Ciao!

Arrived in Tuscany today! After a long flight from NY, a quick stop over in Paris-- Vin polished off every bite of the food that Air France offered up (I think the fresh baked hot croissants were the best part...the entire plane smelled like toasty, buttery croissants!)--we finally landed in Florence. The descent was amazing! Green hills and rolling clouds for as far as we could see. I knew Tuscany would be beautiful, but this was beyond anything we had expected. Flying right by Brunaleschi's duomo was the perfect way to end our long journey over the ocean! 

Florence airport is very small. I think our favorite part was their high tech security measure they had in place to check baggage leaving the airport: a petite and enthusiastic female yellow lab puppy. She was diligently doing her job sniffing everyone's bags as her handler--a uniformed officer--casually instructed her in Italian. Vin and I preferred this security system to the full body scanners that we use here! :) 

After picking up our mint condition brand new white Audi A6 Quatro rental car (the Italians seem to love us for some reason so far!) we ventured onto the Autostrada, south to Chianti. It's magical--breaking the scales in charm and beauty! It was sunny and brisk when we arrived. The people have been incredibly nice and so welcoming and hospitable. Daniele, our host at the Podere is so eager to help us with every detail of our trip! Our two-story villa that we have here (2 bedrooms/3 bathrooms) is perfection. 

We had dinner in Tavarnelle at LaVecchia Piazza. We tried the salads, pizza and penne with pesto. Vince's first real italian dinner was a success! Light drizzle tonight! More tomorrow! Buona Serra!