April 11

.

We did not have wifi last night.  We were up in the Tuscan hills, with gorgeous Tuscan view from our terrace....  We visited an olive oil producer (with a spectacular Tuscan view) yesterday, and then went to our agritourismo, which was wonderful.  Our hosts were friendly, engaging, and interesting, dinner was delicious, breakfast was yummy, and there were interesting things to look at inside as well as out (many interesting collections -- walking sticks, blue & white dishes, old shoe lasts.......

It was SO quiet up there.  I don't know how long it's been since I was somewhere with no mechanical noise (most of the time).  To sit on the terrace and listen to the wind, and birdsong.......  Heaven.  And the air smells so good out there....  It's seriously spring here in Tuscany.  We came through many mountains to get here, and it's much warmer than in Emilia-Romana where we were before.  Shirtsleeves.

Our car behaved itself well, and I'm told the driving wasn't stressful -- until today when we had to return it at the Florence airport.  Rental-car return is very difficult to find, and *very* difficult to get to (switching from the far right lane to the far left lane and back, in very heavy traffic -- with motorcycles weaving in and out between the lanes....).  After going round and round, and somewhere else, and round again, we FOUND the right place.  And left the car there, and took a shuttle to the airport (another twisty ride -- we were glad someone else was driving!), and then got another bus to downtown.

We found our apt without trouble, and the owner's friend let us in and showed us where everything was and how to work it.  So far, so good.

We were exhausted -- went right back out to grab a sandwich from a cafe and eat it here in our apt.

The polar opposite of last night's beautiful quiet -- there is a LOT of vehicle noise, and people's voices too.  I don't think we'll be sorry to stay here for only a few days.  I hope it quiets down soon out there, but expect it won't..........

Anyway -- a quick update to let you know all is well.

Buona notte!




In order to facilitate chronological traversal of these posts, here is a link to the next post.


.