Day 4 in Tuscany

 On our 4th day, we got up a little more slowly - we were tired! After breakfast, we checked out since it was time to head to our next accommodations in Florence. Before leaving, we enjoyed a wine tasting at the Mazzei winery. Castello di Fonterutoli where we were staying is the estate of the Mazzei family, so we wanted to learn more about the wines they make.

The first known document to refer to "Chianti" wine was written by a Mazzei family ancestor. In fact, one of those ancestors, Phillip Mazzei, was a friend of Thomas Jefferson, so the Mazzei estate has a connection to our American revolution. In fact, there is speculation that Jefferson's wording of "all men are created equal," is a paraphrase of Mazzei's own writing.

Jury was our tour guide. He was very engaging, and a musician! The winery is built over an underground limestone spring, and the cool waters are used to help cool the wine. We ordered several bottles and had them shipped to our home in the states, which turned out to be easier than we expected as Mazzei has an American distributor. Our favorites were 

From there, we took a short drive to Siena. There is a parking lot right next to the historic old city, and close by is an escalator that takes you up into the walled area. (Tip: There's also a decent bathroom in the bldg with the elevator. As with all public bathrooms, you have to pay to get in.)  The big central piazza in Siena, Il Campo, must be an amazing thing to see during the Palio - horse races that happen every year! When we were there, it was full of locals and tourists alike. It was lunchtime, so we found a place to eat right on the square. I had a sort of toast with radicchio, walnuts, and gorgonzola cheese. It was so good! 

Siena is unique in that the central building in the city is not the cathedral (which is still a very fine cathedral), but the city hall, Palazzo Pubblico. The city government has been run from this building from the late 13th century until today. Rick Steves says: "If it's true that a society builds its tallest towers to its greatest gods, then Siena worships secular effectiveness more than it trusts in God." 

After refueling, we toured the cathedral. It's a striking building made with stripes of white and green marble. Some of the greatest sculptors in history contributed works - Nicolas Pisano, Donatello, Michaelangelo. And then there are the paintings, the carvings, the stained glass, the floor mosaics - if you go, be sure to set aside enough time and energy for this place!

From Siena, we drove the car back to the rental agency in Florence. This turned out to be one of the more, uh...frustrating experiences we had. The route that our phones navigated for us included toll roads. We should have just gone that way, but we thought we'd outsmart it. We asked it to navigate a route without tolls. And then we set off...on the most convoluted possible route to our destination in what was probably rush hour traffic. With the exception of one moment when the instructions were telling us to turn the wrong way down a one-way street, we did finally make it back to the rental car office.

We took a taxi to our hotel, and discovered when we got there that the driver would have to drop us off at the end of the street because no cars were allowed on the street our hotel was on. Thank God for rolling suitcases! It wasn't far to walk to Hotel Accademia. The online pictures make this place look better than it is, and after our charming Tuscan village, our room felt a little disappointing. However, the bed was comfortable, the bathroom quite nice, the staff was friendly and helpful, breakfast was okay, and the location was outstanding for walking to the sights. For the money, it's a good choice if you don't mind your room being a little spartan. 

One of the "amusing" features of our room was the bathroom lighting. In what I imagine is an attempt to save money on electricity, the bathroom lights have a motion sensor. No, I don't mean that they turn on when you walk in. I mean they turn OFF 5 minutes after you walk in. So, there you are in the shower, and the room goes dark. Completely dark. There were no windows. We soon discovered that all you had to do was wave your hand outside of the shower, and the lights would come back on, but it made for a funny experience.

Trattoria Antellesi was right outside the door to our hotel, and that's where we settled in for some pasta and wine. The food was good, but seating was a little crowded, as it was in many places, we discovered. We were pretty tired, and there was more sightseeing on tap for the next day, so we headed up to sleep.