Let the Adventure begin!
Greetings from Italy!
We've embarked on an exciting adventure with our dear friends (and neighbors) Monte and Patricia Rector. A month-long trip throughout Italy, Croatia and lastly London (first time ever for this long of a trip, I LOVE retirement).
We certainly knew it was going to be a very long couple of days, but it is one thing knowing it and another experiencing it. We started by driving our rental car to the Greenville Airport (leaving Asheville at 7:00 AM Monday morning) and arrived with plenty of time for a nice relaxing breakfast at Wolfgang Pucks before our first flight to Reagan airport in DC. All went smoothly and on time. From Reagan we took an Uber to Dulles airport and the verrrrryyyy long wait for our flight to London Heathrow. An 8 hour wait to be exact.
Monte, Bev, Patricia and me at our rental property, Villa Casanova. (Wine expertly selected by host/owner Giovanni.)
We passed the time in the British Airways Club Lounge and entertained ourselves with Card Games (Go Fish and Old Maid) and Heads Up (smartphone app). There is only so much of that we can manage so between grabbing snacks, chatting, reading/scrolling our devices we managed to pass the time. A slight delay and we settled in for the 7 hour 20 minute flight. Some of us (Monte) are able to easily sleep on a plane (pretty much anywhere for him) the rest of us just hoped to get a little bit of rest.
Playing "Go Fish" in the British Airways Club room.
We got to Heathrow around 11:30 AM Tuesday morning and after clearing security (where every one of us had our liquid bags examined, an excruciatingly-slow process). Nonetheless, we had plenty of time so we were off to find the British Airways Club room to pass the time. Monte caught another nap while the rest of us chatted, surfed, read and relaxed. This club room was extremely packed so finding seats together was a massive challenge, keeping them was a continuous, diligent effort by Patricia and me. You see, the men would get up to get a snack, use the loo, etc. and would put NOTHING in their chair to indicate it was taken so we would quickly throw one of our sweaters on the seats to dissuade the lurkers coming in for the steal. Every single time we would tell the guys they need to put something in their chairs and yet, no. The Irish chap next to us was quite amused watching this play out over the course of 4 hours. We kept waiting for the announcement of our gate (they don't assign a gate until shortly before departure, and then you have to book it to the gate). Well, we had a short delay, and then another delay and finally the gate was announced. Off we went only to find out the flight was delayed yet again.
We eventually boarded our flight to Bologna around 4:45 PM Tuesday afternoon and proceeded to sit on the tarmac for another hour and a half while 8 planes took off ahead of us. Our initial arrival time was to be 6:30 PM local Bologna time, and we ultimately arrived around 8:30 PM. We had an hour and a half drive ahead of us to get to our Villa just outside of Florence.
A section of the VERY narrow road leading up to the Villa we're renting near Settignano.
Carl called our host, Giovanni, to advise him of our delay (he was going to guide us to the Villa as it is fairly remote on top of a hill overlooking Florence) while Monte secured our rental car. Patricia and I went off to find an ATM to get Euros needed for check in. Of course travel never goes exactly according to plan so there was a snafu with the Rental car. Apparently in Italy, if you rent a luxury car (we need a larger car for our bags and, well, because Monte is 6'5" and we can't get a little wind-up car), you have to have two different credit cards to secure it. We certainly had that between us, but the cards have to be in the renter's name, i.e. Monte. If the reservation were transferred to Carl (who had two cards), the price "would double" as there were major events going on in town and no other cars available.
We ended up with a regular rental which turned out to be fine and honestly at that point (now almost 9:30 PM and 33 hours since we left home) we just wanted to get on the road. Oh, and it was raining. Directions loaded into GPS and off we go! We met up with Giovanni (great guy to hang in there with us and our very late arrival) and we finally made it to the Villa around 11:00 PM. Giovanni's guidance was invaluable as the rural road up the hill to his place had several turn-offs, and was extremely narrow, circuitous, and rough in some places. Navigating it in the dark and rain would have been quite the adventure without his help!
Giovanni (and his wife Sylvia) showed us around their Villa, and we were SO happy we had taken them up on the offer to pick up a few groceries to have upon arrival, as at this point we hadn't really eaten anything for ages and were feeling a little peckish.
