On Thursday morning we woke up to a good morning text from Marta with a little ‘Happy Thanksgiving’ graphic text and a reminder that we were all meeting about 30 minutes from the farm at a small little town on the way in front of a Train Station. It was a VERY misty and foggy morning.
Journey to Torrita Di Siena
As I had done many times during the trip, I plugged the address into WAZE GPS and fully expected to arrive at the train station in Torrita Di Siena by 9AM. Marta’s text said to leave the farm by 8:15-8:20 to get there on time. I appreciate how they help you by padding extra time in there for you to get lost, just in case!
We headed out in the fog with the lights on and drove slowly and were making all the right turns and arrived exactly where the GPS told us the train station was, only it wasn’t the train station. We were thinking, hmm, is this it? Are we the first to arrive? Maybe? We are looking around when Roy rolls up as his GPS had led them there also. I replug the destination back into another GPS program as WAZE didn’t know this spot as it led us both here. It said we were 6 minutes away, we still had some time before 9am, so no problem. Roy said, ‘I’ll follow you.”
We get going again in this route that looked like a loop and then the GPS told us to go down this narrow dirt road. That should always be your first sign to rethink things. So we are driving down this dirt road that is getting narrower and narrower, like Alice in Wonderland, when the GPS tells us to make a left. Only the left was onto what looked like a foot bridge with rails on both sides. I was half thinking, can I squeeze on that? I looked at Carla and we both started laughing and we decided, no way. We were going to need to turn around. I pulled a little further up the road and talked with Roy and he said, “I’ll continue to follow you.’
We head back out of the dirt road and on to the main road, knowing we are within the vicinity of the train station, but wondering why a train station is so hard to get to. My GPS is telling me to go right and Roy is behind me honking telling me to go left, so I go left, hoping the GPS will redirect me again. The GPS swirls around a bit on the phone and finds a new route from this direction. We pull up to this ‘light’ on a two-way road. Carla says, ‘What is that?’ It looked like it had been rolled out all temporary as a light as it was on wheels. We both started laughing again. I guess they were doing road-work and needed a way to close directions on this two-lane highway to let alternate directions pass with the lights. We finally roll up to actual train tracks with another shady looking light, but fortunately there is a little ‘local’ car in front of us who I am trusting, ‘knows the ropes’ as we sat at this red light. The GPS looked like it was telling us to make a right onto the actual train tracks, but we followed the little local car and could see there was a tiny road right beside the tracks after you crossed the rail road tracks that led us right to the train station.
As we were rolling in to the train station area, we could see faithful Marta and Carlotta on the streets waiving in lost guests to the parking lot. Very few found it here without getting lost on this day. To the ones that did and are reading this blog – cheers to you! I give you the ‘GPS in Italy Master’ Award.
We were meeting here to park and get a coffee, that sounded really good right about now. We parked and saw others rolling into the parking lot about now as well. We walked into the coffee shop to see about half of our group ‘the GPS in Italy Masters’ already sipping their coffees. Either that or they left before us! Ha, ha. It is great, because our group never gave each other a hard time about getting lost, because it had happened to all of us and when your turn was up, your turn was up to get lost or make a few wrong turns.
The coffee shop/baker had the most amazing display of sweets I had ever seen. Having been off sugar for several months now, but having dipped in a few times on this trip, I knew this would be Keto suicide to even try any of these sweets now. Also this was Thanksgiving Day and the plan was to fast all day to have an appetite for the feast they were preparing for us to eat that evening. I had tasted the culinary talents of the chef Gian Carlo last year, so I knew to save my appetite. We ordered two coffees and stood around and sipped them catching up with the others as we all warmed up inside the coffee shop/bakery. After about 20 minutes, Carlotta and Marta signaled it was time for us to head off towards Cortona.
Visit to a Monastery
We were going to caravan with all of our cars and Carlotta and Marta in the lead in Marta’s car. This drive took us on main highways and it seemed a lot easier. Carla and I kept wondering, why didn’t we just meet in Cortona? Once we arrived at our first stop, I understood why. They were taking us to a place just outside of Cortona at the Eremo delle Celle where St. Francis founded this hermitage in 1211. It probably would have been hard to all find the little parking area where they wanted us. This place was also in the mountains and the higher we climbed up the road, the more we came out of the mist and fog to see a breathtaking location.
We all parked and headed up to the hermitage where a full-on monk met us at the door. The kind you imagine in that long brown robe, with a rope around the waist. The surroundings were truly breathtaking with a river flowing alongside the location. It was so peaceful here and you could see it as a place where these monks, who wanted to live a life of contemplation, could find quiet and solitude here. They had arranged in advance for the monk to give us a tour.
