An entry in the TFS Travel Journal
Final breakfast in the oh-so-beautiful grand dining room. Really felt like we’d gained some familiarity here, especially after running into Cousin Marilyn again and seeing Jeff and Paula, our favorite honeymooners.
Had to then rush along to get to the 10:50 ferry to Verenna, which, fortunately, was operational today. Set off for the longest drive of this trip, and the first part was the worst! One lane of traffic for endless km, passing through remarkably uninteresting scenery; suffice to say, dreary, dumpy towns look the same all around the world. (It’s just that they look much better when you see them at 120km/hr., not 50!)
We finally got onto the Autostrada and cruised along at 140km until reaching Cremona, a recommended town in the Lombardy region, and the violin capital of the world, being the birthplace and home of Antonio Stradivari. As it was between 12:30 and 15:30, the town was pretty deserted, but we parked and prepared to eat the picnic (or “packet” as they called it) lunch the Serbelloni had prepared for us. Luckily, we scouted around and moved the car next to the park in the center of town, rather than lunching in the smaller piazza with the homeless guys sleeping on some of the benches as we thought we’d do before finding the nice park.
Enjoyed our lunch — some cold meats, good chicken, veal millanaise, and some cheese and bread — on a park bench with numerous Cremonians relaxing on the many other benches. We were going to throw out the cookies we’d bought a few days ago but didn’t like (they were still good, though), but Wendy conquered the language barrier and instead gave them to some loud old men who were cavorting on a nearby bench. We then walked around the nice, small town (though everything was closed), saw their duomo and the bell tower - one of the highest in the country, and window shopped in some impressive candy stores, nougat being a noted specialty of the region. Also saw some clothing stores which showed the Italians have a top-notch sense of style, in stark contrast to the shops we were used to in Scandanavia! We did manage to find some gelato — coconut and chocolate — which was definitely the best so far.
Then back in the Lancia. All highway driving, but tedious nonetheless. Some amusing entertainment, though, from the myriad radio stations; never knew there were so many Italian songs and artists! Stopped to get gas ($60 +/tank) and found some much better cookies. As we entered Tuscany, about 50km north of Firenze, we left behind the flat, yellow plains and entered the famed rolling green hills. The road then became more twisty and winding than any interstate highway we’d ever seen, but traffic still zipped right along, Italian style.
Navigated the convoluted directions to finally (after about 6 hours of Milton driving) reach the Fontodi winery and check in, where we received our complimentary bottles of Fontodi Chianti Classico and Meriggio. The villa, along with two others, is a km or so from the winery, but is on the estate amongst the vineyards and is set high on a hill overlooking a broad valley of vineyards, olive groves, small towns and large villas. As we parked and were given the tour by Sammie Daniels, the American ex-patriot overseer/administrator/decorator of the villas, we were greeted by a most spectacular sunset of oranges and purples over the long green ridge. This is definitely the place to make one want to move, or possibly never leave! (and don’t think we’re not thinking about that!) Our villa is quite nice, with a small backyard, two bedrooms and much brick and wood inside (but more about how beautiful and idyllic it all is later, after we’ve absorbed it all).
We settled in for the night to plan out our six days here, making many reservations, reading all material and doing laundry in their never-ending washing machine, then hanging it all on the standina — a folding drying rack, since there’s no dryer.