Friday 19 July 2013
You will be glad to hear that my luggage turned up just as I was checking out of my Florence hotel. What a relief that was!
Once I left the hotel I made my way to the railway station and met some of the Tuscan party (Andrew, Tara, Karen, Darren, Neil, Cameron and Elysa). We then made our way (some by taxi and the others by hire car) up the hills to the town of San Baranto. It took about an hour and once you got to the top of the mountain, where San Baranto is located, well the view is absolutely spectacular. The area is exactly what you would imagine Tuscany to look like with magnificent properties and gardens, terracotta roof tiles, old buildings, church towers with bells ringing on the hour, terraced areas down the side of the mountain with olive tree groves or grapevines and picturesque villages popped all around the hills and the valley. It is quite beautiful. I thought of Grand Designs and Kevin McLeod as there are so many gorgeous buildings that need a little bit of work you can see why people fall in love with the romance of living in a beautiful old building in a beautiful area... Don't worry I won't be doing an "Under the Tuscan sun" and buying a run down villa though it is tempting (only joking...)
After checking in to our hotel (Residence Montefiore) we were all very hungry and thirsty. Conveniently located across the road is ristorante / bar and that did the trick. We got ourselves some panini and vino bianco ( and some water...) and a table that overlooked the entire valley. It was just the best way to start our time in Tuscany. Eventually the entire group arrived in San Baranto and we all met again that evening (all 25 of us) at the same ristorante and enjoyed a magnificent dinner in a lovely setting. So much food that I can see my clothes getting tighter and tighter as the week progresses...
Weather is fantastic. Very very warm and even though I don't have air conditioning in my room I have got a couple of fans that do the job perfectly plus I get a nice breeze of an evening.
I love Italy, always have and always will!
