A great little picnic will create memories no cafes can match!

il dolce far niente - the 4 essentials

 While you're with us in Tuscany, most all your meals are included... All your breakfasts, all your Dinners, and all but 3 lunches..But as some of you may be touring before or after your stay with us at our Villa, this may be something for you to consider:

Il Dolce Far Niente - The sweetness of doing nothing... For over 40 years of traveling thru Europe, one of the things we admire most about European culture is their ability to relax, kick back, and just enjoy the moments of a casual picnic... 

And in our ongoing effort to immerse ourselves in their culture, Terese and I long ago identified four essentials we always pack in our suitcases for all of our European adventures...  A lightweight  corkscrew, an 8 ounce disposable plastic bottle, a couple of nice polycarbonate wine glasses and a small pocket knife... (make sure to pack the pocket knife in your checked luggage)

making our own panini

These are the four essentials that have given us privilege and access to Il Dolce Far Niente...  With a quick stop in any local alimentary (corner stores), we've had our own little picnics in some of the most beautiful and memorable places in all the world! On the banks of The Siene in Paris, on the Piazza del Campo in Siena, on a grassy hillside overlooking The Coliseum in Rome,  on the majestic lawns of the famous Luxembourg Gardens in Paris, in the mountains of Switzerland, on a paddled canoe in Cambodia... at The Chianti Wine Festival in Greve, on the banks of The Rhone in Provence, on dozens of long-haul trains throughout the Mediterranean, in the high meadows of the Italian Alps, and on the lawns beneath The Eiffel Tower...  The list goes on and on...   We plan at least one picnic for every trip we take! On our last research trip to Provence we planned a picnic for the river bank in a grove of large plane trees beneath The Pont du Gard!  It was outstanding!

many stores will be happy to put 
together a picnic for you- just ask

And the best part of all this;  it's really easy and it's super frugal!  While the coperto (cover charge), a bottle of wine and a few small plates of antipasti for two could easily cost you 80 - 90 euro sitting outside at a cafe in a prime tourist location,  with a stop in a corner market, just about anywhere in Italy, you can get a small baguette,  a wonderful salami, a few slices of prosciutto, a small block of incredible cheese, a handful of olives, a couple of fresh figs, a bottle of mineral water,  and a nice bottle of  chianti all for about 20 euro...    how do you beat that...  a better lunch, a better view, and a much better price!

a picnic on the balcony in our room at a little 
convent we stayed at in Siena... We had some grilled 
eggplant, some ripe figs, some kalamata olives, a 
block of great chèvre, some fresh baked olive-rosemary
foccacia, some wonderful prosciutto crudo, a link of 
incredible soppresata and a really nice bottle of wine... 
it all came to 24 euro and the view was amazing!
(One of the nuns at the convent even gave us a rose for the table!)

The pocket knife is truly essential... and you'll get nowhere without the corkscrew... the little 8 oz bottle enables you to easily pre-pack two glasses of wine in your daypack, and of course great wine always tastes better out of a nice wine glass! 

The key to a great picnic, is finding the right spot!   While over the years we've forgotten a lot of the really great cafes and restaurants we've eaten at on our travels, we never forget the fabulous picnics we've put together and the spots where we've had them!   If you plan them right, they can truly turn out to be memories of a lifetime!

here's a beautiful place for a picnic and a little Diddy from our favorite duet the Moffit Brothers; Music Travel Love