April 30 Panzano in Chianti

Well our last day in Panzano. The weather is looking more promising after our near hurricane of yesterday. It is still a bit chilly but no rain. We started the day off by visiting Il Palagio, the estate that our host Monia owns. This is where friends of ours stayed and is how we learned of the area. We had a peek at a couple of the villa units that they rent and then had a tour of the vineyards and winery. It was very interested to hear about the production of the wines and also the pressing of the olives to make the oil. Our selection of 4 bottles of wine that will return to Canada with us is now complete. We decided to spend some time today staying closer to the B&B seeing some of the smaller villages closer to here. We drove to a small village called Badia which has a castle that was really pretty. In the middle of nowhere and ther were a couple of really nice restaurants and one of them had an amazing wine shop attached. This would be the place for someone who really wanted to shop for expensive wine. Out of my bracket but interesting non the less. We stopped in a couple of other small villages and had lunch in a small wine bar in Castellina. A selection of ham, salami, chese and crostini was marvelous. Washed down with a couple of glasses of fine red wine of course. The sun continues to play hide and seek with us. Tonight we are going to go to dinner at Vescovino for our farewell meal in Chianti. Wonder if we will meet any More famous people. Tomorrow it will be time to pack up the car and head for the airport at Rome. If the weather is good we plan to stop for a while to see the town of Orvietto. Bye for now and probably one more post to be made tomorrow

April 29 South Tuscany

We had about a 2 hour drive to reach the Val di Chiana area in South Tuscany. There are several hill towns of note and we hoped to get to see a couple of them. The weather was marginal but by the time we reached Montepulciano the sky was fairly clear even though it was cool. We had to park outside of the town gates and started what would be about a 30 minute walk until we reached the highest part of the town. On the way up we got to brouse in the many shops selling leather goods, wine, local meats and cheese. At the top we went into Palazzo Contucci. This building is owned by one of the oldest families in Montepulciano and still live in the area. We got to sample 4 of the wines that the family make. We met Andrea Contucci, quite a character who really demonstrated his passion for the art of making wine. We also got to tour the cellers where the wine is ageing in large barrels. We are bringing a bottle of the best home with us to put away for a special occasion. As we were leaving for our walk down to the car a thunderstorm sprang, up and fo a short period of time there were hail stones. The skies stayed dark and it continued to rain and so once again we were shut out from further sightseeing. We continued towards Siena and the weather improved but just as we got back to Panzano the sky opened up accompanied by fierce winds. We thought that we were in a huricane. We had little choice but to retreat to our room and wait it out until we could go out for dinner. The weather has been very different in Tuscany this year. We met some people who have been here for 3 weeks, and their comment was that the theme was more like "Under the Tuscan Rain". Well it is not exactly what we had expected but we still have been able to do something every day regardless of the weather.

April 28, In the Tuscan countryside

The weather looks promising in Panzano but the general forcast is for showers elswhere. We set of in the morning to visit a couple of Tuscan hill towns. Our first stop was the town of San Gimignano. The journey of about 1 hour took us on a combination of typical backroads and a portion on the main freeway connecting Florence and Siena. I am getting quite used to the driving of the hilly roads but Gale still utters gasps at times. Dispite the reputation for Italians being insane drivers , we have had very few examples so far. San Gimignano, is a beautiful town which dates back to the 13th century when it had a population of 14000 people. In 1348 the plague reduced the population to about 4000. It once had over 60 towers and was extremly prosperous and powerful. There are only 14 towers that remain. The views of the countryside were spectacular. We sampled "Vernaccia da San Gimignano", the white wine that the region is known for. After our visit we continued on to Volterra to view a different hill town. Unfortunately the weather started to turn and by the time that we arrived it was raining and the town was covered in fog leaving the visability very poor. We took the time to have a bit of lunch, with the hope that the weather might clear. It didn't so we headed back to Panzano. Once we got to a lower elevation, the fog cleared and driving was fine. Not a totally successful day but a good one non the less. We had another great Tuscan dinner at a local restaurant. Monia made our reservartion for us and we were shown to a small upstaire room to ourselves. The vacation will end soon and as allways too quickly. This morning it is clear but cool. We are told that this is unusual for the area. We are not sure wher we will go today but I will update everyone in the next entry. Happy 14th anniversary to Lorinda and Gavin. Seems like it was just yesterday that we celebrated your wedding with the great party at Nan's house.
bye for now

April 27, Florence, Italy

Well today was the bus trip adventure. Aparently driving and finding a parking spot in Florence can really be a trying experience so we elected to take a bus to and from Florence. The bus left Panzano at 9:15 and arrived in Florence at 10:45. All for a distance of 31 km. It takes a bizare route through hill and dale and allover Italy. We had been travelling on the bus for 30 minutes and we were farther away fromFlorence than when we started. In the end we were delivered to the bus station in the center of town and ready to start our sightseeing. Since we had been there before we spent some time revisiting some of the sights that we had seen on our previous trip. Even though we had seen it before , the Domo is a very impresive sight. Gale is seen looking at the doors of the Baptistery.The original doors go back to 1401 and were sculpted by an artist named Lorenzo Ghiberti. I am seen standind infront of one of the many copies of the statue of David. We rambled around and crossed the oldest bridge over the Arno River. This bridge has buildings as part of the structure and now houses the most expensive jewlery shops in town. We did find a church square tht we did not see last time located inthe Piazza Santa Croce. This church was bult from 1294 to1424. In those days it took a while to build things. In the square were many vendors selling local foods and wines. An excellent oppertunity for us to have our lunch. After this we went on a shopping tour of several markets , much to the delight of Gale. As a result our bags will be considerably heavier going home. By 5 pm we were all shopped and walked out and most ready to get back to the bus terminal for the trip back to Panzano. Our bus driver waqs not one to spare the steeds and we took a speedy and more direct route back. (very scary) Monday in Pazano , most restaurants are closed so we elected to have a picnic in our room. Chianti, salami, cheese and bread filled the cracks in our bellies. Time to hit the sack and get up tomorrow to start on our next adventure. The holiday is starting to quickly dissapear and soon we will be back home.

April 26, Panzano in Chianti

April 25 was Liberation Day and the small village of Panzano really was turned out in all it's best. I am sure that the small population of around 900, swelled in size by three times. The streets were closed off for the day and the highlight was the parade.Towns folk were dressed in ancient costumes as they proceeded to pass from the Church down to the central square and back up the hill. There was a drum and bugle band with flag carriers. Quite an undertaking for such a small town. To make it all the more special, the weather man provided a splendid day with lots of sunshine and warm temperatures. There were all sorts of vendors selling craft wares and food and wine. We participated with samples of pork sandwiches and local wine. There is a local butcher in Panzao , Dario Cecchini, who is famous all over Italy. Gale and I have seen programs about him on TV at home. His shop is a wonderful experience to see. He also runs a restaurant called SaloCicca. This means "only meat". We were fortunate to be able to eat dinner there last night. We had 11 people all sitting together at a round table and sharing an unbelievable meal prepared by Dario. The dishes were mostly meat and some vegetables and it is difficult to describe the variety. The dishes were also complemented with wine made by Dario. Joining us at our table we had 3 young women from Russia, one couple from Florence, a couple from Seattle, a couple from San Francisco. It was so much fun and a great experience to participate in a elegant Italian feast. We had reserved for the 7 o'clock sitting and promptly at 9 o'clock we had to lead so that the 9 o'clock sitting were to replace us at the table. Today Sunday is not very nice with cool weather and a steady drizzle. We are spending the day in our room reading. Tomorow we are taking the bus and going to visit Florence for the day. I will let you know of that adventure later.