This text was graciously provided by my sister Renate. I will try to post each day of the trip over the next few days. I certainly hope you enjoy it. I know that we absolutely did.
On Sunday, March 22, 2009, after a short flight from Frankfurt we landed in Florence to bright spring sunshine. Our guide, Michelaangelo met us at the airport to drive us to the Villa Il Paradisino, where we would spend the next five days. Michelangelo is the Italian you want to meet -- cute, young, energetic, speaks good English and knows everything about everything in Tuscany. He would drive us around Tuscany in his roomy Fiat for the next five days. As an energy conscious Italian, his Fiat is a hybrid which uses methane and takes him 13 miles for 1€.
Day One - Sunday: Arrival at Villa Il Paradisino.
After a short drive, we arrived at the Villa Il Paradisino,a 14 acre oasis in the middle of a busy suburb of Florence. An electric gate opened and we drove on a short blue Iris lined driveway to the guest quarters. The guesthouse was right out of your favorite Italian movie. Built at the end of the 14th century, the house was beautifully restored with all of its ancient charms and all the modern conveniences including two roomy baths with great showers.
Our spacious common room was graced by a 14th century fireplace, tile floors and wooden ceilings. Antique furnishings as well as a comfortable couch completed a first impression of
what was to be our home for the next five days. Two spacious bedrooms and a small kitchen served us well for the hours we spent there.
A quick trip to the bathroom and we were off with Michelangelo for a tour of
the Mugello Valley, famous as the ancestral homeland of the Medici family and the cross roads between Bologna and Florence. The first stop was an abandoned village with a picture-perfect view of Trebbi
o, one of the many country fortresses of the Medici. The Medici family made their first fortune producing charcoal from the expansive hills and valleys of Trebbio. Later they founded the first bank in Florence and became the great patrons of the arts, which made Florence the birthplace and center of the Renaissance.
Today Trebbio is owned by a private family. Italy’s system of not taxing the property, which is also the primary residence of a family residence helps those who inherit the grand villas and castles or bought them years ago hold onto them.
We were starving by 6:00 but Italian restaurants don’t open for dinner until 7:30. We killed time touring our guide’s resident village, Scarperia. He showed us the 15th century house he is renovating and invited us for a glass of wine at his modest apartment. Wife Francesco was surprised but good humored about having three foreigners show up on her doorstep on Sunday night. Finally it was 7:30 and we set off for dinner. A very late Italian dinner of pasta, rabbit and salad completed our day, and we were grateful to fall into a deep sleep in our romantic villa.
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