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Published: August 28th 2007
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The Farm 1
One of our views Coco and Friends
August 26, 2007
Today we left Italy after 3 weeks. They were three great weeks. We love Italy so much…the people were so nice, the food…ahhhhh the best any where (on market day we had the freshest roasted chicken with just picked watermelon, fresh baked foccacia bread and fresh garbanzo beans….), the history and art are unmatched and the beauty of the land is divine. We spent the last week staying on a winery in Tuscany in the Chianti Hills. It was the best time we have had so far in a place with unprecedented beauty. The farm where we stayed not only grows and makes their own wine, the also make a world class olive oil and some of the best cheeses from sheep I have ever eaten.
We had a great mix of sight seeing, and total relaxation. The boys love being on the farm. I am beginning to think boys just love farms. This is the third…and best …farm we have stayed on and they just love them. I personally can do without the bugs and livestock smells but this was farm living at its absolute classiest. We stayed in a fully
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Hiking the Farm equipped villa that was a converted 17th century farm house. The walls were made of stone and it had incredible arches. It was also huge, which was a nice break from the many tiny European hotels we have stayed in over the past 10 weeks. We had a great private patio where we could read, eat, play cards (Justin, Scott and I had a mean Hearts game going every night after dinner) and just take in the beauty of the vineyards.
Justin and Will spent much of the week playing with the many dogs living on the farm. There were seven and Will spent time everyday gathering them together on our porch. His favorite was Coco an Australian Shepard mutt type dog. She was darling…a little plump, a lot actually, and she loves kids. We asked our host if she was pregnant and the reply was “no…just fat we think.” We woke up every morning to find Coco on the porch waiting to play with Will. A couple of days into our stay…we noticed 2 of the male dogs also waiting by the door with Coco. There was also some dog behavior going on that I will not describe
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The towers of San Gimignano but earned one of the dogs the nick name Butt-licker. Our host noted that Coco was about to go into heat…oh great…I thought…just what I want to explain to Will…when butt licking becomes something else. Thankfully Coco was locked away by Saturday to avoid this very thing and I just told Will she needed a break from Butt-licker and his friend! He still had 6 dogs and many cats to play with.
The farm was located about 20 km south of Florence and 50 km north of Siena. We were lucky to visit both. We also spent a day in one of the Tuscan hill towns, San Gimignano. In my never to be humble opinion, San Gimignano had the best gelato. We essentially spent our time eating across Italy. We had the best pizza in Verona, the best pasta in Vernazza, and gelato in every town. Florence….known for their gelato was really a distant third…as Pisa came in second!
Our day trips to San Gimignano and Siena where very fun. We saw tons of great stuff. The highlight of Siena for the boys was seeing the “campo” where the Palio horserace is run. We had watched the Palio
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Palio flags in the square on TV just a week before from Lucca. Siena has 17 neighborhoods that compete in this race all represented by their own colorful flag. This tradition dates back to the middle ages and the race is rode bareback…it wasn’t pretty…I had to cover my eyes the whole time. While in Siena we visited not all 17 but a good number of the neighborhoods and the boys got a flag from their favorite. We didn’t bring home the winning flag but got to snap photo of one hanging form a proud household.
We had read all sorts of horror stories about driving to Florence and the summer crowds. We decided to do Florence later in the day, as we were not going into any museums. Trust me no one was going to take Will to the Uffizi gallery, the DiVinci’s and Michelangelo’s were safe. Everywhere we have driven has been an adventure, we get lost, have to turn around which is no easy feat on Europe’s fast moving narrow streets, we can’t park, we get lost again, Scott drives by the signs at 90 mph…I tell you it hasn’t been easy. I had dread in my heart about our trip
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People watching in the square in Siena to Florence, especially since Florence has anti-congestion rules that require reporting your car to police and paying a fee to enter the center of the city. I just feared that Scott would take one wrong turn and we would be fined heavily. It was a miracle. We drove in, no traffic or getting lost or turning around, found a parking place…a FREE parking place right outside the wall near an actual entrance to the city center. Justin and I commented…”hope the car is here when we get back.” After a delightful evening enjoying the charm of Renaissance Florence and a great dinner, we returned to find the car still there…no problems and drove home without getting lost or turning around in 25 minutes. Our British neighbor upstairs said we were “going native.” Bravo Scott!!
I wasn’t so lucky the day before. Scott has driven over 7800 km since June 25th. We have teased him mercilessly about it….but really that is amazing. That is like driving from San Francisco to New York and back to Chicago. I have driven three times for no more than like 10 minutes. I drove to the store in Germany when Scott was sick. I
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shopping in Florence moved the car in Salzburg when Scott had driven for hours in the rain and needed a break. (I got lost too.) Justin and I needed to check our email and make a reservation for a room in Switzerland. The closest internet point was at a senior center ( a sight all on its own!) in San Casiano, about 8 km from our villa. I got in the car and backing out of our parking lot, promptly backed into a tree. I begged Justin not to tell Scott….however the huge dent would give me away. Luckily it popped out by the next day so Auto-Europe will be none the wiser. Did I luck out! Of course Justin told and Scott just chuckled!
Italy has also transformed Will. Since the day he was born he has barely eaten a thing. He lives off air and candy. I have more gray hair worrying about his lack of nutrition than any other reason. The moment we crossed the border he changed…started eating…everything and a lot of it too. He ate things he never would touch like salad, zucchini foccacia bread, beans, soups, fruit of all kinds. He was always hungry. I couldn’t
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Another fabulous view keep him fed. This was new to me and at first alarming, until I noticed his mood improved as well. One night the farm owners hosted a wine and cheese tasting….the cheese was not anything resembling American type cheeses that Will doesn’t eat anyway. They were all different types of sheep cheeses made on the property. He stood at the table and chowed down on them, proclaiming how delicious they were. Most American adults would be hesitant to try them…of course loving them once use to it. I was shocked. However, Will’s new habit of eating grew tiresome as he started stealing all our food. We sit down in a restaurant, order our meal and he not only eats his but all of mine too. That is not on! We had to set him straight. The only Italian delight he doesn’t love is pesto…Scott, Justin and I all agreed if we want to protect our dinner from Will…order pasta with pesto!
Italy was great as I blabbed on about. Other than the dog sex, hitting the tree and oh, Justin shot Will in the mouth with his new 7 euro air soft gun after having it 10 minutes and
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our villa agreeing to the rules(gun now confiscated)…that goes in the not fun column…we had a great week in Tuscany. We all hope to visit Coco and her friends again very soon. (Justin hopes every year!)
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