We began our last day with a visit just across the street from La Contessina to see the 15th century Fulgino fresco of the last supper on the wall of former convent. No photos were allowed inside, but I found one on the internet to include. Since we had not been into the Duomo yet, we made a stop there and continued on to Oltrarno (that's the name for the other side of the river). Our walk around that area took us to the San Spirito piazza and after that we were free for the afternoon. A final gathering in the courtyard was fun as we recounted our adventures these last two weeks and talked about the upcoming early morning air flights on Friday. Bob and Joy from Greensboro were back in Florence and joined us. Dinner was once again "delizioso" at Nerone's and them some of us ended the evening at Gilli's and a nice evening walk back home. Wake up calls were set and the 4:30 a.m. taxis were booked for Friday morning as we all said our goodbyes and "arrividerci Firenze"! That's it for this group, but others arrvive on Saturday! More later . . .Ciao!
I HAVE SET UP A NEW PHOTOBLOG SITE FOR THE 2014 TOURS. YOU CAN STILL SEE PHOTOS FROM 2008 TO 2013 HERE. TO VIEW THE LATEST TOURS GO TO: WWW.INTUSCANYWITHPATRIZIA.BLOGSPOT.COM
"Vino in Collini di Chianti" Wine in the Hills of Chianti - Sept. 28
There are many photos today as we visited two wonderful places - the World War II American Cemetery and the Verrazzano wine estate. Over 4000 American soldiers are buried in a lovely setting along the Greve River just eight miles outside Florence. The peaceful surroundings and many white crosses made this stop on our afternoon journey a heartfelt one. After a quick snack of a local cake with fresh grapes we continued to the Castello Verrazzano winery. This is the ancestrial home of Giovanni Verrazzao who is the same Italian explorer who first sailed into the mouth of the Cape Fear River at Southport in 1524. His discoveries along the East coast also included what is now known as Hudson Bay in New York and a major bridge in NYC has his name. It was interesting to have this connections since we have Carolinians and New Yorkers in this group. It was a beautiful setting and we had a great time tasting some of the wines produced there. From the winery we traveled on a few miles to the little town of Greve which is considered the heart of the Chianti area. You will see from the pictures what a good time was had by all on our Wednesday adventure. Enjoy! More later . . .Ciao!