He led us into a small little ‘chapel’ I think, and gave us the history of the place as translated through Carlotta. I got lost on a lot of the details and kept focusing on the running shoes and khaki pants I could see peeking out from under the bottom of the monk’s robe. I was wondering if this was a modern monk and after we all leave, does he go for a run or hang out in his khaki pants and a flannel shirt. All questions I had on my mind as he explained the life of peasant and St. Francis in these hermit cottages. We also got to see the cell where St. Francis spent most of his time near the end of his life. He was probably a small man as it was very tiny.
The monk led us into the worship room that I thought was cool and we formed a circle where the choir would offer up worship songs and then alternate with silence, in response. He explained this to us as there was no actual choir in there at the time. I really was captivated by the painting on the wall that showed Mary and Joseph as new parents to Jesus when he is a toddler. The painting also depicts his cousin John the Baptist, who looks like he is 3-4 pointing at Jesus. This represents the Divine given knowledge John was given to know and point to Jesus as the savior when he leapt in his mother’s womb when Mary first came to visit Elizabeth when she was 3 months pregnant. I thought it was fascinating to see a depiction of the toddler Jesus with Mary’s protective arm around him. He is looking at a scroll in the painting also, but he is too young to read, the monk said this represents the fact that he is the Word of God.
Near the end of the tour, the monk asked if anyone knew the prayer of Mary. John and Lynnette raised their hands and Lynnette said, ‘The girls better be raising their hands as well, we sent them to Catholic school!’ Ha, ha. Regardless, the monk points to Lynnette and asks her to recite the prayer so he can repeat it in English for the group. It was so funny, she panicked and forgot everything but the first couple of phrases. She was beating herself up about it and walking away saying, ‘I really DO know it.’ I told her, I believed her and that it really didn’t matter, we appreciated her raising her hand. As the days passed, Lynnette and her family had really captured a place in our hearts. Each one of them so very precious and full of goodness and warmth. One of my favorite moments of the trip the day before was when it was cold and we were at the olive oil place and Lynnette looked down and could see socks on my feet as I had ‘no show’ socks with my walking shoes. She said, ‘OMG, did you forget your socks! Do you forget to bring them? You need socks, it is too cold. I brought plenty, I would be happy to loan some to you.’ She said this in all sincerity. I laughed and said, ‘No, I ‘m good! I have socks on, they are called ‘no shows’ and she said, ‘Ohhhh.’ But that is Lynnette and her husband Tom, they would give you the shirt off their back or in this case, the socks out of their suitcase, if you needed them.
After the tour of the monastery, we headed back to the parking lot, to head to Cortona. We were all packed in tight there and I was up against a stone wall that I didn’t realize actually curved in right in front of my right bumper. As I pulled forward to give someone else more room on my left, I could hear ‘crunch.’ I was up against something on my right bumper. I pulled back thinking I cleared it to turn and heard crunch again. Both Carla and I look at each other and start laughing, and she says, ‘I can’t believe you just did that twice.’ I was just hoping I hadn’t damaged the ‘prestigious’ car. And turns out I didn’t damage it, there were no marks on the bumper. Happy for bumpers. Carlotta could see it was tight and helped me maneuver around the outlet in the stones, then she hopped in and drove with us to Cortona.
We were the lead car now in the Caravan and she had to remind me a few times to slow down so I didn’t lose the others. I told her my nickname back home was ‘grandma’ so it was surprising to hear anyone tell me I was driving too fast. She said, ‘What? No, you are not a grandMA driver.’ We all laughed. When I quote the Italians speaking English it is hard to really express how cute they sound in their emphasis and expression of English words. But this was another moment where the expression was so endearing.
She led us to a parking lot in Cortona where we all met – it was below the hill town. We crossed the street and amazingly, it revealed 2 sets of escalators to take us to the base of the hill town. I had never seen this in any other town. It made me wonder if the success of the movie, Under the Tuscan Sun, highlighting Cortona, brought enough extra cash into the town for them to do escalator upgrades. As thankful as I was to not have to make the climb, I wasn’t sure how I felt about seeing modern escalators in Italy near a hill town. I hoped this wouldn’t catch on as it is a display of modern life that seems out of context in a country that has done so well to preserve the past and give you the feeling that you have landed back in time.
Balsamic Vinegar Tasting in Cortona
We headed over to a place called Enoteca Molesini in the city center of Cortona for a vinegar tasting. Twelve of us did the tasting and squeezed around this small table. A man named, Marco, introduced himself as the owner and would lead us through the tasting. He had the same opening we had heard many times, ‘This place has been in my family for 3-4 generations, etc.’ He travels all over the world, including the U.S.A. as a balsamic taster. I didn’t know this was a thing, but I guess for a 4th generation Italian man who owns an Enoteca, it is.
