Rome to San Polo in Chianti

We left Rome early in the morning heading to Florence by train.  When we arrived, we had a quick bite (some of the delicious paninis we've found all over the place, simply made with good bread, cured meat, delicious sharp cheeses, and olive oil) and found our bus going to the Chianti region.  A heavy rainstorm began (that has continued off and on for the past few days) as we got on our bus.  We drove through the outskirts of Florence and began to see the scenery change to large expanses of vineyard.  The bus driver let us know when we had reached San Polo, a tiny town in the hills.  Mischa, the man who owned the vineyard we were heading to, picked us up from the town center.  He very kindly welcomed us to his farm, as did his wonderful wife Marinella and their three lovely kids.  As we wandered around the farm the first day we found many little wonderful surprises, the first being a litter of kittens in the stairwell of the room we were staying in.

  

The next day when the rain cleared for a bit, we took a tour of the vineyard and began our first task of cleaning out one of the giant metal containers that holds the wine.

We spent some time working in the garden for a bit, then getting to know the many animals around the farm.  A big lunch and a lazy afternoon wandering around the farm was pretty wonderful.  The past couple days have been similar, some work when it hasn't been raining, playing with the kids, and enjoying the beauty of this place.  Some pictures..

I love baby muppet donkeys

Beginnings of the next grape harvest

The chickens have one the best views I've ever seen

The boxes are bees for honey, although it's still a little cold

One of the two wonderful farm dogs

Introduced to us as "the best room in the house"; you can see why

One afternoon was an adventure of rescuing a litter from a shed where they had been left by their mother-- another couple hours spent playing with kittens

We went into town on one of the few sunny days with Mischa, Marinella, and their kids.  This is Greve, a larger town neighboring San Polo

This fountain was engraved 187-something, very old but some of the cleanest water from the mountains

When visiting Greve, Mischa told us to prepare ourselves for his favorite meat shop.  It's a small local shop that specialized in raising classical Chianti pigs and transforms the pork into some of the most amazing things we've tried so far.  The tastes and aromas from this store were pretty fantastic-- I'm pretty sure we could have spent the whole day there.

Macelleria Falorni

Unfathomable amount of prosciutto

The cheese cellar

After Greve we drove to a small farm right next to theirs where they specialize in goat cheese.  It was great to meet other farmers, and especially to try all their delicious products!

Mischa, the cheesemaker, and a board of the freshest goat cheese

New friends

A bit of rugby with the kids

Cutie

 An amazing time getting to know this family and their way of life.  We've decided to spend a couple extra days here (one of the nice things about never making plans) and then we're back to Florence.