One Last Account About Tuscany

I have decided to post one last time about Tuscany and then move on to, hopefully, post at least once a week about the doings in our everyday lives.

This last day in my post about Italy was just so much fun that I wanted to share it before moving on.

Part of the package from The Hotel Prategiano was to include a horseback ride for Linda and a noonday picnic for the 4 of us at a predetermined beach site along a river about 20 miles from the Hotel. Linda left via horseback at about 8:00 Thursday morning while Christine, Bill and I lounged around the pool until 11:00 or so. We (Christine, Bill and I) loaded into a rickety old V.W. Van along with some other guests and traveled to the designated spot where the
horse backers would meet us. The stable girls and guides set up and prepared the food and a wood cooking fire with the help of the guests and all was ready when the trail riders arrived at the camp. It was a wonderful warm and pleasent day, just right for such an outing. After romping around in the river with the horses we settled in for a great lunch of cooked bore, cheese wine, pasta, fruit, salad and more wine.



After lunch, those who had signed up for a full days ride, saddled up and continued their trail ride. Linda and a few others had signed for only the morning ride, while others choose to ride only in the afternoon. The new riders took the mounts that the morning riders were leaving. The afternoon riders had come on the picnic bus, ("rickety old V.W. Van) and the morning riders, who were done for the day, came back to the hotel with the other non riders.



We took a nap upon our return to the rooms, and then met by the pool for a brief swim before our evening meeting for wine and cheese. What you may have heard about the local wines in the region is probably an understatement. Each evening we had a different wine from the local market in the little village near the hotel, and each evening we were just delighted with the taste of our purchase. None of the wines we had cost more than 2.50 Euros, (about $3.25 American) and were as full of flavor and joy as the most expensive wine we have ever had.

The first time we decided to sit in the evening and have wine and cheese, it was just Christine, Linda, Bill, and I. By weeks end we were sharing our evening treat with about 4 other guest which really made our "cocktail hour" special.

The rest of our days in Tuscany were delightful and spent doing the usual touristy things and sight seeing . We visited several cities in the area such as Pisa, Sienna, Volterra, San Gimignano, Lucca and Florence. We left much undone!

I wouldn't be surprised if, someday, we take this trip again.