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We left Florence mid-morning in our brand new Fiat 500. There have been remarkable improvements in the past 40 years and according to Jack it is a fun car to drive. As we left we realized that we had plenty of time to make a stop and still arrive in time for our 1 PM lunch reservation at Alforno's. The restaurant was recommended to us by Yoav and Orr who lived in Italy for two years and have great taste in food. Leaving Florence, I said that I didn't want to go back to Siena or San Gimignano, not because I had been there and checked them off a list of places I've been, but because I have such good memories of being there with the kids and I wouldn't want to tarnish them. We spent a restful week in a villa outside Siena and at San Gimignano awoke to watch colorful hot air balloons rising in the valley. We were going to head someplace else, but time was running short so Jack suggested San Gimignano and I reluctantly agreed. Well, it was pointless to even try since we got within half a mile and were stuck in a giant traffic
jam. We had to drive close to the walls and realized that there was no place to park and people were simply driving in circles. We headed away from the town for some gorgeous views of the countryside and San Gimignano and then made our way to the restaurant. The menu is in the car, but I'll photograph and post it tomorrow.
Alforno is in a small, medieval town near San Gimignano. I’ve taken a picture of the menu and posted pictures of the dishes. I ordered one tasting menu and Jack ordered the other and we offered tastes and for a couple of courses switched dishes. By the time we got to course 7 (pigeon and beef) we were stuffed and barely ate much of it. We did polish off course 8, the dessert, and being shameless Americans we asked them to pack the petite fours to go. We were at the restaurant for 3 delicious hours as evidenced by the photos. Everyone was charming, the dishes were gorgeous and the view matched.When you spend a boatload of money on a meal, everyone is gracious. On the way out they strongly encouraged
us to send our friends. In turn we graciously agreed, although I’m not sure how many of our friends are likely candidates for Alforno.
After lunch we had 1.5 hour drive to Orvieto a hill town in Umbria. It took about an hour and a half and Jack was exhausted. To much food and a half a bottle of wine for lunch and then a long drive left him ready to lie down. Unlike San Gimignano it was not overrun by tourists, in fact as we arrived the streets seemed deserted. We found our apartment and the woman renting to us offered to help us move our car to a parking lot where we can leave it and not worry about getting towed. She was very friendly and got on my good side immediately because when she saw the photo of Beats on my phone she asked if Beats was my niece. This town is built on top of a mountain of volcanic stone with a vast underground network of Etruscan-era caves, wells, and tunnels. Our apartment feels like it is built into the stone and from the kitchen there is a small door leaving into a cave that
I'll have to explore tomorrow. In a couple of years, this place is likely to be as overrun as San Gimigano.
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