Cassata Primadonna Winery, Montalcino May 7

Today we visited a winery owned and operated by women, who until recently have had a very small role in the Italian wine industry. Cassata Primadonna makes the famous Brunello red wine, made from 100% Sangiovese grapes grown in the Orcia valley near Siena. The winery is part of a consortium of 200 or so wineries all producing different Brunello wines.

Here are some photos of our morning there.

May 6, Monteriggioni & Pienza cont'd.

May 6, Pienza

Had an early start today, and stopped first at the tiny hilltop walled village of Monteriggioni for a quick walkabout. The complete wall is still standing, and it took only about 5 minutes to walk from one end to the other. Our next stop was at a Benedictine Abbey where we walked down a steep roadway to get to a cloister decorated with 36 frescoes by Signorelli and another Italian painter whose name I can't recall. We had lunch there as well - homemade ravioli with cheese and spinach filling, a salad, and two slices of old and young local Pecorino cheese.

Our final stop was the charming hilltop town of Pienza, which will be home for the next 2-3 days in a lovely hotel. We wandered around the rather upscale town this afternoon, and enjoyed a wonderful dinner out this evening at a small restaurant. Raining heavily tonight, but maybe it will clear up for tomorrow. Will try to post some other photos in a separate entry.

May 5,Saturday, Florence

Lovely day again, in Florence. We did the Accademia museum and a walking tour of the city in the morning, then the Uffuzi in the afternoon. Great dinner tonight at our hotel in Pistoia. We are a very friendly and compatible group. Some scenes from our day in Florence. Tomorrow on to Pienza.

Lucca today - Friday

We walked and walked and walked today.....15,000 steps by my pedometer! Spent all day in Lucca until late afternoon. A very old, interesting town with a Roman amphitheater that has been converted to living space encircling a beautiful oval piazza. Many nice shops with lots of leather goods.

For dinner we rode up into the mts. North of Pistoia and had a delicious pizza dinner with
Prosecco -a sparkling white wine - and Ribilletto, a peasant soup with beans, bread, and vegetables. Back to the hotel and to bed very soon as we are tired and our wake up call is scheduled for 6:30 am. Florence all day tomorrow! Too tired to post any photos tonight.




Sent from my iPad.

3 May, Pistoia

Have had a wonderful day. Luca, our tour director, and Tiziano, our driver, met us at the Florence airport and drove to Pistoia, a major Tuscan city that makes train engines and specializes in plant nurseries. After a filling lunch at the Hotel Cappugi, where we are staying for the next 3 nights, Bryant and I took a walk into the modern part of the town. At 5 pm our group of 15 (9 from the US, 4 from Australia, and we two Canucks) boarded our small bus and then did a walking tour of the Centra Storico, or historical center of Pistoia, which dates from Etruscan and Roman times, but is basically a Medieval walled town.

After about an hour of free time - read shopping- we met for a welcome dinner at Osteria, a prize winning restaurant. You will see the steak with mushroom and caper sauce below. This course was preceded by cheese and artichoke tart, risotto with cheese and asparagus, and spelt and white bean soup, and followed by a light and tasty tiramisu. All this accompanied by white and red wine, with espresso for those who tolerate caffeine at 9:30 pm.

Tomorrow we are off to Lucca at 9 am. All is BETTER than well!

In Florence

Met successfully in Rome yesterday, in Florence hotel last night. WiFi is iffy.....all is well.

Sent from my iPad.