He had four bottles in front of him ranging from $25 Euro a bottle to $150 Euro a bottle and we would do a tasting. He described the world of balsamic to Italians and basically said ‘A salad is the very END of how we use balsamic. There are so man other uses, and we really don’t add it to salad. You do because your olive oil is terrible.’ He was actually very snobby, but funny. You really couldn’t take his insults too seriously and you weren’t offended when he would say things like that. I found him very amusing in his passion for balsamic vinegar and explaining how it is made and what you look for in taste.
As he took us through the different levels of balsamic, I can’t say that I tasted one that I really liked, nor did Carla. Maybe my taste buds are too accustomed to my Trader Joe’s (Trader Giotto) balsamic glaze variety. He did explain all of the ways they use balsamic – in ice cream, on a banana, a few drops on your steak before you grill it. It did open up my mind to the possibilities, and the fact that only a few drops of really good balsamic vinegar is all you need to enhance taste. Maybe that was the issue in the tasting as it all felt too strong for me, perhaps there wasn’t enough complexity to the parmesan cheese they gave us for dipping or my pinky finger (also used in the tasting).
When it was over, a few folks went to the counter to sign up to send balsamic home. Not me, I was going to stick with my Trader Giotto variety and maybe explore others after I got home. Certainly nothing I tasted felt like it was worth the cost of shipping.
After the tasting, we walked around Cortona for a bit, another medieval hill town to explore. It was the time of siesta so the majority of shops were closed, but we did find a few open and made a few purchases. We also saw a bride and a groom coming down the church steps. I don’t think it was their wedding day, but perhaps their shoot before or after their big day. It was around 2pm and we decided to stop for a coffee on our way out-of-town and before the about 45-minute drive back to the farm. It was fun to stand there, as they do in Italy, and enjoy your cappuccino and the warmth in the cup before we walked back down to the car. We decided to head back and rest before the big dinner that evening. I had some blogging I wanted to do and an afternoon fire and a nap sounded good to Carla.
A Thanksgiving Dinner to Remember
The Thanksgiving Dinner was scheduled for 7:30pm at Hotel Rotelle, about a 20-minute drive away. The journey out there was again slow as the morning fog had returned making visibility challenging on winding country roads. The trick was to go slow and in my mind, I was thinking, ‘Hmm, I need to limit my wine tonight as I need to be sharp for the drive back to the farm.’
We arrived a little early and waiting in the lobby while the finished preparing the room for our arrival. We could see the room through the windows – it was a grand room with a long table all set for all of the guests who would be there tonight from our group. For anyone that has prepared a Thanksgiving dinner or been involved with the clean-up afterwards, seeing something all prepared for you in advance and knowing you wouldn’t be on clean-up detail afterwards was a gift in itself.
It was fun to see everyone arriving in their ‘best outfit’ they had packed and saved for this night. I give Debbie and Vicki two of the best dressed awards from our group as the both showed up in dresses. The rest of us all looked nice in sweaters, but they stood out to me with their ensembles for the evening.
After we were led into the room, the Morriciani family arrived and by family, I mean all of them. Carlo and Isabella, and their son, Felipo. Luciana and his wife, Liliana. Carlo’s sister and husband and child (who you really don’t see during your visit), and of course, Marta and Carlotta. Marta even brought her daughter. It was like the royal family of Tuscany was joining us for this meal and they were also all decked out in their ‘holiday’ nice dinner outfits. Luciano even got a fresh haircut for the evening and had a sweater on. Most of the time he shows up to events looking like he just rolled out of bed, especially the farm tour. Literally, his hair is never combed and his farming clothes, are well, farming clothes. But you really don’t care how he shows up, as he is so authentic. It was a real treat to see him and all of them join us at our table for this event.
Isabella came by with her fur jacket on it was like she was the Princess Diana of the family. Somehow, we are all kind of starstruck by her sophistication and Milano sense of style. She really lights up a room when she enters and tonight was no different, she was smartly dressed for the occasion in a classy and sophisticated way.
