Last day in Tuscany!

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Sunday, May 23rd:



Today is our last full day in Tuscany. Wow…we have enjoyed “staying put” in one spot!!! We have made new friends, worldwide, and made some town people very happy for our business! We strolled into our favorite coffee bar and we decided to have our coffee out of the sidewalk, where we could enjoy a view of the bicyclists that were racing through town. The specialty grocers, next door to the coffee bar, brought out their colorful banners, and were selling porchetta (think of a whole pig, gutted, salted heavily, sewn together, and then deep fried), special cheeses, breads, olives, and an assortment of other delights…the shop owner was Sicilian, and was VERY boisterous!!! He had us laughing, sampling his specialties, and he even gave us a bottle of Sicilian wine for being such good customers while we had been staying in Lastra a Signa! A local, older lady, came and sat at our table with her dog, and we got to talking…what a small world it is…it turns out that she has a sister who lives in Redmond!! She had been to Washington recently, and was commenting on how much she loved it! After a while, the coffee bar owner, brought out some sangria, but it was too early in the day for me to drink it! When it was time to go, we bought some porchetta, cheese, and bread for lunch later on in the day. We then explored the old part of the village where we stayed…it used to be completely walled in, but all that is left are two high towers, and most of the wall. I loved seeing all of the people’s laundry airing our wherever they had a window…especially those places where they had no yard! We strolled right by the church whose church bells we heard every day…on the every quarter hour…



On our way back to the villa, we saw that the town was having a Sunday market, in the main square. We, of course, HAD to see what kind of shopping opportunities were available there! They had the usual food vendors, fresh garden vegetables, pottery, clothing vendors, jewelry vendors, craft vendors, and even flea market stalls! I did a pretty good job restraining myself, but then again, I knew what was waiting for me to pack up that evening! LOL After a little while, we walked back up to the villa, a little sad that we were going to be leaving, but I think a little secretly relieved that we would not have the long walk back up the huge driveway!!! Hee hee… Kenya and I swam and sunbathed the rest of the afternoon, while my mom and dad napped around the pool garden. Paradise indeed! It took me just under an hour to pack up everything for our early morning departure to Venice!!!!

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