Saturday, 6/22

Early to rise this morning, as we had to pack, grab one last cappuccino, and hop on the Metro to the train station.  Heavy backpacks strapped on, we made it to the train station with plenty of time to spare.  It took some figuring out which platform our train would be arriving on, but we managed to get Joyce on her first European train and were on our way to Florence by 9:00 am.  On the ride, Greg overheard a tour guide making reservations to see the David.  Oops, we had not even considered needing a reservation for a museum! I guess we should have reviewed our Rick Steves’ section on Florence more carefully. Greg, being the resourceful and friendly fellow he is, engaged the woman in a chat and within moments she was back on the phone to her connection offering to get us a reservation as well.  As we departed the train, she gave us a number on a slip of paper, a reservation to get in the Accademia at 2:30. Another kind surprise from a stranger on our travels!  We stashed our luggage at the baggage room in the train station before heading out into the streets of Florence. Initially we hoped to get lunch at a stand in the Mercato Centrale as soon as we arrived, but Greg was concerned since we needed to pick up our rental car and he had heard sometimes they close at odd hours.  Thank goodness we went there first, as they close by lunch time on Saturday and are not open on Sunday, we could have been stuck in Florence for two nights.  While Florence is a city full of history, art, and culture; our hearts were set on the countryside and our big city experience in Rome had pleased but exhausted us all.  A few hours in Florence to see the big sites is all that we needed.  We checked out the Mercato Centrale, a big indoor produce, fish, and meat market in a warehouse.  I found it fascinating to see but the strong smells drove us back to the city streets quickly. We grabbed a cheap and uninspiring lunch at a touristy trattoria.  Just some salad and bruschetta, enough to fuel us for our museum tour. (Viewing food as fuel, is very un-Italian but as a tourist sometimes it is necessary!)    

We got some mixed directions about how to get to the Accademia but ended up in the right line just at 2:30. After waiting only about five minutes to go inside, we felt amazed that the number written on the little scrap of paper was actually sufficient to get us inside. Of course we still had to pay the admission, but what a delight to skip waiting in line for hours!  I am much more adept at describing food than art but I will say that David’s figure was impressive!  We felt rather voyeuristic surveying his naked form, but after all this was the main reason for our side trip to Florence. Pondering the detail, the scale, the skill and the effort involved in sculpting such a piece, the patrons were in awe. Joyce described David as a hunk.  We took our time to see the other sculptures and paintings in the museum, getting the full experience for our ticket price but still this only took about thirty minutes.  On the walk back to the car we saw the cathedral and a few other churches. We grabbed our bags from the station and headed for the rental car. Greg faced a rather tricky drive out of Florence (the signs can be very confusing, even with GPS attempting to guide you).  With written directions on the computer and the GPS giving us contrasting directions, we also found it easy to get turned around in the small towns on the road to Pienza, but we made it! 

