D166 -- Traveling to Toscana

Today was our first day in Tuscany, where we will be spending the next two weeks at a villa we rented just outside the town of San Gimignano. Elva's sister and brother-in-law, Patty & Dan, will be joining us for four days this week, then next week our friends Michael & Sarah and Mayowa & Leslie will be staying with us for seven days. We are excited to be reunited with family and friends, especially in a setting as beautiful as Tuscany.

To get to the villa we took a four-hour train from Bolzano to Florence, and then picked up a rental car to drive about an hour to the villa. We did not dilly dally in Florence as we will be spending a lot of time there in the coming days and we were anxious to check out our new home, Il Vecchio Fienile.

The drive was awesome – the Tuscan countryside is exactly as we had imagined it, with rolling hills, plentiful vineyards, and stone farmhouses dotting the countryside. There are lots of little towns spread throughout the area, and many of them sit atop hills and can therefore be seen from far away. Many of the towns retain their medieval character, especially the town of San Gimignano (more on that tomorrow).

Our villa is about two miles outside of town, and is on a fairly quiet road with a beautiful view of the hills as well as the town.

It's recently renovated, and from what I gather it used to be a storehouse. The owners live next door, and although they don't speak a lick of English, they are very sweet and we were able to communicate through hand gestures, Spanish, and our rudimentary Italian. We were disappointed that the layout is not very practical, but it's very charming, has a great garden, and besides, who can stay upset in Tuscany!?!

-Tom