"On To Tuscany!"
Trip Start
Jun 06, 2008
1
9
18
Trip End
Jun 24, 2008
Venice,
Italy
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Maybe some day we can afford The Orient Express!
. We also have about an hour before our train departs - time enough for a cappuccino! Finally, the board shows what track our train is on; we follow the herd out there, find our car, and climb aboard. Uh-oh. My 45+ lb bag has to go up in the overhead bin. DH is not happy, but being the gentleman that he is, he helps me hoist the bag up there (actually, he did most of the hoisting *smile*). Turns out we both have a window seat, so we're facing each other with a little table between us, and get settled for the 1-1/2 hour ride to Florence. Arrivederci, Venezia!
The train ride was very comfortable... DH amused himself with the laptop, and I read and dozed. It didn't seem to take any time to get to Florence. Dave's original plan for getting us to the airport to pick up our car involved finding the right bus and taking that. He must have seen me gazing longingly at the taxis, for the next thing I know, a taxi driver is grabbing my suitcase and I'm being ushered to the vehicle. Because the ride is a flat rate, it became apparent real quickly that we were going to get to the airport as fast as he could get us there! Let's just say that taxi ride was probably one of the more memorable moments of our trip...
I was put in charge of guarding the luggage while DH interacted with the car rental agent. Soon there were hordes of tourists of all flavors showing up to pick up their cars, and for some reason, they decided I looked like I knew what was going on and could direct them to where they needed to go
The valley below Chiusdino
. Yeah, right. It didn't help that the EuropeAuto people must have decided it was siesta time, and shut their window and left. After a half-hour or so, we had our shiny new Ford Focus and it's time to hit the road. I had the phrase book open to the road signs page, the directions to Chiusdino, and we're off to find Casa Emilia! Surprisingly, we had no problem getting to Chiusdino, it was finding the right road (lane, track?) to get to our villa. The first "road" dead-ended at a farm where an older German man and his even older dog wandered up to greet us. He spoke enough passable English to admit that our directions to the villa weren't very gut, and that if we went back up to town and turned on the road by "the haus where they fix autos", we would be headed the right way. So back up we went, found a "road" by what looked like a mechanic's garage and descended once more, only to dead-end at yet another farm. This time we were greeted by the guard geese and an elderly Italian woman who spoke no English, and pointed with her stick back up towards the town. Ok, we're outta here, and up the valley once more. Finally, Dave spots a very narrow paved road heading down and whaddaya know, it's the right one. If the rental agent that gave the directions had just mentioned that there's a sign for the San Galgano Abbey at that intersection, we would have found our villa much more easily. But then we wouldn't have had the adventure of being lost again, would we? A member of the Bartoletti family that owns the villa is there to greet us and she quickly shows us around, hands over the key, and departs
View from our villa
. Casa Emilia is now our home for the next week! DH and I stood outside our door, gazing at the view of the valley below and the hills above, drinking in the new sights and sounds, and just smiled. Venice now seems far, far away...Though the villa is furnished very comfortably, the DH and I soon realize we will have to climb the valley once more in search of food. We park the car in town, find the restaurant the landlady mentioned, and it's closed (this is going be become a very common problem, as Dave has mentioned in his blog). OK, change of plans. We have to go the grocery store anyway - we'll just pick up something for supper. First, the COOP, Italy's version of HEB - it's teensy, tiny - more like shopping at a 7-11, so we get the basic dry goods there. Next door is the macelleria (butcher shop), and I manage to communicate enough to walk out with a nice, thick steak. Then it's on to the flower/wine/produce shop - what a lovely place, and the proprietor is very outgoing and friendly - a breath of fresh air! We pick up some beautiful fruits and veggies, wine and olive oil, and head back home once more. I love the Italian food - don't get me wrong! - but that steak meal with the Chianti we picked up was mighty delicious!
