Ciao Guys...Here is an email I just sent to Marshall Carr about his forthcoming
trip to Tuscany...If any of you are considering a holiday in the same area, I'd
be happy to help you with the planning including accommodations...Ciao bello...Donaldino
(Foot)
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Ciao Marshall...What a wonderful surprise to hear from you...and especially
to discuss your primo trip to Italy next month..! Yes...I'm a lover of Tuscany
after meeting an Italian family in 1994 who own a worldwide vino business, villa
and several tourist farms in Chianti Classico, half way between Florence and
Siena...
Here is my apartment on the top of one their farms on the left, called Pratale...the
villa in the back in the center of the photo is that of the Queen Beatrice of
Holland, and we have met her several times over the years since he and her
security must follow the same dirt road to their villa..!
I love the region so much, and your time of year there is perfect for many
reasons, similar to the reasons I go every September...wonderful weather, fewer
crowds, lovely sunsets and lighting...In fact, I have a friend who will be
staying at the apartment above the same time you and Nancy are there..!
Certainly Florence and Siena are a must to tour and take in the museums, cafes
and shops...especially Florence...very magical city..!
Other day trips should include Monteriggioni, a quaint walled city from Roman
times, just off S2 the highway between Florence and Siena...Close to there is
the beautiful city of San Gimignano, the 'Manhattan' of Tuscany, because of it's
many towers and a great place to shop for Tuscan things to take home to family
and friends...
Further west is another walled city from the Etruscan times, before the Romans,
called Volterra...If Nancy likes alabaster, she will love this city whose
inhabitants have been making some of the best works for centuries and the
restaurants overlooking the valley below are superb...
Also, to the southeast of Siena are the lovely towns of Montalcino, which makes
the best vino in all of Italy...and Montepulciano and Pienza, the perfect Tuscan
town developed centuries ago by the then Pope who wanted to make the perfect
little town that represented all that was good with Tuscany..!
These are my 'must see' choices...and there is nothing like relaxing where you
are staying and enjoying the little town close by...shopping for the freshest
food in the world...and cooking your own dinner...enjoying a wonderful Chianti
vino or two...while watching a glorious Tuscan sunset that inspired so many
Renaissance artist...You'll feel like you've gone back 400 years..!!!
As you can see, I enjoy travel photograghy...Don't forget your camera..!!! If I
can be of further help, please call on me...and enjoy your trip of a
lifetime..!!! There is only one thing bad about going to Italy...and it happens
everytime I go there...it's leaving..!!! I guarantee you that you will
want to go back again and again...
Ciao bello(a)...Donaldino
Me with the men of my Italian family friends from Tuscany...the Coli's
