The hills are alive with the sounds of ... which way now?



This could have been us!

Fine white road dust, the consistency of sifted flour, settles in thick drifts on our little rental car. Turning on the wipers and spraying the windshield with water creates a sticky grey muck. Nice!  We are stopped at the crest of a hill, waiting to see which way the lead car in our two-car caravan is going to turn next.



Reverse!  The road ends at a stream in a farmer's field.  Our wee little rentals cars are not designed for fording creeks.  Three grimacing scarecrows beside the road resemble lost tourists – thin and tattered, desiccated from a lack of food, and wine.  We are in the Chianti wine region in Tuscany Italy, searching for our rental house.



Retracing our route, we make one more attempt to decipher the directions, and we find it - Villa della Vista (house with a view) in the Le Bagnaie estate.  And what a view; lush vineyards, impressive hilltop estates, olive groves, and a distant view of San Gimignano the beautiful medieval city that we visited a few days ago. 



We haven't travelled very far from our previous rental house in Alberi Italy, merely moving a bit east into the Chianti wine district.  There are gorgeous villages and stunning stone fortresses - that were once strategic in the battles between the armies of Siena and Florence - perched on every summit.  And of course, the famous Chianti wines crafted out of Sangiovese grapes.  They are delicious wines, not the cheap basket-covered-bottle-converted-to-a-candle-holder-wines, so popular in Italian-style restaurants in the 1970’s. 

 After settling into the house we drove a few kilometers to the closest hilltop town to re-provision our supplies. Castellina di Chianti is an ancient little town dating back twenty-eight centuries. Gone are the armies of old. It now features wine shops, good restaurants, a butcher store, a wi-fi café, and a small grocery store. We are able to find most things, except peanut butter!

Our plan is to explore the surrounding areas, eat lunch in one of the many interesting nearby towns, and have dinners at our rental house so that we can relax and enjoy the sunsets with a glass or two of wine. 

 

The weather is hot, dry, and sunny, very similar to the summer weather of the Okanagan Valley in Canada where we lived for twenty-something years.

It's a gorgeous area.  The only downside being the abundance of narrow dusty roads that wind through the hills; fine white limestone dust smothers buildings, vineyards and cars.  The dust sifts under door sills, and through windows.  It will probably find its way into our suitcases for the return flight home.  A souvenir of Tuscany!

 Looking back through the guest book of Villa della Vista, I saw a note addressed to the owners that made me smile; "Per favore!  We were very lost.  Please revisit your directions and distances for turning." 

Ah, we weren't the only disoriented guests – lost in the hills of Tuscany.