And so we arrived at Karma Borgo di Colleoli.  “The Borgo” is a sprawling, luxury Tuscan manor set amid the rolling green hills, vineyards, and olive groves of the Tuscan countryside. We were upgraded from a unique room within the 500-year-old thick stone walls where the villa’s olive oil was extracted, to a luxury suite on the top floor of the villa’s main house, complete with a large fruit basket.  Welcomed with a wine and cheese party, the cicadas announced the twilight as darkness encircled our new home for a week.  We loved to walk the back roads and get lost in vineyards where the grapes were begging to be harvested.  We dreamt of the wine that would be made from squeezing the liquid sunlight out of this bountiful harvest.  We were met with many surprised smiles as we wandered across chicken filled farmyards, happened on deserted grave yards or explored old stone villages clustered on the hilltops.

One day a new friend Dee, and I, walked the 4 kms. to the closest village nearby, Pianni.  After having lunch in a quaint restaurant in the surrounding countryside we looked for the pot of gold in the middle of every Italian village, town or city: the gelato shop. Narrow alleyways led to the prize but as we chose our favorite flavor (always a couple vegan options) thunder began rumbling in the distance.  Still far from ‘the Borgo’ we got a bit concerned when lightning started flashing and huge drops turned the narrow road into a polka dot lane. Just as the Tuscan heavens opened up a small utility truck boasting the best plumbing service in the area drove by.  Much to Dee’s shock I waived him down and asked for a ride back.  He shoved his tools over and soon we were bumping along, laughing and smiling as the rain danced with the small windshield wipers.

With the long September daylight hours Joseph and I loved to go for a long walk after dinner.  The setting sun cast a warm fiery glow on the surrounding countryside.  Next door was Fattoria di Colleoli olive groves and oil tasting.  The countryside was dotted with quaint little churches and cafes touting the finest this or that in all of Tuscany.  Of this we had no doubt.

Andrea Bocelli is an Italian opera tenor and multi-instrumentalist. He was diagnosed with congenital glaucoma at 5 months old, and became completely blind at age 12, following a football accident.  Every summer Andrea Bocelli, Italy’s famous tenor gives a very special performance in his hometown of Lajatico, Tuscany at the Teatro del Silenzio (Theater of Silence), an amphitheater built especially for his concerts.  When the concert is finished the amphitheater is flooded with water and becomes a lake, with only the stage floating in the center, accented with unique sculptures. The setting of the open air theatre against the backdrop of the Tuscan hills makes this once a year concert a sought after experience on many bucket lists.   We had hoped to attend this memorable event until we found out that the price for a ticket and transfer started at 1400 Euros per person.  3000 Euros could buy a lot of music.  Maybe next trip!??

Venturing by train to the idyllic Tuscan town of Siena we were engulfed in the rich history and charm of this medieval walled city.  Our little apartment, where old collided with new, boasted massive stone walls from the 14th century but was impressively redecorated to include space age technology that baffled even our computer literate minds. I had to seek out the help of a neighbor to figure out how to use more than one burner on the stove at a time.  Clearly these smart devices were smarter than I was, especially when all instructions were in Italian.

We wandered the narrow ancient streets in search of another prize to be counted on in Italian cities: the pizzeria or small bakery with sinful smells wafting out onto the cobblestone streets. With vegan options we succumbed regularly as the errant smells cast their spell on us.  When you awoke from the trance there were crumbs on your shirt, missing time, and a halo of pizza sauce encircling your mouth! ‘Am I in heaven or in Italy’?  At this rate our jeans will definitely have the stereotypical ’muffin top’ after 4 months in Italy.  

We happened on to one of the most flavorful and ingenious health food stores to date.  A medieval brick manor was brimming with organic delights from only the region.  The winding stairways and halls led to none other than a well-stocked Deli and a takeout pizzeria and café that rivaled the best Italian restaurant one could find in the Universe, for a fraction of the price. Once a power in its own right, Siena also offers visitors breath taking medieval architecture and between snacking we enjoyed the cathedral Duomo di Siena, the Piazza del Campo, and the Gothic era town hall.

A train, then minivan found us wandering the maze of streets in the old town of Lucca.  A normal tour of this ancient walled city took a bizarre turn when entering through the gates.  Amidst the rain we encountered comic and game characters at every turn.  Fantastic, well done costumes portrayed the favorite character of the attendees of this once a year convention, 2nd largest in the world.  We didn’t have to walk the back alleys imagining what or who had wandered these streets before us, we actually were transported at every turn into a scene of fantasy to the ‘nth’ degree.  Seeking refuge from the rain in a gilded cathedral we found peace and clarity; only to turn around and see Dracula sitting behind us!  What a trip!

A minivan to Pisa (not Pizza) revealed the iconic leaning tower.  The skies cleared but luckily so had the crowds and we enjoyed our time soaking in the history.  Pisa was under Roman rule, but survived the collapse of the Roman Empire to remain the principal urban center of Tuscany. From 1509 until the unification of Italy in 1860, Pisa was a part of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and was under Medici rule for most of this time. 

The Leaning tower of Pisa was actually the result of a human mistake. Just one little miscalculation made in the 11th century left Pisa with an amazing 14,500 ton leaning tower!  The construction of the Tower began in 1173. Originally designed to be a bell tower, it stood upright for over 5 years, but when the third floor was completed in 1178 it began to lean.

The foundation of the tower, which is only 3-meters deep, was built on a dense clay mixture. The clay was not strong enough to hold the tower upright.  Construction work stopped for 100 years. The government decided to focus on its war with Genoa and hope that the soil would settle in the meantime. A century later engineer Giovanni di Simone stepped forward and started to add more floors to the tower. He tried to compensate for the original lean by making one side of the upper floors taller than the other. This only caused the tower to lean over even more…

Unconcerned by the leaning, they added a 7th floor in the second part of the 14th century, as well as a bell tower, and then the tower was left on its own until the 19th century. By a mere stroke of luck, the tower survived WWII. As a temporary measure engineers and architects installed a leaden counterweight of 800 tons and today it is safe to stand and ponder history in the shade of this famous collaboration of errors.