quattro giorni a Firenze

day four began the first of our 'history tour of Florence'. our art historian Ludivica impressed us with her knowledge and wit of the Medici. she was quite the intellect but with her thick Florentine accent, a smile came to my heart and face every time she said her, "no way mister". italians attempting to mimic our culture.... it's just funny to me because i admire theirs so much. the world.... anyway, she was a doll and she was extremely knowledgeable, we enjoyed her so very much.

for some reason i was enthralled with the rings for horses and holders for torches that were outside of every building you pass by. i suppose i just think it is really cool to imagine what life once was like....

therefore the reason i am so intrigued with historical homes. including this one, once owned buy a wealthy wool merchant.

the ground floor is actually at first a courtyard to protect against enemies and then opens to a very large courtyard surrounded by stables. check out the ceiling of the stables though... Florence... art everywhere!

i wanted to show this shot of the bedroom for the fresco. the detail is amazing when you see it in person. i was just so impressed with the way they wanted to make their homes beautiful (as we do today) even when they were under constant threat of attack and had literal holes in the ceiling above the first courtyard to throw hot oil on the bad guys!

i am a girly girl so i appreciate the feminine touch to the bathroom.

we then got to venture back to Brunelleschi's dome and learn of the influence of the Medici from a true Florentine. the empty niche in this photo (directly below the circle window) is actually where Michelangelo's David was planned to be placed. upon completion of the statue, because of it's great beauty they chose to place it in the 'piazza de republica' so all could view it close up. the David is 18 feet tall, hopefully that gives you a small idea of how enormous this structure is. in my opinion Brunelleschi was a genius.

bill's camera is so much better than mine at capturing the images that are so far away.

the interior of the dome is even more breathtaking.

again, these images are bigger than life size. this is an astounding piece of art.

blown away with all we learned we headed of the our favorite piazza for our favorite lunch ended with a perfect cup of expresso.

the florentine symbol is everywhere in Florence. it grows on you. they are very proud of their history and I personally respect that very much.




the view from the ponte vecchio is so wonderful. we wisely avoided the numerous shops filled with gold offerings.


we enjoyed our art history tour very much and appreciated all we learned about the Medici, hitler, the Church, Florentines, etc..
after a bit of rest at the villa we all headed off for dinner (somewhere in Tuscany) to have a dinner with Juri's family. the restaurant was in a beautiful setting.

Bill & I had the privilege of sitting with Juri's aunt, who spoke no english. she was a delightful woman and we enjoyed her company a lot. juri did a fantastic job translating through the entire meal, it was a special evening.i admit i really liked it when she made me show her my passport to prove my age, it was sweet of her to make me feel... not so old (o:

the americano's and italiano's

tre giorni

on our third morning we were growing quite accustomed to awaking to the beautiful sound of birds with the lovely breeze flowing into our room from our terrace doors. we headed into Tavarnelle for our quick espresso and bread then back to the villa to hook up with the group for our tour of the day.

we had a lovely drive that brought us deep into the Chianti region of Tuscany. again it is similar to the Napa/Sonoma area but it goes on forever and ever and you do not see a winery every 300 ft. in fact you see hardly any. it is the prettiest country I have ever seen. the vineyards go on for hundreds of miles and the rolling hills are dotted with one ancient villa after another with a village popping up very now and then.



after about an hour and a half we arrived at our destination Castello di Verrazzano, producers of Chianti. the tour of the cellars was wonderful and filled with history. this family has made wine for hundreds of years. we learned so much about Chianti and know now why the black rooster is important.


at the end of the tour we were treated to a wine tasting along with a 5 course meal. at the beginning of each course yet another bottle of wine was placed in front of us. it was a very happy day for the entire group to say the least!

glowing and satisfied from our amazing meal we set off with a couple of bottles of great Chianti.


after a dip in the pool and a time of rest Bill & I decided to walk up the road to a quaint cemetery he had spotted on his morning runs. it felt private and holy. it was quite ragged and worn yet so enchanting.



we strolled back to our wonderful villa soaking in the peaceful evening in Tuscany being delighted with the magic of the fire flies that arrive at this time of day.

due

well i realize for those of you reading, these will be back words. sorry for any confusion, you'll just have to read it all!

so day two. Bill & I ventured on our own into the place where ended up spending most of our free time because we just could not get enough. the pictures will show you why. it is a fantastic city, so ancient yet so alive. making it into the city via our not so trusty gps we set out with map in hand just to explore the new city that we have grown very fond of.

it is so hard to describe why Florence is so amazing but as you will see, there is simply art in every single place your eyes cast a view. art that has been there hundreds and hundreds of years.



there is a bit more action in the may piazzas in Florence compared to our quite square in Tavarnelle.


i never grew tired at peeking down the narrow streets with the homes placed so closely together. i felt like we were in the world of pinocchio and gepetto. well we were....

coming up on the Duomo is breathtaking. the size of it is overwhelming and then you see the elaborate detail of the art it is covered with. astonishing!


the statues you see above are bigger than life size.









as you can see there is art everywhere even on the sidewalks.


you never have to wait to dine in Italy there are places to eat on every street. there is nothing in states like sitting in a piazza in Italy having the fabulous pasta and a glass of chianti. perfecto!
we ended our day back at the villa with our "superbad" chef Juri Sbandati, grilling us some italian delight.


with his beautiful kinley by his side drinking in the glory of tuscany.

primo giorno

finally.

i apologize. no internet in Italy, no posts and then a very busy life on return. i have decided to split this up by day because there is so much to share! so many photos! as soon as i have a chance I will post them n a flicker site or something. as for now.

day one.

Bill loved the few hours we spent in Switzerland (at the airport) after our VERY LONG flight over the world. Flying for 12 hours feels like... flying for 12 hours! he loved the the design, it was clean and cool. he even thought the planes were beautiful.

it was exciting to fly over the alps and realize, we really are in Europe! i got chocked up (o:

our trusty gps got us quite lost in the Tuscan countryside (it literally took us over a mountain on a dirt road). thankfully it did get us to a small village very close to Tavarnelle and we were able to ask a local (who thankfully spoke english) for dircetions. we were literally 2 miles away and upon our arrival of the villa we were delighted to find it more beautiful than we ever imagined and a fine tuscan meal awaiting us.
our first images of Tuscany.

waking up quite early to a beautiful morning filled with the sound of birds and the fresh air from our terrace doors we were blessed with the beauty of the day. yes it is like Napa and Sonoma but times a million.
our morning terrace view.




we spent they day touring the olive oil factory in tavarnelle (which the owners of the villa own) and then exploring the small village on our own. it was a warm day so we also took in the pool and just enjoyed some time of leisure at the villa.
Bill became fast and great friends with Francesco, one of our wonderful italian guides. Bill is trying to find him a wife here in Oregon but I have insisted Laura is to young and taken!


Tavarnelle is a very small village about the size of Sisters. we greatly enjoyed our morning coffee and bread here before we began our adventure into Florence each day. the piazza is quite quiet compared to those filled with people in Florence.

there is much more to come. i will try to get in another post today. i am at work and my desk is full of things to do!
ciao!