All of our wrong turns and travel woes were erased when we turned off the highway toward Cretaiole.  When we pulled into the drive at Cretaiole we were excited to meet Carlotta who generously showed us to our rooms. (Carlotta is taking the place of our hostess Isabella this week.  Poor Isabella is in Milan as her father has passed away, so her friend Carlotta is hosting us in her stead). Carlotta gave us a quick tour, knowing we have been here before and left us to explore our digs  Greg and I have a spacious bedroom and bathroom that attach to a living area with a full kitchen which is also connected to Joyce’s comfortable room and bath. The Tuscan farm house décor is evident in every detail from the rustic wooden doors with an iron latch,  to the antique furniture. The generosity and hospitality of the Moricciani family is evident at our first glance around the room.  There is a full bowl of fresh fruit; peaches, apricots, bananas, apples, and cherries. On our table a bottle of the owner’s house wine and olive oil for our use.  The fridge was full of milk, yogurt, juice, and sparkling water.  There was also a basket of pasta, cereal, cookies, and snacks.  We will need to eat many breakfasts, lunches and dinners in our room to work through all of this generously provided food, which will be great for our budget and a nice break from the rich food we’ve been consuming.  But that is not all, more treasures were stashed around the house. A chocolate and a mint sat on each of our pillows to wish us sweet dreams.  A flower floated coyly in our toilet bowl to greet us as well. We felt immediately nurtured and at home.  Outside of the farm house are the most beautiful views I have ever seen and I don’t say that lightly, I have had the opportunity to visit many beautiful places.  We are on top of a hill looking down on a valley of rolling green hills and sprawling golden fields.  A vineyard and olive grove stretch away from us on the west side of the lawn, while forest like brush sweep up the hill on all other sides.  For me it was a joy to be in a familiar spot where I felt safe and comfortable enough to run again.  Over the last two years running has become an important part of my health and stress management.  I began to run a few years back when I had a particularly challenging student.  I would come home frustrated and vent to Greg about the way this child had tested me and one day in particular Greg suggested wisely that maybe going on a little run around the block might help me blow off so steam.  He had no idea what he was starting!  (He rarely does...)  That year, I started by taking a lap, perhaps running around the track a few times at the School of Theology in neighborhood behind our home just once or twice a week.  Currently, I run four to five days per week, about two to three miles each time I run.  No more than ten miles a week in total.  It is not much, but I’m hooked.  I feel really wonderful, calm, and healthy after a run.  So I had really missed jogging while in Rome.  Not only was it delightful to stretch my legs, but I had this amazingly beautiful view to contemplate. After 3 km, I had seen an abandoned farm house, a pheasant, and a duck pond and was ready for dinner. We made a large salad from the garden patch to pair with our pasta and sauce and enjoyed our first meal on the farm. I forgot to mention that when we arrived, Luciano, the patriarch of the family had been there with Carlotta. When Greg and I visited two years ago, he had been one of our favorite parts of Cretaiole.  It took him a minute, but Luciano remembered us and it was like old times.  Luciano speaks only Italian, so it gives us some practice to speak with him.  After dinner, it is tradition to meet with him and the other guests in the common room.  He brings out his grappa (a strong spirit distilled from grape parts left over from the wine making process) and shares an after dinner drink with the guests and helps us to practice our Italian.  Tonight Greg played some guitar for the guests and Luciano explained to me that he likes to dance but because he is an old man, we have to invite him. (At least that is what I think he said, my Italian is still warming up.)  I asked him to dance and no sooner had we finished the first turn, he told me he would like to dance with my mother also.  So Joyce had her turn as well.  Dancing and music, not bad nightlife for living on a farm!

Sunday, 6/23

Today, all of the guests were invited to visit Luciano’s home. While the family owns Cretaiole, the Agriturismo where we are staying, they live on a working farm at the edge of Pienza called San Gregorio (Yes, Greg loves that this farm shares his name).  On our tour of the farm, we got to see where the geese and chickens live.  Luciano was proud to bring out some ducklings for the young people on our tour to play with and he was excited to show them the egg from which they had hatched just a few days ago. The pigs squealed, the turkeys gobbled, as we enjoyed the vista from the edge of the barnyard.  The Moricciani family farm produces aged pecorino cheeses, salami, prosciutto, amazing olive oil, and of course a few varieties of wine.  We were treated to a tasting of their olio on fresh country bread.  Luciano sliced up his prosciutto and salami for guests to sample and the fragrant sheep’s cheese was served up with plenty of red and white wine to sample.  We certainly didn’t need to plan a lunch after this lovely taste test. We bought some farm products to add to the groceries in our room. After a brief siesta,  we drove to the nearby town of San Quirico d’Orcia.  The historic center of this town is a medieval walled city.  We walked the quiet cobbled streets and enjoyed watching the locals socializing during their pre-dinner walk.  A quaint hedge garden framed a statue of someone important to the city but we couldn’t understand the plaque as it was in Italian! 

After exploring the neighboring town it was time to head back to the farm house.  

When it came time for my evening run,  I wanted to venture a little further down the dirt road today.  I set my iPod for 5 km. Up the hill, I passed the abandoned neighboring farmhouse. Down the hill, there was the little duck pond full of croaking frogs and splashing fowl.  Another steep drop off was just ahead, it looked amazingly fun to run down it but knowing I would be struggling back up the hill a few minutes later made the decision to plow ahead a tough one.  I plunged down the hill with the wind at my back delighted by more vistas of rolling hills and golden plains as the grade leveled off.  I rounded the corner into more dense vegetation and a little forest grew up around me as I pushed on.  I hadn’t even seen this from the path above.  Around another corner in the darkening trees, I saw movement on the path, too small to be a deer, I struggled to name the animal before it plunged into the bushes and darted away from me.  “Volpe!” I called out.  How the name came to me in Italian before it did in English astounded me, but it took me another moment to process that I had seen a fox!  The forest opened up into another vista and it was time to turn back and face that hill, but the visit from signore Volpe made it all worth-while.  Back at the farm house, we cut tender zucchini from the garden into long slices and tossed them in with the thin pecorino tagliatelli we had purchased at the farm.  Dressing our veggies and pasta with just a hint of truffle oil and a sprinkle of basil from the trough in the courtyard, we had another simple and fresh Tuscan meal.  Sunday night must be family night, as Luciano did not visit for grappa tonight, but he said he would see us on Monday and we are sure he won’t disappoint.