August 26th 2022, Friday
Woke up and got ready to go to take mom and dad to the main church, the Duomo for morning mass.
Saw this little packet hanging on our door
A cute little handwritten note from the hotel we were staying at along with a Tuscan delicacy, some cookies. We were touched by this kind gesture.
Anyway, dropped mom and dad in church and then settled down in this cafe, Scuderia near Antonino.
Mom and dad were inside attending the 8:30 am mass...
While me and Nam, ate croissant and had the cold coffee that churns away in a corner...
The crema coffee...
After mass we walked back to our rooms, saw another church (church 40) on the way...
Reached the hotel we re staying at...
Settled in for the complementary breakfast
Croissants are sweet in Italy... I prefer the non-sweet French ones.
This is my plate with all the fruits...
The nice little hotel in Firenze. We then explored the leather market right outdoors, Vinod bought a jacket. Mom a couple of purses. I went in search of Libreria Gozzini and it was closed again... sigh.
We went to our rooms, packed and wrote some nice stuff on a wishing tree placed at the hotel lobby. We walked to the train station, but couldn't find the car rental place, so called them and it was a little away from the station. So Nam and Vinod went to pick up the car and fill a few forms while me, mom and dad sat in a café and drank coffee.
They returned after an hour, we loaded the luggage in the car and headed straight to Pisa.
It took an hour to reach Pisa... and we came across these windmills on the way that reminded me of home.
Here we are at the leaning tower of Pisa
The typical Pisa picture
It was quite hot in Pisa, mom and dad picked up these hats that they were selling outside
We just walked around, took pictures, bought stuff and came out cause we did not want to pay to enter the church. I later learned that there is a small side door open to pray, so you go in without paying, pray and leave.
Then drove to a place for lunch
Nice façade
This is where we had lunch
Simple fare, sandwiches which were good enough
Everyone selected what sandwich they wanted,
And the guy patiently prepared them.
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Then we hit the road again to stay in a farmhouse near Sienna
The lone chapel in the distance
Tuscan countryside
Country roads
We reached the rustic farmhouse, which was quite remote... my family were like, how on earth did you find this place. But I knew we had to stay in the countryside once to experience the Tuscan landscape. Firenze is too crowded and so is Rome, this was the only calm and unassuming village near Sienna that stood out and made us feel one with nature on this Italy trip.
Charming place, the friendly and affable hostess came running to meet us. She showed us around the nice old cottage with a fireplace, cute furniture, big backyard and fig trees laden with ripe fruits that we could just pluck and eat.
Mom and dad slept here
Nam and me shared the double bed, and my brother had the other bed
Cute figurines around
Right outside our doorstep
Mom at the entrance of our airbnb cottage
Nam, Vinod and me then went to the village nearby to get something to eat
The quiet village at night... picked up our pizzas here.
Nam took this picture while we were waiting for our pizzas
Came back to the farm to eat them... Pepperoni pizza
These were pretty good
Antique furniture in the cottage
Ate and then walked around the farm
Looks incredibly beautiful at night too
the sprawling backyard
Many other guests were staying in the cottages nearby
My sister inside the cottage
Rustic and romantic feel to this place... the slow life, away from the city. Felt incredibly alive to just walk around at night and feel the slight nip in the air.
The farm we were staying at raised pigs and the owners make their own beer... which explains the image on the bottle.
They had wine for sale too
We plucked a few figs from the tree outside our door and savoured the fresh taste. Fresh food right off the tree feels like a big gentle hug that never lets you go. It was a beautiful day, driving around the Tuscan countryside and exploring the farmhouse in the middle of nowhere.
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