As anticipated, Tuscany is a paradise.

I’m sorry but the many glories of Tuscany is likely to leave me a bit short on superlatives by the end of this post. Maybe I’ll download a thesaurus app…

Tuscany, one of the more well known regions of Italy is right in the middle of the boot and anchored by the beautiful city of Florence. Rolling green hills blanketed with olive orchards and vineyards make the landscape feel a bit sleepy. Nothing too dramatic to see here…

The countryside is home to countless little hamlets and hill towns characteristic of this region of Italy.

Here we enjoyed spending six nights at what is called an ‘Agriturismo’. Basically, a combo of a working farm and bed and breakfast. It’s a state sponsored type of business. I’m not quite sure how these little farm/B&B’s are subsidized. It seems that the people of Italy value these small family farms and want to help to keep the farms and the amazing agricultural products they produce around. The farmer gets to subsidize their income by hosting guests on their farm.

We also benefit since we got to stay on a real farm and quite enjoyed the peaceful landscape and gracious Tuscan hospitality.

The boys loved the pool…

This Agriturismo serves you Breakfast and Dinner. (Called full board!) At this point in our trip we’re growing uncomfortably dependent on the full board option. The chef at this place (Johnny) was quite skilled. We ate six straight nights of rustic Italian home cooking. 4 courses each night, soups, amazing salads, a hearty meaty main dish and usually a special unique dessert. Lidia and I were in heaven, per usual the boys made the best of it.

Here is our table on the terrace where we ate each night and also our friendly server Eligio getting the plates ready for all the guests dinner one night.

The first few nights we were the new table at the place. Most guests stay just a few nights, we tried to strike up conversations with some of the other folks. There was a large Italian family gathering sharing the terrace with us. They were celebrating one of the young women of the family graduating from police officer training academy. We met a couple from the town where we had just come from.

But the real fun began when some new folks arrived, an Italian family from Milano and an American family from Georgia. (Tho they are originally from South Africa) They brought with them….

KIDS! PLAYMATES FOR THE BOYS!!!

We wasted no time making introductions and getting the ice broken between the kiddos. We enjoyed talking to some new folks. Tracy, Mark and Tracy’s mom Trudy. Their kids were Isabella and Sophia. The fun Italian couple was Daniello and Marika. With their charming daughter Dalia and little toddler Emmanuelle.

The afternoons became like a kind of international summer camp, playing cards, doing art projects. The boys made friends in short order… the two American girls were ready to play as well. Rough and tumble and eager to just run around and swim. The younger Italian girl, Dalia was also along for all the fun. She didn’t speak very much English but followed the American kids around… plus you don’t need to really understand any language to play hide and seek!

At this point in our adventure we were ready for a quiet week… some down days, or ‘home days’ as the boys called them. We’d sit by the pool play games and watch all the kids run around.

On one rainy afternoon Daniello translated and we taught Dalia our new favorite travel card game, Kings and Cabbages. Daniello taught us a few card tricks… which Jonah will be happy to show you the next time he sees you.

Having new friends was a real blessing for our trip. We were and still are a little sick of each other at this point. Downtime has to be portioned out in bigger chunks. Alone time needs to be purposefully scheduled. We still enjoy the traveling and adventuring but the hours upon hours of family time is forming an icy crust like in an old tub of ice cream. You have to get thru the tasteless and annoying ice build up to enjoy the creamy treat below…

No sure if that metaphor works but i like it.

On two of our days we took a 20 minute train ride into Florence. Florence is a truly world class city. Beautiful old buildings, good sized but not huge, just a little busier than you’d like, and filled with an incredible array of amazing things to see… on our hit list (besides the city itself) was: Michaelangelo’s ‘David’, the Duomo (Church of Santa Maria Fiore) and The Galileo Science Museum.

The Duomo, as it’s called, is an enormous church. It comes complete with a matching Baptistry with famous doors and a bell tower. Here is shot of the interesting exterior of the Duomo. (Kraft boy holding a treat and a placemat in foreground)

The word ‘Duomo’ is also Italian for Dome. This particular dome has a significant place in history. After construction was finally completed it became the largest dome in the world. Surpassing the dome of the Hagia Sofia in Istanbul (where I’m writing this now!).

The church of Santa Maria Fiore took a couple hundred years to complete, started in 1296 and not completed until 1436. The original design called for such a grand dome that no one had the engineering mastery to construct it, seriously it seems they started a church with the faith that someone would figure out how to cap it… The city held a competition to see who would win the job to design and finally build a dome atop the unfinished church. Filippo Brunelleschi won the competition.

When you walk thru the streets of Florence you can feel the history and it’s not hard to imagine the excitement and prosperity of the time when the dome was built 500 years ago… Europe was coming out of the dark ages and Florence was the epicenter of this golden age of art, literature, science and discovery… the Renaissance. Michelangelo, Da Vinci, and other artists spent overlapping time in Florence. The patrons financing much of this enlightenment and artistic creation were the Medici. A wealthy family of bankers and rulers and I think at least one Pope.

Anyway, here is the Duomo and a few shots of the interior and view from the cuppolla.

Pictures of the Duomo and of the interior with us climbing up and down… the stairs curve with the curve of the dome

It’s hard to overstate what an impact to the feeling and overall identity this one church and dome has one the city. Everywhere you go you can see it peaking above rooftops. It’s a landmark and a touchstone. If you cross the river Arno and climb the hill you see it. The Duomo really kind of makes the city in my view.

Climbing to the top of the dome is a fun if not claustrophobic adventure. The view from the top:

And the crazy heaven and hell scene from the interior.

Now, onto the single most beautiful work of art I’ve ever laid my eyes on: Michelangelo’s statue of David.

It’s awe-inspiring. The amazing detail and size of the statue is just beyond words. It’s unbelievably carved from a single piece of marble and was originally supposed to be the topper for the Duomo. But when the people of Florence saw the David displayed at street level they demanded that it be down low where it could be properly appreciated. It sat outside for several hundred years before they built the David his own Museum where he now resides, much better displayed and protected.

Lidia and I visited here in 2015 and we were blown away. If i had to guess I think the boys might also have been impressed… tho too hot and tired to admit it.

So, If you’re considering going to Italy I’d put Florence near the top of your list of places to visit. Our stop after Florence was Rome which is also a wonderful but more muscular city with a different kind of charm. In Rome you need to know how to use the Metro, be ready for bigger and busier days. Florence is compact, feels more inviting and is a real gem.

Here are a few last pictures from our super nice stay at the Agriturismo.

So, We brought with us a small puzzle that my coworker Heidi gave to us. We took it down to dinner one night to entertain the boys. After a while everyone on the terrace wanted to try… eventually over the course of several days almost everyone solved this challenging little puzzle! Thanks Heidi! you’ll never know how many people this little game brought together!

The first couple to solve the puzzle, from Hong Kong

Dalia was very proud to solve it. As was a dad from Amsterdam.

Elliot and his best friend Eligio

We found this beetle on the way back to our room one night. And here is also the little game the boys made up using recycled ‘risk’ figures.

Elliot’s contribution to the sign collection… No Blue allowed.

Oh yes… forgot to mention, we stopped at the LToP on our way here.