Toscana

Tuscany has held a special place in my heart ever since I visited for the first time with my family ten years ago. It is an almost mythical place; a countryside filled with endless sunflower fields, rolling hills, cypress trees in unimaginable straight lines, vineyards stretching as far as the eye can see, and countless other tastes, sounds, smells, and sights

to make the coldest heart melt with blissful happiness.

Our villa was actually part of a small family-run wine and olive oil producing estate in the Chianti region between Firenze and Siena.  Six of us stayed there, including Lizzie, Gloriana, Wes, Genevieve, Sy and I.  Marisa was supposed to come with us but unfortunately she wasn’t able to – she was sorely missed, and I can’t even count the number of times she was referenced whenever something interesting happened.  Thankfully, we were able to get some extra time with Genevieve who changed her plans around so that she could join us.

After picking up our boat/tank/van in Firenze also known as Mussolini (a huge silver Opel Vivaro), we waited for Lizzie’s flight from Paris which had been delayed almost two hours after hitting a bird. Once she was in the car, we proceeded to start out on the wrong highway for 20 minutes before I realized my mistake (even my superpower navigation skills are known to be wrong every now and then, though I must point out that the Italians are horrible with signs…as in, they don’t exist).

When we finally turned off the Monteriggioni exit, there was a collective gasp of appreciation from Moose (Mussolini’s nickname) as all of us looked up onto the summit of the ridge. Looking back at us was the stunning hilltop city of Monteriggioni, a tiny medieval town of just two streets, completely surrounded by an ancient city wall, an almost perfect circle interrupted every fifty feet or so by beautiful stone towers. It was amazing, and in the evening light it was lit like a shimmering beacon hinting at the beauty to come in the week ahead.

It was almost 10pm when we inched down the 2km long dirt road leading to the town (which is a title I would be

hesitant to use myself seeing as just 20 people live in it) of Lornano, our final destination. We pulled into the drive, and immediately we were thrilled. Clay stone buildings surrounded a small stone courtyard surrounded by olive trees, bushes of lavender, flowering plants and endless fields of grass. A pool glimmered on our left, and we could smell the grapes hanging from the small overhang shading the poolside patio.

As for our villa itself, it was a three-bedroom stunner complete with a big sitting room and fireplace, a large antique kitchen with beautiful glass chandelier, and two bathrooms, one of which was larger than most studio apartments in NYC. The next morning we were shocked yet again when we were able to appreciate the place in the splendor of sunlight – it was like nothing I’ve ever seen before and I will never forget the goosebumps I got the first time I looked out the window onto the fields. Oh. My. Goodness.

There were four “villas” in total, including one which held an adorable Irish family we befriended with a young pre-teen girl and twin eight year old boys. We immediately bonded with them over Harry Potter and spent some time with them in the pool doing underwater flips and handstands. The name of the property is Fattoria de Lornano, and the family that owns the winery was adorable.

It is owned and run by a husband and wife and their 27 year old son, who helps with every aspect of running the winery. We befriended Sebastiano, the son, immediately and spent three nights hanging out with him and a variety of friends on the poolside patio by the pool drinking the Fattoria’s homemade Vinsanto (which is made from grapes but tastes like sweet Whisky), learning Italian drinking games and teaching them our American versions, and generally cracking up as we attempted to communicate with each other. One night may have culminated in Sy jumping into the pool in her vintage dress. I’ll leave that story there.

The first day we traveled back to Firenze, since we had made reservations to visit the famous Uffizi Gallery. There isn’t much to say about that amazing museum that hasn’t been said already, but just believe me, there is some art in there that takes your breath away. As much as we’ve seen endless reproductions of Boticelli’s work, nothing can prepare you for staring at it face to face. That night we ate at the one tiny restaurant in Lornano, which was delicious to say the least. Wes even had a 1.1kg Florentine steak which was absolutely succulent along with being enormously huge.

The next day we spent almost entirely on the property in Lornano, since we were all so eager to explore it. That was

when we realized the entire town consisted of the one restaurant, a church, and a phone booth. Hilarious. Also, just down the road from the Fattoria was a massive sunflower field that was at least half a mile long.  Gloriana and I strongarmed Wes into driving us into Siena so that we could reserve two copies of the seventh Harry Potter book, which would go on sale in Italy on Saturday morning. You will be pleased to hear, I’m sure, that we were successful (such nerds, such nerds…but I love it).

Tuesday we decided to drive almost three hours to see Pisa, that infamous city of the leaning tower. It was blistering hot, and we arrived at the base of the tower covered in perspiration but excited nonetheless. We didn’t climb to the top because the waiting list was enormous, but we did check out the cathedral and baptistery which I personally think don’t get enough credit. They are beautiful. The baptistery, which is really just a circular two story building provides amazing acoustics, and a woman who worked there serenaded us all with a haunting melody which stuck in my head for the rest of the day even though it consisted of only three or four notes.

On Wednesday, it was market day in Siena so we decided to go and check it out. Wes decided to stay behind so we

had a little girls’ excursionLittle did we know that market day meant insane parking options, as in, there were none. After almost wanting to get out and strangle a few people who took advantage of the impossibility of maneuvering Mussolini through tight corners, we finally found a spot and spent the day walking around. I had forgotten just how amazing the Siena cathedral is – it is a striped masterpiece, and definitely my favorite church of this entire trip.

On Thursday, we visited San Gimignano, famous for its many tall stone towers, which residents built both for protection and defense and also to show off. A few of us climbed to the top of the tallest tower, and the view over the Tuscan countryside was absolutely breathtaking. That night, our villa’s owners had a degustazione (wine tasting) for us, and Gloriana and I served as interpreters for Sebastiano as we attempted to explain to the Irish family and the rest of our group the finer points of making Chianti and other kinds of wine. Even though this is a small family-run place, we were all impressed by just how much is needed to produce good wine. Also, I really loved tasting the wine and watching Sy get tipsy from the small sips she was taking.

Friday was our last day so we spent it in and around the villa. Lizzie, Sy and I drove Genevieve into Siena so she could catch a train to meet up iwht her brother in Switzerland, and that afternoon, the four girls decided to head to an outlet mall to stock up on some Italian designer clothes. As it turns out, there were few designer stores within our budget, but we still did a bit of damage.

The next morning we departed for Siena and said goodbye to the villa, but I know I will go again – it was absolutely the best place we stayed on the entire trip.