We arrived on our train from Naples late in the afternoon and bid good bye to the Bornas’ as we each headed for our different rental car companies. We found the shop in Florence with no trouble around 5.30pm and were surprised to learn that we were very lucky there was a staff member still present. Apparently they usually close at 4.00pm on Saturdays! After a very long and convoluted booking in process, taking no less than 1 hour (no wonder they were working late), we were presented with a very nice Renault which was not the Alfa Romeo we had booked, and which Nick was desperately looking forward to, and began our journey to Il Piano in San Gimignano. The host at our accommodation had helpfully given us the GPS coordinates, which we dutifully loaded into the car’s GPS and double checked, and we were off, speeding out of Florence and into the beautiful Tuscan countryside. It got dark quickly and as we neared our destination, beginning to feel very tired and hungry, our tarmac roads gave way to gravel roads, and gravel roads turned into little more than gravel driveways. We pressed on, even as a deer ran in front of the car and breathed a sigh of relief as we came upon a Tuscan farm house and the GPS announced “you have reached your destination”! But apparently we hadn’t! Through the partly open front door we glimpsed an extremely hirsute man racing to put on some clothes. I enquiried timidly “Il Piano?” to which he replied with evident relief with a long, detailed spiel, all in Italain, that involved left turns and right turns and passing of lemon orchards etc. Chris actually managed to pick up some of what was said, so after profuse thanks we returned to our car and prepared to travel back up the long gravel driveway and onto God knows where. Chris reverted to the good old iPhone, input the GPS coordinates, and what so you know? – we were directed to somewhere close by, but quite different! (Bloody car GPS!). Amazingly our journey did involve left turns and rights turns and passing of lemon orchards and before long we found ourselves ascending a long driveway lined with conifer trees and our host standing at the end of the drive waving at us (she was desperate to get home and had been wondering where were). After settling in, we drove to the nearby town of San Gimignano, found a cheap pizza joint, and returned home for bed!
We had arrived in the dark so the next morning was a total treat! We awoke to the sun rising over rolling green hills full of grape vines and olive trees with the beautiful towers of San Gimignano atop a hill in the distance. Il Piano is a working winery and olive plantation and we were treated to a wonderful tour of the winery followed by some wine tasting. This winery is an old fashioned one that still uses concrete vats and the technology that was installed in the 1920s. Although traditionally relying on making good quality table wines, sold in 50 litre demijohns to the locals, they are starting to branch out into premium wines. I was fascinated to learn that the ground is full of fossilised shells, 3-4 million years old. The plough often pulls up old fossils and when they do, the farmers celebrate because it gives the wine a special, mineral characteristic.
We settled in for a few relaxed and happy days in Tuscany. The views were so beautiful and the old medieval towns so interesting.
One day we took a train to Florence and spent the day wandering the streets. I was intent on finding a handbag and Chris wanted a messenger bag for his computer and so we must have visited over 20 leather stores. While there were many lovely products neither if us could find the “one” that made our hearts beat faster, so eventually we gave up and went for dinner at a restaurant that John and Jo frequented 16 years previously. The food was as good as they remembered and we enjoyed wild boar fettuccine, rabbit in a tomato and olive sauce and veal in white wine with mushrooms.
The next day Chris and I visited the old town of Volterre together. This town has been around since 700BC and has become a more popular tourist attraction since the Twilight movies. Here we found a leather shop that was the answer to our dreams and I bought two handbags while Chris bought his messenger bag. We asked for a recommendation for lunch and were directed to a little restaurant around the corner where we had a sensational meat plate (full of porchetta, proscuito, salami etc) and other local delicacies. That night Chris cooked some sausages we had bought at the supermarket on a wood BBQ, while the boys played frisbee and I enjoyed the amazing view of the sun setting over San Gimignano. Eventually, we were rained out and the sausages had to be finished in the frying pan but they were the most amazing sausages we had ever had!
On our final day we took a long drive to Pisa to visit the tower. Poor Pisa! Such a pretty old town, on a river, with the most gorgeous duomo but no one cares! Everyone wanted to see the tower and once seen we wanted to leave again.
Next stop is Cinque Terre. We are nearing the end of our journey and while there is some sadness, the trials of travel are beginning to wear on me and the boys and we are beginning to really look forward to our return to Australia.