As I started to lay out a lovely platter of meats and cheeses, I accidentally mistook the beautiful butter for a soft cheese. Monte and Carl kept saying, "I think this is butter," but I insisted it was a soft cheese I had ordered. They were pretty sure I was wrong (after sampling some) but were nice about it, and ultimately right. I removed the butter, and then Patricia and I laid out a nice platter of Toscano and Pecorino cheeses along with Salami and Prosciutto. Giovanni had forgotten to purchase some bread, so we enjoyed our snacks with some Pringles and an absolutely delicious bottle of Poggio Ai Ginepri (from the same area as the renowned Sassicaia wine).
We finally crawled upstairs at 1:00 AM for quick showers before finally laying our heads down to sleep.
Next Day
Carl making espresso with the moka pot (not to be confused with mocha).
The guys were up first, and Carl was sorting out how to use the Moka stovetop espresso maker. As most of you know about Carl, he is a connoisseur of coffee and quickly (and expertly, I might add) sorted this out, creating delicious little cups of morning brew.
The guys had some yogurt and fruit and we got ready to hit the road into town for a REAL MEAL!
Enjoying a delicious steak dinner at Trattoria Dall’oste.
Giovanni arrived again in the morning to complete the check-in process that he was kind enough to not put us through the night before (there are fees and taxes to pay). He then guided us down the hill to the outskirts of town with good recommendations on parking. Even with the guidance from him, we still spent about 30 minutes circling around town to find public (paid) parking. Once settled I Yelped for a nearby, highly-rated restaurant and off we went. We had all been talking about wanting a steak. We were so hungry and needed a nice serving of protein. We had barely gone a block when a restaurant, Trattoria Dall’oste, caught the eye of Patricia as they had a huge sign advertising their great steaks (and the associated awards). We quickly perused the menu and eagerly agreed, this is our place! We were seated pretty quickly (by now it is about 1:45 PM and the big lunch rush was ending). We all ordered steaks as well as pasta and meatballs and roasted potatoes for the table and of course a delicious bottle of red wine. We were sated and ready to head out for shopping and sightseeing.
Starting with tuscan bread and an excellent pasta dish
Award-winning Trattoria Dall’oste's Beef Selection: Chianina - Rubia Gallega - Wagyu
The huge steaks here require colossal cutlery!
Patricia with owner of the David 2 Leather Factory, modeling a fur vest (no, she didn't buy this one). Lot of celebs have purchased coats from Franco, so why not Patricia and Bev?
Photo of Franco Fonati I took in front of his VIP apartment 10 years ago.
Monte at Rivoire chocolate shop.
We had incredible gelato at Badiani (opened in 1932)
Carl had previously reached out to Franco Fonati, owner of David's leather factory and store, to let him know we were going to be in Florence (our last visit was 10 years ago). We headed over to his shop and were warmly greeted by Franco, who quickly handed us glasses of wine (his own label)! Patricia was in search of a leather jacket and began trying on various options. Let's just say she was successful and very pleased with her selections, ending up with two beautiful coats. Franco gifted us a couple of bottles of wine (gift with purchase).
Bev in a (very fancy) coat of many colors Franco picked out for her. No, she didn't buy it.
We continued our journey in town, discovering an excellent chocolate shop where we procured a box of delightful, bite-sized treats. We set these aside for our evening enjoyment and went off in search of gelato. Our mission was a success, and after our sweet interlude, we decided we'd had a full enough day and headed back to the car. As luck would have it, the rain started just then, prompting us to quicken our pace and hurry back as fast as we could.
Now, we just had to find our way back to the Villa (as I mentioned, it is pretty remote and not easy to find if you haven't been there often). We also needed to make a stop at a grocery store for more essentials, breakfast foods, and a light meal for dinner. This sounds like such an easy thing to do: go to a grocery store. At home, you can find them every other block. Not so much here. After many misses, several turn-arounds (and too many navigators - sorry Monte!), we finally located a grocery store and loaded up. Carl expertly guided us back to the Villa, and we settled in for a light meal of Focaccia pizza with tomatoes, prosciutto, and guanciale (an Italian cured meat product), paired with a lovely Prosecco.
We sampled the lovely chocolates as our sweet treat, watched an episode of Tears of God, and happily went off to bed for a good night's rest.
Fine chocolates from Rivoire (since 1872)
Up next tomorrow: Carl's birthday and special birthday dinner.
Ciao Ciao!
Bev
The breathtaking beauty of the Swiss Alps at sunset (on our descent into Bologna, from London).