Northern Tuscany (Oct. 27-31) - updated 11/6/06

We decided to check out a villa near Florence in the town of "San Casciano in Val di Pesa." The villa/hotel, I Barronci (www.ibarronci.com), turned out to be beautiful with a matching view of the Tuscan countryside. It didn't take us very long to decide to stay. Dinner in the hotel restaurant was great and the Casa Emma "Soloio" 2001 Tuscan wine Bob selected was awesome (note to his family: Bob was always ready to order the expensive wine, and we all enjoyed his selections.)

Our hotel was helpful in arranging for a private guide and tickets to the Uffizi gallery. Saturday we went to Florence, and we were fortunate to have a passionate tour guide for 3.5 hours. The first 2 hours she took us around the city and then into the Uffizi Gallery where she overloaded our senses (we've been doing that a lot lately) with the famous art and clever stories about the painters and sculptors from 1200-1800. She also educated us to the what, where, who and why of the art. After more than an hour in the Uffizi, we were ready to rest our brains with a cappuccino. We had a brief lunch and gelato (of course), and then we walked around Florence. We stopped at the Synagogue but could not enter during Shabbat services. It's quite an amazing structure with a high turquoise dome that stands tall in the city. Bob and Cindy had dinner in Florence, but Joe and Marcia were too full to eat another meal; instead we updated the blog.

If anyone is coming to Florence, we recommend our tour guide:
Grazia Zatti
V. Guicciardini 15
50125 Florence
tel. +39 055 218907
grazia.zatti(at)libero.it

Sunday we took a leisurely drive to Certaldo for a wonderful lunch at Ristoranti Latini where Marcia talked them into giving us a free bottle of wine to take with us. Then on to San Gimignano for sightseeing. We bought some bread, cheese and salami which we ate with our free bottle of wine when we returned to our villa (we were all too full to have a full dinner). It was a great day, but we were disappointed to see how touristy San Gimignano had become. Bus loads of tourists were arriving constantly and the trinket stores had replaced the wonderful local shops we remember from 5 years ago.

Monday we discovered there was a market in our town of San Casciano, and Marcia is not one to ever miss a market. So after breakfast we all walked the market buying gifts for the grandkids. Then we drove to Greve where we had lunch. We heard about a good winery for tasting and found it up on top of a hill. The wine was good and Bob bought a bottle which we plan to drink tonight. When we returned to our villa it was still daylight, so we enjoyed viewing the Tuscan countryside by the swimming pool drinking our wine. As the sun set, we all voiced how this could be a place we could stay for a long time.

Cindy and Bob left this morning from the Florence airport, and we decided to stay in the villa one more day to relax and decide where to go next for the last 2 weeks of our journey. We don't know yet where we will go, but it will probably be in Tuscany and we will enjoy it wherever we wind up.

Without our navigator, Bob, and the car GPS system (we traded in the big luxury car for a smaller one for just the two of us), we got lost returning to the villa from the airport... Bob, come back!

Most of the people at the hotels we have stayed at during this trip have been very helpful, but we wanted to make a special comment about this villa, I Barronci. The entire family that works at the villa were extremely friendly and helpful. They often went beyond the norm in assisting us. Whether it was direction assistance, serving us in the restaurant, or just chatting, they made us feel like we were at home. We would definitely return, and we recommend it to everyone if you're coming to Tuscany and/or just Florence. Peiro (the father of the owner who was usually behind the front desk), Phillipo (the son and owner, who used to be a successful Italian race car driver) and his wife Roberta (who often brought her 4 month old daughter with her and Marcia couldn't get enough of holding her) were just wonderful. And all the others who work there like Claudia and the cook (from Sri Lanka, I am sorry I cannot remember his name at the moment) were just as kind and helpful.

Note: there was a problem with the Internet computer we were using this past week, so you will have to wait to see our photos during that time until we return in a few weeks when I will add them. I'm really sorry for the delay since some of them are very good and I think you will enjoy them.