For the days that we visited with her, we noticed that she walked to work. When we went out together, we piled into taxis (parking in Rome, apparently, was a nightmare). So we gratefully accepted her generous offer.
On Saturday, September 26, 2009, DW, the kids, and I packed up our things and headed north. Our destination was a small villa near the town of Poggibonsi, in Tuscany. Along the way, we made a stop for lunch in the hill town of Assisi, in Perugia. Of course, we had to check out the famous Basilica of St. Francis.
By the time we were back on the road, we realized that we were going to be late for our meeting with Antonio, the owner of our villa, so we had to find a place where we could establish a WiFi connection, get a message to him, continue northward to the next town, and find another connection to get his response (this was in the days before we had smartphones and data plans).
We reached our villa, which bordered on the Chianti region, just after sunset. Having stopped at a grocery store along the way, we had enough supplies to make a simple pasta dinner and have the necessities to make breakfast, the next morning. We were all tired from our long drive, so we decided to turn in and explore the villa the next morning.
On Sunday, we jumped back in our friend's car and headed further north, to Florence. While researching our trip, DW had discovered that there are two days out of the year when museums, galleries, and other sites in Florence offered free admission: this was one of those two days.
We also learned that a parking lot, Piazzale Michelangelo, at the south end of the city, was free. It also offered one of the best views of Florence.
We decided, since we were on the same side of the Arno and not far a walk, to visit the Pitti Palace. When DW and I were last in Florence, in 2004, we had wanted to visit this Renaissance gallery, but given the choice between the Pitti Palace and the Uffizi Gallery, we had chosen the latter.
The highlight was the grotto.
For lunch, DW and I wanted to return to a place we had visited in 2004, but the kids were getting to a stage where their moods could quickly turn sour, so we made a stop at a place between the Pitti Palace and the Ponte Vecchio, where we could grab a couple of square slices of pizza to satisfy them.
Once they were fed and happy again, we crossed the Ponte Vecchio, passed by the Piazza della Signoria, and up two blocks to a narrow street, where we stopped at one of the smallest sandwich shops I've ever seen.
I Fratellini has been around since 1875, offering deli sandwiches and wine to the hungry masses. It's essentially a counter with no sitting space. You order your sandwich, grab a glass of wine, and stand in the street. A shelf on the wall, next to the counter, conveniently lets you rest your glass while you bite into your meal. It's cheap, it's delicious, and definitely worth a visit or two.
For dessert, we ventured to a place that we discovered in 2004 and that (in my humble opinion) offers the best gelato in the world. Back toward the Ponte Vecchio, at a window next to the Hotel Hermitage, is the Gelateria Artigianale Caffè delle Carrozze. I measure the quality of a gelateria by its pistachio gelato, and this one is the creamiest and most flavourful that I've ever had (Stella Luna, in Ottawa, comes third).
After lunch, DW and I decided to split up. She took our youngest daughter to Galleria dell'Accademia, to see David and other works by Michelangelo. I took our eldest daughter to climb Campanile di Giotto, next to the Duomo, the famous Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore.
In 2004, DW and I climbed to the top of the Cupola di Brunelleschi, the dome of the cathedral. As we stood at the top, looking around the city, I told DW that if we were ever back in Florence, I wanted to climb the neighbouring tower. In 2009, neither she nor our youngest wanted to do that, but our other child did.
When we reached the top, I apologized to our daughter for not having the forethought of bringing water. I was parched and imagined her to be, too.
"I have a bottle in my backpack," she said, producing it. We sat and sipped as we took in the views.
God love her.
The four of us met at our predetermined meeting spot, at the Bargello National Museum. A quick tour and then it was time to head back to the car.
But first, before we crossed the Ponte Vecchio again, we stopped for another round of gelato at my favourite spot (it was hot and we had walked a lot, so we deserved it!).
After another grocery stop, where we stocked up enough to last us for a few days, we returned to our villa and a swim in an infinity pool that looked out to vineyards, olive groves, and the medieval hill town of San Gimignano. We dined outside, watching the sun set over this town, which is my favourite of all the Tuscan hill towns, and planned our next day.
Monday, September 28, 2009, was a relatively relaxing day. We drove to the neighbouring town of Colle di Val d'Elsa, where we wandered the narrow streets, visited the quaint shops, and rode an elevator that rose up the hill to an incredible vista. We stopped for a light snack (pizza squares) for the kids and then moved on to the next town.
As I said, San Gimignano is my favourite Tuscan hill town. A lot of this town hasn't changed much over the past 400 years or so, and is distinguished by its many towers. San Gimignano is known as the Manhattan of Italy, with seeming skyscrapers (they aren't that tall). At one point, there were more than 100 of these towers, but feuds between families saw many of them knocked down.
We roamed the streets and found what I consider the second-best gelato place in the world. Our eldest daughter discovered the best banana gelato we've ever had, and paired it with some lovely chocolate.
DW and I showed the girls a spot, where in 2004 we called my parents to check in and to possibly say hi to the kids. Our oldest daughter, who was about to go to bed, spoke to us. "I miss you, Daddy. When are you coming home?" I was so choked up that I almost couldn't answer right away.
"Soon, honey. Soon." After our phone call, DW and I were more homesick than ever.
It was about mid-afternoon, and we were all hungry, so we found a small restaurant and feasted. Because we had a place where we could make breakfast and dinner, we had planned to eat out when we were exploring the countryside. But this meal was so filling that we knew we would only be having a light supper, this evening.
We left San Gimignano and returned back to our villa, with plenty of time for a nap and a swim before we gathered on the patio to watch the sun set over what was now the whole family's favourite town.
For the next day, we were going to get up early. We were heading on a day trip that would take us the furthest from our villa.
Stay tuned...
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