At a farewell dinner at Boca in Cincinnati (in June 2015 just prior to our move to Geneva) we shared a bottle of Poggio Antico Brunello di Montalcino with good friends & toasted to reconnecting in Tuscany. It seemed like a bit of a far-fetched toast, but during the first week of August we did just that. And reconnecting with the Sievings and Wymores under the Tuscan sun, was even more magical than I had imagined it would be!
We took off on our Italian road trip just after noon on Friday (this gave Randall just over an hour to unpack & repack after returning from 2 weeks in the US), hoping to beat the Swiss holiday weekend traffic. Unfortunately it seemed that everyone had the same idea, as we waited nearly 3 hours at the Mont Blanc tunnel, turning what was supposed to be a 5 hour drive to Parma (our stop for the night) into an 8 hour one. We arrived just in time for a late dinner. A bottle of Italian wine and some delicious home made pasta with fresh parmesan quickly made us forget the long drive and put us in the "la dolce vita" mindset.
The next morning we were pleasantly surprised by how charming the city of Parma is in daylight. We enjoyed a quick breakfast in the Piazza Del Duomo and walk through the town, before heading to the 4 Madonna dell'Emilia Dairy outside Modena, because when in Parma of course you need to see how the famous Parmigiano-Reggiano is made. The dairy gets its name from a shrine pillar located at a nearby Lesignana that depicts four madonnas on its 4 sides and produces 75,000 wheels of cheese each year (2% of the worldwide production of Parmigiano-Reggiano). Our favorite part was the sampling! Yum!
After a quick stop in the city of Modena it was time to head to our villa in Tuscany and to finally meet up with our friends from the US (we had been counting down the days for weeks)! We were so excited to arrive at beautiful Villa Ripertoli, our home for the week in the rural countryside outside of Greve in Chianti. The villa was set on a hilltop, surrounded by vineyards, olive groves and forest and made for the perfect location.
The girls were thrilled to reconnect with George & Skylar and quickly picked up where they left off. We were just missing the Wymores, who were stuck in Rome waiting on missing luggage (Oh, that is another story entirely, but let's just say that the Wymores deserve a prize for the luggage hassles they had to endure and win the award for the most stylish family that ever did travel through Italy without luggage!). When they finally did arrive after 10pm on Saturday evening (still without luggage) the kids excitedly welcomed Molly and we were all impressed that the 5 of them went to bed in the 3rd floor kids room without any hassle! Love these kiddos and their friendship! (Hilarious side note: The kids were so excited to see each other and had planned sleeping arrangements shortly after we arrived. As we came inside from swimming & dinner, George pointed at Kenzie, then up the stairs, and yelled, " Kenzie! Remember ... sleepin' together!" Oh these kids!)
On Sunday morning we ventured into Panzano, a small hill town near our villa, for the weekly market. We picked up some lovely food to prepare dinner at the Villa and enjoyed a delicious lunch at Enoteca Baldi.
On the way back to the Villa we stopped at the Vecchio Terre Di Montefili winery (we actually screeched to a halt and backed up once we passed the gates and saw that they were open on a Sunday ;)). Well worth the stop! The Italian woman that was working in the tasting room could not have been more lovely, the wine was fabulous, the views amazing and they had the perfect spot for the kiddos to hang while we enjoyed the wine.
Once we got back to the Villa it was time to relax at the pool. This was the perfect way to wind down each day. Refreshing water & amazing views! Ahhh!
Then time for dinner al fresco, using the goods we picked up at the market that morning. Perfect spot to watch the sunset!
Monday was the day for our wine tour. Our guide Elena, picked all 11 of us up in a mini-bus, and we were off towards Montalcino. About half way there we stopped for coffee and breakfast in Buonconvento, a small walled comune in the Province of Siena. It was such a charming town and I can see why its name (bonus conventus) means "happy place."
As soon as we entered through the gates into town, a sweet Italian "Nona" leaned out of her window to say hello to the kids. She quickly told us about her sons, one who was a professional football player for Italy years back, and even had a team photo which she showed us from the window. Too sweet! I love these little towns that are virtually free of tourists ... and it is especially fun when you connect with locals.
After breakfast we were off to Poggio Antico. Since this was the wine that inspired this whole trip, of course we had to include a stop at this winery. It was Randall and my 3rd time to visit and we love it every time!
Elena watched the kids outside as we sipped wine in the tasting room. Love their Brunello di Montalcino, but loved our company even more!
We then made our way into the charming town center of Montalcino and enjoyed a late lunch with a view at Enoteca Osticcio. The food & wine were amazing and the lunch was perfectly timed as there was a torrential thunderstorm while we ate, but by the time we were leaving the skies had cleared again.
And no Italian meal is really ever complete without a stop for gelato, right?!
We were then off to our next winery, the beautiful Altesino! We enjoyed an informative tour and tasting, while the kids enjoyed playing on the lawn under the Tuscan sun!
