So far on the Rick Steves' tour, all of the hotels we stayed in were right in the heart of our destination. Florence was our only exception. Rather than stay in the city of Galileo, we found refuge after the intensely hot days at our Italian villa in the peaceful countryside of Tuscany.
As the motor coach drove through the family operated vineyards and olive groves, our tour guide mentioned that before dinner, we were welcome to go swimming in the pool. Naturally, that is exactly what we did! For the next hour, we were children again playing on floats and seeing who can make the biggest splash with our cannonball.
Our prelude to dinner was a cooking demonstration by one of the family chefs in their home kitchen. As she was cutting the whole chicken and preparing for roasting, we were reminded that in the next hour, that this was going to be part of our meal. We were soon led outside where the picnic tables were arranged for an outdoor party. As the homemade wine from the villa grapes flowed, so did our first course; bruschetta served three ways. Following was our chicken limon and salad adorned with the olives from trees just an acre away.
When our waiter offered our dinner table some house wine, I asked, "what varieties of wine do you make and offer?" I could not miss the opportunity when he responded that they have bottles of white and bottles of red. I humorously replied, "perhaps a bottle of Rose' instead?" Our waiter, not picking up the musical reference, quickly joined in on our table's giggling, and we politely explained the song lyric. Fortunately, our waiter had a great sense of humor too!
Our meal was fantastic and was only topped by our conversations. We did however call it an early night so we can rest up for our next day in Florence.
Downtown Florence is full of history and culture, as well as some really yummy food. Our local tour guide told us that a family run gelateria just minutes from where we begun our city tour has the best in all of Italy. Between our tour of the Uffizi Galary and our walk through historic Florence, we would sneak off during our 15 minute breaks to find the famed gelati, but with no luck.
At lunchtime, several of us found a really tiny family Italian restaurant recommended in our guidebook. The menu was written entirely in the home language and the food was prepared just after we ordered. Our meal was fantastic and our waiter turned the lunch into a cultural experience. Everything tasted great from the bruschetta, to the melanzane fritte (fried eggplant) appetizer, to the pasta course. However, one thing was missing.... Yep, you guessed it!
Unfortunately for us, we tried and tried, but could not find this famous gelateria. After nearly 30 minutes of searching in the hot sun, we broke down and settled for the first place we could find. Of course, the gelati tasted great and we were able to mix any flavors we chose; a favorite of mine since I arrived.
After some free time on our own, we met again at the town square where our day begun and headed back to our Tuscan escape for another night of outdoor partying, great homemade food and wine, and a special treat for our final evening, live music.
Before dinner, I took refuge from the heat by enjoying an afternoon cafe' with some of the workers of the villa. From wine to travel and from art to music, our hour long conversation flew by. It turned out that one of the women I was talking to was going to be singing for us that night. Funny how she didn't mention that until later than evening.
Part two of our outdoor picnic feast started with gnocchi served with two different sauces. This was honestly the tastiest gnocchi I ever ate and my most favorite meal throughout Europe second only to the duck I ordered in Paris. Timing was excellent. Just as the sun began to set and our deserts finished; out comes the second round of homemade wine with our live musicians; all of which work at the villa.
For the next 2 hours, the two guitarists and the same woman I was speaking to earlier were playing, singing, and dancing while taking our requests. They also performed Italian favorites, as well as their original works. The night ended with applause for our talented musicians and a final toast to our wonderful hosts and hostesses of what was the most memorable hotel experience in my life!
Knowing that we were leaving just after breakfast, I woke up especially early the next morning to walk through the family vineyards. Acres and acres simply repeated with grapes, and no end was in sight. I was thrilled to have the peace of the Tuscan landscape in my lap. After tasting a few grapes right from the vine, I headed back for some freshly squeezed orange juice and a hearty breakfast. We said our goodbyes, and we gave one last gaze of the vineyards and olive groves as our motor coach headed toward our final destination, Rome.