In the Beautiful Valdichiana

The second part of our vacation started early on Saturday, August 2. I left our hotel before 6 a.m. to fetch John’s sister and brother–in-lawn at Rome's Leonardo da Vinci Airport. The streets of Rome were quite at that hour save for a few merchants already setting up their stalls in the Campo de' Fiori for the daily market. On the way back to central Rome I gave the new arrivals a short driving tour of some of the sites like the Colosseum and the Forum. We made a fast pit stop at our hotel and showed them the market in Campo. Then began our Tuscan sojourn.

We'd rented a brand-new Opel Zafira at Rome's train station and it performed very nicely. It had a diesel engine with a 6-speed manual transmission. There was no problem keeping up with the others on the autostrada at 140 km/h (87 mph), although you didn't get to stay in 6th gear very long before you had to downshift or or brake. It was pretty good about fuel consumption as well. This was important since the price of diesel fuel was about $8 per gallon.

Arriving at the Azienda Agricola Il Pantano (aka Family Reunion) brought back so many memories of our first time here in October 2002. Some of you know that John rented the place to celebrate his 40th birthday--a very memorable week for all involved. On the Pantano Winery they produce the glorious Vino Nobile de Montepulciano and olive oil, among other products. The owners also rent vacation houses around the vineyard to supplement their income. For the most part, Family Reunion hadn’t changed. The collection of three houses was the same (except now there was AC) and the pool was open to us because of the season. The blue Tuscan sky and air of calm had not changed. We had a few hours at the house to get settled, go grocery shopping and have a swim before anyone else arrived. We had an afternoon of calm.

Shortly after 6:00 p.m. the other guests started to arrive. By nightfall the place was buzzing with 21 people who had gathered from 3 countries. John and his sister cooked a meal for the entire crew. Some wine was consumed and plans were discussed over dinner. The week was off to a good start.

In the following days in between spending time by the pool, we made excursions to hill town after beautiful hill town in Tuscany and Umbria: Assisi, Orvieto, Pienza, Montalcino, Montepulciano, Torrita di Siena, Sinalunga, Foiano della Chiana, Lucignano, Monte San Savino, San Quirico d'Orcia, and the like. We even made a 60-mile trek over the mountains to the seaside at Grosseto. All this was accomplished under the watchful eye of “Gretchen,” our friendly GPS device. We also got invaluable advice from guidebooks and www.commandatore.com. Others in the group spent their days visiting the same towns as us or journeying to the larger cities like Pisa, Siena and Florence. John and I had decided before the trip that we would avoid the larger attractions on this visit.

By the time the following Saturday rolled around we were, as it said in my previous post, a Tuscan kind of tired. I mean, how much good wine, good food, sunshine and fellowship can one person take? It was time to head back to Rome for one night and then to London.

We arrived in Rome around four on Saturday afternoon, in plenty of time to return the car. I navigated the crazy Roman streets pretty well and soon we were parked in front of our hotel on the noisy Piazza Venezia. I left John to check in and get our bags upstairs to return the car to the train station. While we started to have a few misgivings as we entered the hotel, things really started getting bad when John opened the door to Room 210. It was tiny, steamy and smelled like a mix of cigarette smoke and disinfectant. The hotel advertised itself as fully air-conditioned, modern and with no smoking rooms. This room clearly was not one that was advertised. John decided to wait outside, in the relative cool of the afternoon sun. I knew something was amiss when I phoned John from the station to say I was on my way back to the hotel. "How's the room?," I asked. "I'll see you when you get here," was his response. Getting an indirect response from John is never a good sign.

When I arrived, I saw the state of the room and knew this was not where we wanted to spend our last night in Italy. I calmly called the Hotel Campo de' Fiori, secured a room (at a discount), marched down to the lobby, bags in hand, and denounced the room as unacceptable. The front desk agent was unmoved, but he did ask us to write in a complaint registry why we were unhappy. So I wrote my name, the date, Room 210 and complained that there was no AC as advertised, the room was dirty and the toilet plumbing really sub-par. As I looked at some of the earlier complaints on the same page, they were almost all about Room 210 and its myriad of problems! Obviously this is a room they try to pass off on the one-nighters. So I warn all readers of this blog: do not stay at the Hotel Piazza Venezia in Rome. Surely you'll be disappointed!

Returning to the Hotel Campo de' Fiori, we were greeted by Emanuel at the front desk. The room was cool and comforting. We decided to hit the Campo for a light drink and followed by dinner. The Campo has come to symbolize Rome to us in so many ways. It is warm, friendly and full of good food and wine.

On Sunday we managed to jam six bottles of wine into our luggage (we'd had gone from 2 pieces to 3) along with our clothes (including new underwear). We got to the airport in plenty of time to shop, get to the gate and relax. Did I say shop? Yes, I did. We had managed little or no shopping for 2 weeks except for some wine. Well, what did we buy in the airport? Italian wine, naturally, and some virgin olive oil. We took off and arrived two hours late; I don't think we will fly Alitalia again if it can be helped. London was cool and damp. Never has rain been so welcome!

Click here if you wish to see our photos from Tuscany and Umbria.

(Writing credit: John and Peter)