WanderlustandWhimSea

I know the more popular version is Under the Tuscan Sun but in Oct it has been a bit rainy and there have been more rainbows than sunshine.  We left Lucca for a farmhouse north of Sienna. The farmhouse was in a rather remote spot. Despite all available GPS and APP 2018 technology (Car GPS, Here We GO, Google Maps, Apple Maps, Go Euro and good old fashioned knocking on doors) we were challenged to find the farmhouse. Once we did the driveway was a gauntlet with our no clearance Alfa Romeo car. Each morning we scraped and bounced along, stalled out several times and eventually made it to the top of the road.  Perhaps it added to the charm but I can say I was relieved when we turned the car and got a “no damage”  report.

The view from our patio was amazing.  And a picture of our hosts after serving us a great dinner of Florentine steak. We did have a bit of adventure one night as a really bad storm passed through the valley knocking out power.  So no lights, no problem right – until we realized it meant no pump for water for the toilets. It was sort of like a survivalist experience as a few hours later our host dramatically entered the apartment shouting, “KA BOOM, KA,BOOM”. Apparently the fire in the fireplace was heating the water but with no pumps the water couldn’t move and well – KA, BOOM. Suddenly my Italian got pretty clear as I interpreted this pending disaster as we were pulling logs out of the fire.  We all survived, but this definitely fit my brother Dave’s sage comment that, “Sometimes a good story is better than a good time”. I’m sure this story will get more dramatic with more time.

More Pasta Making

More Olives

More Wine Tasting

More pasta making! More Olive pressing! More Wine tasting! Bored yet? I’m not but I’m afraid I have become a bit of a wine snob, changing out my appreciation of Chianti for Brunello.  I may have to seek additional employment to afford my new preference! Next stop is flooded Venice (St Mark’s under 5 feet of water) but our ship floats – right?