On Tuesday we were off to Florence for the day! We had a private walking tour scheduled in the morning (Nancy Aiello Tours) and this was a great way to get an overview of the city without wandering aimlessly. Our tour guide took us by many of the key sights ... Piazza della Repubblica, the Ponte Vecchio, the Pitti Palace, the Ufizzi Gallery (from the outside), the Duomo ... and we also stopped at an awesome paper store where the kids got to help an artisan make marbleized paper and of course we were rewarded with a stop at one of the best gelato places in the city at the end of the tour.
After our tour we explored a bit more and made our way to the Piazza Sante Croce where many of the best leather stores are located. Randall picked up a new briefcase and the girls each got a new purse (& got to watch the gilder emboss their initials into the leather).
Florence is such a beautiful city, but it was incredibly crowded. I guess this should be expected in August. I hope we can return sometime when it is less crowded and we will have the opportunity to spend some time exploring the museums and galleries.
After a long, hot day in the city we rewarded the kids with a poolside pizza party!
On Wednesday everyone needed a low key day. The kids swam first thing in the morning and we relaxed poolside. Around lunchtime we made our way to Castellina in Chianti, another comune near our villa. After a delicious lunch, we spent time wandering the cobblestone streets, stopping in cute shops & galleries, and of course testing the local gelato & taking advantage of photo ops in front of beautiful patinaed old doors ;)
A perfect low-key hump day!
On Thursday morning we were off to Lucca, which is known for the well-preserved Renaissance walls encircling its historic city center. We had been here on two previous occasions, but had always wanted to cycle along the broad, tree-lined pathways along the top of the massive walls, so that was our first order of the day. It is ~5km to go around the wall one time, and you really have a great vantage point of the city from up there. After one loop everyone had gotten the hang of it, so we decided to go for one more round. We stopped at the playground, then got some sandwiches and had a picnic lunch atop the walls.
We then stopped for a ride on the carousel and what else? GELATO, of course!
Such a fun excursion with this super fun group!
Since Pisa is less than 30 minutes from Lucca, we felt we had to make a quick stop at the Leaning Tower before heading back to the villa. The tower leans much more than I expected and it was definitely worth the quick stop, especially since this is a landmark that the girls will always remember seeing. Of course we had to take the obligatory holding up the tower shots!
We returned home just in time for a swim and a beautiful sunset. Loved that magical time of day at the villa!
We decided that we wanted our last full day together in Tuscany to be relaxed. We wanted to avoid crowds and to just enjoy the beautiful countryside and quaint villages near Villa Ripertoli. The dads watched the kids in the morning and Gina, Felicia and I escaped to Panzano for breakfast, a little girl time and shopping.
We then made our way to the tiny little town of Lamole. The drive up was stunning and we were definitely avoiding any crowds. Lunch at Ristoro di Lamole was amazing - I am still dreaming of that pasta with fresh truffles. Our waiter kept apologizing for the terrible view, since it was a bit cloudy that day. Yes, simply terrible! ;)
After lunch we took the tiniest gravel road through the Tuscan hills, stopped for a tasting at Castelvecchio, and made our way to the town of Radda in Chianti. Another charming town filled with cute shops, beautiful doors perfect for photo ops, and delicious gelato ;)
That evening we ventured out for our last dinner together in Tuscany, to Cantinetta Di Regnant which was just a few kilometers from our Villa. I am not sure if it was a blessing or a curse that we did not discover this place until our last evening here.
Everything was perfect, from the setting, the playground for the kids, the food, the wine, the sunset ... I'm pretty sure if we had gone on our first evening we would have been there every night! It sure was the perfect spot for our sendoff dinner. We had a blast reliving our adventures and were reminded just why we had such an amazing week! Yes, the scenery was gorgeous. Yes, we got to visit many wonderful history-steeped places. Yes, we enjoyed fabulous food & wine. But, most importantly we got to spend a week with these amazing people. I love these two couples, and I love that our kids are just as good of friends as we are.
Saying goodbye is never easy, but we were returning home with so many wonderful memories! And we need to start planning our next great adventure together ... Sieving & Wymores, you are welcome in Europe anytime or perhaps we can arrange a trip back to the US, if it includes Napa ;)
We decided to take the scenic route home, in order to avoid the mid-day Saturday traffic at the tunnel. We stopped in the beautiful town of Portofino for lunch. This fishing village with pastel-colored houses on the Italian Riviera coastline is both colorful and charming. We had lunch at a pizza place in the Piazetta overlooking the harbor, and then took a stroll and window-shopped the high-end boutiques.
We had promised the girls that we would stop for a dip in the Mediterranean, and since Portofino itself does not have any beaches, we made our way to the neighboring town of Santa Margherita Ligure. Apparently the beach clubs are the place to be on a Saturday in August because we had to visit 4 before we found one that could accommodate us that afternoon.
We loved the green & blue vibe of the club where we ended up, and all 4 of us enjoyed a swim in the refreshing sea! Not often that a pit-stop includes a dip in the Mediterranean.
What a wonderful week we had living la dolce vita in Italia! Vacationing in Italy will never get old! Such a beautiful country with generous people, and the most delicious food and wine. What's not to like? And to get to experience it with this crew was priceless.
Hard to return to reality, but fun to remember the great times we had via the little souvenirs that I picked up along the way!