Another stunner on this night, was our own dear Carlotta, when she walked in during the appetizer and came to our end of the table. We all gasped and I want to say, slightly screamed. It looked like she had an extreme makeover, compared to how we saw her everyday. She had blown our her hair with curls, put make-up on and a beautiful outfit. We all gushed over her and her look on this evening and she was so modest and just kept saying, ‘Thank you, thank you, this took a long time.’ The humility of Carlotta is so endearing. The fact is, her goal for the guests is making sure we have all that we need, so she doesn’t take time to ‘get ready’ when you see her throughout the week. It doesn’t matter to her, and it really doesn’t matter to us. You get used to her mismatched outfits, brightly-colored running shoes, hair up in a bun of sorts, and no makeup. She is perfect just the way she is. But then you see her show up on a night like tonight and it is such a treat to see her, as my dad would say, ‘all dolled up.’
After we were all seated, the wine and 5-course meal service started. We were presented with a menu that included an appetizer, a starter (which I always thought is an appetizer, but not in Italy), first course, second course, and dessert. You can see why we fasted all day. The table was so long, it was like a Tuscan state dinner, so it was hard to visit with any more than who was at your end. We were at the end of the table with Tom and Lynette, and Stephanie and Stacey and surrounded by Debbie and Randy, and to our left, Veronica and Mikey.
Between courses you could get up and visit with others who were present, which was nice. I appreciated how it wasn’t overly formal and you could just mingle in between courses. I went over to talk a bit with Isabella and Carlo and Luciano and his wife and snap a few photos during one of the breaks. During the actual meal, we had fun mostly listening to the adventures of Tom and Lynnette’s family over the years and things the girls had hidden from Tom that he had found out years later. To hear them describe their family adventures was hilarious. The whole table looked like they were having a great time and I thought the meal was delicious and well done. All of this was included in the price of our Dolce Vita stay, so it was also wonderful to feel hosted on this night by the family.
At the end of the night, there was a big surprise reveal when Diana (who was with Joe) in the group came down and sat between Carla and I as she was coming to have her glasses fixed. A screw had fallen out and I had remembered to bring my all-in-one tool. Having brought this on numerous trips over the years, I was excited to finally have a use for it in this moment. Before she handed me the glasses she put her hand out between Carla and I and said, ‘notice anything different.’ And there in front of us was a shiny engagement ring on her ring finger. We both started screaming (not loud screaming), but you know, the ‘whaaat’ real loud that causes heads to turn. That quickly caught everyone’s attention, who were now mingling, and it was announced that Joe and Diana had gotten engaged today in Cortona. How romantic! He took her to the hill where the filmed the movie Under the Tuscan Sun and asked her to marry him.
Joe and Diana are a beautiful couple in their 60’s. All week, folks would refer to one or the other as ‘your husband’ or ‘your wife’ and they would gently correct the person saying, ‘We’re not married.’ It seemed so odd, as they seemed so much like a couple. The back story is they are a widow and a widower from Arkansas, who had lost their long-term spouses 3 years ago. They had become friends shortly after their loss, and had been taking it slow after they started to date for the last 3 years. Having grown children and this dynamic is never easy, so you can see why they were taking it slow, but clearly it was time and the time was today. So some time after our balsamic tasting, Joe walked her over to the spot and popped the question. This was the capper of the night and congratulations and happiness filled the room.
It is odd and wonderful how you could take a group of strangers who didn’t know each other even a week ago and put them on a trip like this and see community formed so quickly in the joint activities we were participating in each day. Lots of conversation can happen when you are on vacation together and sipping wine. Isabella told me on this night that is one of her big goals for her visitors on these trips is that sense of belonging and community that takes time. This is why she encourages groups to stay a week as anything short of that cuts short that process. She has observed that Americans don’t take a lot of time for community back home and this is what the human spirit longs for and she hopes to provide by a visit to Cretaiole and the week on the farm.
Well, anyone could see looking around on this night, that this week was a success and the community formed this week would certainly outlast the trip itself as people on the trip were already exchanging information to stay in touch and a FaceBook group was formed to help facilitate the process. I know this is true as Dana and I were still in touch with Tony and Maddie (the honeymooners) from our last trip.
Everyone agreed this was a memorable and enriching Thanksgiving for them that exceeded their expectations. I observed that most Thanksgivings are stressful for families because of all of the baggage every family has that gets carried to those weekends and through the holidays. You have none of that here as every thing is fresh and new in relationship, like new love. You haven’t been together long enough to get on nerves. But, then I concluded, give us a couple of years of doing this and all of that deeper relationship stuff does come through and it wouldn’t be too much different from Thanksgivings back home with challenging family members. But, as Isabella told us earlier in the week, you can’t just have the sweet slice of life, you need to embrace all of that. That includes appreciation for your life back home. New friends are wonderful, but also nothing can replace your dear friends and family back home. It was nice to have this perspective in the midst of the joy of this Thanksgiving.