the volume of wine we must ship home.

Tomorrow: Venice!

Tuscany day 5

We started our morning with a run through the grapes. A beautiful sun-shiney day. We then headed back to San Gimignano; more touring, more shopping and of course more gelatto.  We also ventured to Voltera; a beautiful, quiet town. Probably one of my favorites so far (related to the quiet part).

Rather than stay out late we came home and cooked the pasta we made yesterday! A perfect dinner (hope I can it replicate later).

Tuscany day 4

We began our day at Pasta Class at a school called Pasta Fresca owned by Vilma in Tavernelle Val di Pesa. We managed to make spaghetti, bow-tie, tortalonni (big tortalinni), ravioli (stuffed with spinach, ricotta, parmesean).

Following pasta classes we headed to San Gimignano. What a gorgeous place. We ran out of time and decided we would need to venture back tomorrow. We barely saw the sights...due to spending too much time in the shops ;)

We needed to hurry back for our 5pm wine tasting class and dinner at Romitorio do Serelle. The instructor/host came from Colle di Val d'Elsa. He owns a wine shop in his home town; one we hope to visit tomorrow. The tasting was a success. The night was beautiful the weather was perfect and the company couldn't be better.

Horseback riding in Tuscany and touring in Greve in Chianti

A cloudy day today, but no rain. We started our morning with a beautiful trail ride in Tuscany. Lornna and Tom on jump horses, Karen on a trail horse and I on a french race horse. They were all obviously well-retired from their previous careers as they did well riding nose to tail.  Still fun - and has me planning a future adventure on faster horses with a desire to go much further (Dewayne? Mark? Chris? Deb?)

After our ride we drove to Greve in Chianti. Yep, a town named after Tom! We definately did some shopping and had a reasonable lunch in Greve. Tom ordered a seafood salad. (Picture below). I thankfully ordered pasta.

After our tour of Greve (the shops begam closing for their afternoon break) we headed to Panzano. We met a lively man who owned the Accademia del Buon Gusto. He introduced us to several different wines (8 to be exact). Lornna also danced with the olive oil....basically ita movimg around alot to warm up the olive oil). We walked away with lighter wallets and heavier bags!

Tonight is a night in. We stopped at the local coop. Picked up sandwich stuff. And have settled in.

Tomorrow we make pasta!