Our adventure began with some unexpected challenges. Luggage not fitting in one car that required us to drive to Dulles in two separate vehicles. Our flight to Paris was delayed and Charles de Gaul was a difficult airport to navigate which caused us to miss our connection. Leslye got us rebooked on the next available flight which did not depart till almost 9 PM. We made the best of the circumstances by taking advantage of Air France’s Lounge. Spent about 11 hours eating, drinking, napping, watching movies and playing cards.

We adjusted the details of our arrival in Florence with Inspirato. They were very accommodating and it was very exciting to once again be in Florence. \240Our accommodations are fantastic. It is a beautiful space and I anticipate that it will be a lovely way to enjoy our time here together.

We began our day relaxing with tea and coffee together and were able to get a better feel and look at the property. It is a great space with incredible design and beautiful details. There is a newspaper article framed that talks about the history of the property. The building was a castle and later an opera. It is far and away the nicest of the Inspirato properties we have experienced.

Sunday we were scheduled for a guided walking tour of Florence and a visit to the statue of David at the Academia. Our guide, Viola, was excellent. She was incredibly knowledgeable, patient and kind. We made our way across town to the museum taking in sights including the Duomo, clock tower and Baptistery of St John. We spent about 3 hours with her taking in the sights. The weather got a bit chilly as we left Academia. Viola recommended a lovely organic restaurant for lunch. We enjoyed some nice charcuterie, a couple of pasta dishes and of course wine. \240The meal was good, not great, but the space was really cool and it was a good break form all of the walking.

Today was all about wine. Sam, our driver, picked us up at the property and accompanied us out into the Tuscan countryside to discover the Chianti region. Heading out of the city, we made a quick stop to the Piazzale Michelangelo, one of the most beautiful places to view the city of Florence. We then moved on and visited two wineries enjoying the scenic Italian countryside along the way.

The first vineyard was Colle Bereto just outside of Rada. It is a smaller production, family owned, 100% organic vineyard with about 5 full time employees. Ilaria, our guide, thoroughly explained the history of the Chianti region, the DOCG, guidelines and their wine making process. They strive to keep every aspect of the process as natural as possible. Our tour was followed by a tasting and lovely lunch.

https://www.collebereto.it/en/

Our second vineyard, a much larger production facility than Bereto, was Costello di Fonterutoli. \240This facility is still considered to be a mid-sized winery, with an annual production of about 700,000 bottles. The building is fairly modern architecture in the shape of a horseshoe surrounding a stone courtyard. When it is time for harvest large trucks come into the courtyard and do all of the grape sorting and stem separating outside. The grapes then drop down chutes into the production facility below. Fermentation takes place exclusively in stainless steel tanks. The product is then moved to either oak, concrete or stainless tanks for aging. \240Our tasting was of 6 different styles. \240Wines were quite good and we really enjoyed the tour.

We were back with Viola this morning for a private tour of the Uffizi Gallery. The building began construction in 1560 by Giorgio Vasari and was completed in 1581. It served primarily as an office for the Medici family and was officially opened to the public as a gallery in in 1765. It is one of the first modern museums and has the largest collection of art in Italy most of which had been privately collected by the Medici Family. With over 100 rooms it is impossible to see it all, so we took a chronological journey of the great masters of the Renaissance. Donatello, Botticelli, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, Vasari and Caravaggio to name a few. Viola was so knowledgeable and kept things moving along for us. \240We covered over 400 years of art history in about three hours. Afterward, she accompanied M&D back to our villa while Leslye and I jumped around the streets near the gallery and grabbed a traditional Porchetta Schiacciata from All’Antico Vinaio, Florence’s most famous deli and sandwich shop.

On tap this evening was a tour of some local markets to purchase products for our private cooking class with Chef Cinzia. We walked about the city to collect ingredients from a local bakery, butcher and vegetable shops all of which Cinzia and her family have been shopping for years. We then hopped into taxis and made our way to her home where we got busy cooking our dinner. We prepared homemade pasta with ragu, roasted pork tenderloin with apples, roasted potatoes and our own cantucci which we enjoyed for desert with Vin Santo. Dinner was accompanied by a couple nice wines and homemade liquors made by Cinzia’s mother who visited us during dinner. Cinzia had commented on how much Dad reminded her of her father, so we had some fun with that throughout the night.

Back out to the Tuscan countryside today for a planned tour of Siena and San Gimignano. Heading out of the city we were treated to a stop at the Florence American Cemetery. This 70 acres of land was gifted to the US by the Italian government as the final resting place for US soldiers of the Fifth Army who died following the capture of Rome in June of 1944. \240It was a beautiful place and a pleasant surprise stop on our tour.

Our next stop was Siena. Our scheduled walking tour with a lovely guide, Chiara, had to be altered due to some challenging weather. It was pouring so we jumped into a cafe on the Piazza del Campo where we enjoyed tea and espresso while learning all about the history of the city, it’s 17 contrada (neighborhoods) and the Palio horse races. It was a welcome way to take in all that Chiara had to share. \240After the weather cleared, we had an opportunity to walk some of the streets and take in a few sights before meeting back up with our driver Gino for the short ride to yet another winery and lunch.

Tasting and lunch at Fattoria Sant’Appiano, a small family owned winery. \240The Cappelli Family originally acquired the property in 1963 which was previously owned by members of Gucci. We enjoyed a quick tour of their cellars and production facility which was underground in grotto style caves. \240We enjoyed a simple country style lunch of charcuterie and pasta.

The final stop of todays adventure was the ancient city of San Gimignano. “The Manhattan of Tuscany,” is known for its tall stone structures. We made our way along its cobblestone street and it many shops for the tourists. \240We were able to find our ceramic shop Leoncini where we had purchased our patio table back in 2020. \240Anna, with whom we had worked on the sale was very welcoming and it was fun to spend some time in their shop. We were able to finally get M&D a gelato. The shop was about ready to close and had very few flavor options which unfortunately were not the best.

Dinner back in Florence after returning from Rome.