We picked up the rental car at AutoEurop after a bit of a walk from the train station in Chiusi.  The VW station wagon we’d reserved back in February was unavailable, so they upgraded us to a Mercedes wagon.  Quite nice!  A few wrong turns and a couple of quick U-turns had us at the top of old town Chiusi and one of our favorite restaurants in Tuscany…la Solita Zuppa.  We walked into the bustling restaurant full of patrons and were quickly greeted by the husband and wife owners with a look of recognition.  “You live between Seattle and Vancouver, yes?”  Yes we acknowledged.  The meal was amazing and one of the owners was able to sit and visit with us when the lunch rush slowed a bit.  With our tummies full AGAIN, we climbed into our rented chariot and got on the A-1 autostrada (our I-5 equivalent) heading for Pergine Valdarno.

The arrival in the little town was delayed by a low tire warning as we exited the A-1.  We stopped to see what that was about and found one rear tire dangerously low.  Even though it was only flat on the bottom, we decided it would be best to change it.  Unloading our luggage to reach the spare, it was discovered that our rental car had no spare tire.  It did however have a plug-in tire pump that looked like a toy.  The little pump whined to inject air into the tire as the thunder clapped and rain drops the size of golf balls started pelting around us.  We reloaded our bags and sacks into the car out of the rain as we watched the tire return to normal size.  Soon enough we were on our way again and we arrived in Pergine Valdarno around 5:00 pm.  There are many charming aspects to this town.  No one here speaks English, but the townspeople are all wonderful as you attempt to communicate with them.  There is no “supermarket” here.  There is a butcher shop in one location, a bakery in another, a fruit and vegetable market that also sells flowers, a farmacia or drug store, and a basic market that sells other staples like coffee, sugar, etc.

We’ve stayed in Pergine Valdarno in 2013 and 2016.  Both times we have stayed in the Casa di Vignolo, a villa that we’ve affectionately called, the Rubble Pile.  It is a wonderful two-story venue with a full kitchen including a 600 year old stone sink.  The last time we were here, Irene Gren, the owner showed us around all of her family’s properties in the town.  Villa Fracassini was one that piqued our interest.  Another large venue with an installed elevator that took you between the kitchen, dining room and living room on the ground floor and the bedroom areas upstairs.  It has a walled off back yard with grape vines, an olive tree and a swimming pool.  We decided if we came here again, we would try Villa Fracassini.  Italy 2018 gave us that opportunity and we met Irene in the town square and she gave us a key to our new digs.  Villa Fracassini was everything that Casa di Vignolo was and even more. The four of us sat around our dining room table with Irene and enjoyed a glass of wine as she caught us up on the changes in her life since we were here last.  Today was her birthday and she was planning on making the 40-minute drive to Florence to have a birthday celebration dinner with her boyfriend at her favorite Chinese restaurant.  She loves Chinese food.  I knew there was a reason I loved that girl.  We wished her happy birthday and off she went.  Once Irene left, Lynda and Barb set out to make this house our home for the next 11 days.  The ladies are sending Doug and me out to try and buy food supplies.  More to come!