Day 5, Florence Birthplace of The Renaissance

 Night 4, Continued.

After our wonderful diner at Dianella Vineyard, we boarded the coach and made our way to our next lodging.  Grand Hotel Tamerici E Principe in Montecatini.

Our room didn't look that nice.  We arrived after dark and had a hard time making our way to our room as the halls weren't lite..not sure what that was about.  But, a bad start.  We've opted for twins so they weren't together as in the hotel's picture.

Day 4, Continued Fattoria Dianella and Montecatini

You saw Ern and I just as we were observing the pretty hillside view of the vineyard in the previous post.  This was our Dine at Home experience.  Which means a local invites you to dine in the home...in this case her Mediciean villa.  Veronica welcomed us and told us a bit about her family, and the vineyard.

We had a tour where a member of her staff explained the process of making wine.

The types of grapes they use: Sangiovese, Colorino, Vermentino, Malvasia, and Sabernet Sauvignon.

Then we settled in to do some wine tasting and have a delicious meal, that seemed like it would never end.  One course after another paired with appropriate wines.  Fantastic meal, and lots of fun.

 Lots of folks having a good time.

In a beautiful setting, with good food and wine.

This group was paying attention!  This was an included item in our tour, not an optional pay extra item.

Can't take credit for this lovely photo, it's from their website.  We walked around outside for a few minutes, while some were in the wine cellar (yippee my hubby Ernie was) buying wine.

Wonderful photo of Veronica and her husband Francesco.  Also from their website.  Please take time and visit their page.  It's a B & B.  You can stay there, you can go taste wine, you take cooking classes there, and you can buy wine!!

This is me...excited as our case of wine from Dianella winery arrived yesterday!  We opened one last night at dinner.  Naturally we were having a pasta dinner!

Day 4, Medieval City Siena, Tuscany

Siena, depending on your route from Rome it's a 2.75 hours to 3.5 hours.  Day 4, our itinerary indicates we'll be traveling north to medieval Siena, and stroll through the winding stone-paved street to the vast Piazza del Camp, where the Palio takes place.

Ok, so far we are indeed winding our way you can see the cobblestone (sure played havoc with Vivien's wheelchair).  Up and down hills, and around and around and through.........be ware of traffic.  As you see it's tight.  Siena was named after Senius, the son of Remus.  You might remember Remus and Romulus are said to be the brothers that founded Rome.  You'll see lots of statues and emblems, a she-wolf who suckled Remus and Romulus.

Day 3 Continued, The Colosseum, Rome

Ernie did a decent selfie!  He walked up to the 2nd level of the Colosseum.  You need special tickets to go beyond that...it's almost a separate tour to go to the top.  It's my understanding you have to reserve well in advance and the tickets are hard to come by.  Our guide, Ziggy told us that. 

Day 3, Rome Continued, The Forum

 WOW!!  This was so much more than I anticipated.  Our "regular" tour day had ended.  But, optional #2 (Guided visit to Colosseum & Roman Forum) was still on for the day.  Cost 54.00 Euros (per person remember things on tours are per person costs).  Well, yeah, we were in Rome naturally we wanted to see The Colosseum and Forum.  We started first thing in the morning remember with walking tour, Vatican, Sistine Chapel, Bramante Stairs, Trevi Fountain and The Pantheon....but we signed up for this optional.  

 I would have enjoyed it more had it not all been the same day.  Really...lots of walking (more than I had been able to do since breaking my foot), and it was HOT!  But, we'd travel just under 6,000 miles I think the flight monitor said to get to Rome...........so.  Here were are.