Yesterday was a high pressure day that started out with our last breakfast at Pasticceria Carratura before catching the Frecciarossa, the fast train to Florence. The speed got up to 299 kph which meant we travelled that distance in less than three hours. We were in the Silent Car which was a bonus.
We had our usual challenging time finding the car rental place. Despite having done it several times before, having done the Google Earth walk and having written instructions, we still took 35 minutes in extreme temperature for a 10 minute walk. Rental cars are at a premium due to the pandemic and lack of fleet maintenance so we were relieved when we were handed the keys to an Opel Corsa at Green Motion. Almost all rentals in Europe are manual which is just another little challenge to add to driving on the 'wrong' side of the road.
We arrived at Il Sorbeto in Impruneta, about 20 minutes from Florence, at 4.15. My nerves were shredded and I had a huge headache but we received a warm welcome to this beautiful property. Three weeks here, on the edge of the Chianti region, should be a good counter balance after eight days in Naples.
All that you see in the photo, upstairs and down, is part of our property. The rooms are huge and beautifully decorated with antique Tuscan pieces of furniture and artifacts. The kitchen is very well equipped and has a Carrara marble double sink. The floors are all terracotta tiles, the ceilings all beams.
The owners live in a larger house attached to the rear of ours and there is another smaller rental around to the left. It is not occupied. We were told that part of this building was the horse stables.
The garden which would be very attractive has suffered as they have not had any rain for over three months. Water cannot be wasted on pots which were so joyously planted back in April.
The view is magic and extends almost 360 degrees.
Once unpacked and we had put a big load of washing in, we headed into town to do some grocery shopping. There is a lot of pleasure food shopping in Italy, especially for us, as we are able to get things we love but can't buy in Australia. Only one slip up in our buying - a bottle of laundry detergent turned out to be laundry bleach for putting in the washing machine! It reminded me of a shopping funny with Glenys McI many years ago. We were looking for food to barbecue and selected a packet with a name we did not know. All was well though because the mystery parcel turned out to be turkey.
Our evening meal was enjoyed outside once the shade reached the table on our terrazza. Then it was very early to bed, that headache still pounding away.
No energy for blogging.
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