Fly Me To The Moon, and Let Me Play Among The Stars

  Just a quick reminder; double check your passport expiration date!  Italy requires that your US Passport be valid for at least 3 months beyond your intended date of departure from their country!

So for some of you, that means your passport must be valid almost into December!  If yours isn't and you  need to renew your US Passport, right now the US Department of State is saying that standard processing times are up to 8 weeks...  We've recently heard from some folks, it took 12 weeks... Some of you have told us you're departing for Italy in late August, so we suggest you take a look now and make sure you're passport is good... They won't even consider letting you fly internationally without a valid passport... 

If you do need to renew, we're attaching a link here from the US Dept of Sate on how: click here 

If you need to renew, consider doing it now and don't wait till the last minute...  Sometimes these take a lot longer than they say they do...  We've had guests have some  really close calls...  One guy recently had to call his congressman for help and got it the day before he flew out... If you do it now, you're likely safe with standard processing and standard shipping...  If you wait past April, we would suggest you choose "expedited processing" as well as "expedited shipping" to get your new passport much faster... and the Post Office has special "Priority Mail" envelopes that go to a special address (see pic)

Two Pros sing a Standard!

Rustic Elegance...

The Villa sets in the middle of 2200 acres of the Estates
Vineyards & Olive Groves

 Rustic Elegance  What exactly does that mean?

So we often describe our Villa in Tuscany as "Rustic Elegance" and we like to be careful to set realistic expectations as to what that means, and not to confuse our guests who might think we're implying "luxurious"... because we are not... What you'll find at our Villa, is a grand Estate... It's profile is substantial... It's solid as rock, because it is indeed a small stone castle!  Carved wooden antique furniture... stone slab steps... thick functional wooden shutters with hammered iron hardware...

The Grand Terrace provides a spectacular venue for all of our
leisure activities at The Villa

This magnificent 400 year old Villa has, over time,  been the property of royalty, and many times the property of what can only be considered wealthy families... but it is not a 5 Star Ritz Carlton...  This a truly magnificent, majestic, rustically elegant & authentic 400 year old tower-style Stone Castle Villa... (built in 1621, the year the Pilgrims celebrated the original Thanksgiving here in the USA). 

the ground floor Loggia where we enjoy many of our dinner parties

When we say this is an authentic Tuscan Villa... you'll feel this authenticity the moment you walk through the doors... Things will be different than what you're probably used to here in the United States... There's air conditioning, but it's likely not quite as efficient as that top of line system you have back in the US that'll make ice cubes, but you'll be comfortable... The Villa is massive - over 10,000+ sq ft throughout 4 floors with 2 ft thick stone walls & a spiral staircase winding up thru the Tower... 

the formal dining room serves as the setting for our Breakfast
Buffet, and opens out onto the loggia

The look of this small castle is punctuated by two rows of massive arches on the front of the Villa framing two very large outdoor Terraces, and a very large historic wood-fired bread & pizza oven built into the wall on the upstairs Terrace......

There's 7 bedrooms, each with it's own private bath, two large living rooms, with a fireplace in one... 

There's a wonderfully large kitchen with another massive cooking fireplace & a farmhouse table that seats 12, and a separate more formal dining room that also seats 12... And then, as if that's not enough,  there's even two more dining areas outside where we usually enjoy most of our meals; one rectangular table under the large vaulted porticos on ground floor leading out onto the Terrace, and yet another huge round table under the vine-covered loggia overlooking the vineyards & olive groves where we often enjoy our daily Happy Hours...  

The rustic beauty of this historic Villa is just wonderful...   There's beautiful original hand-formed Terra-Cotta bricks on the floors and even in the vaulted ceilings... There's massive 18 inch exposed hand-hewn Chestnut beams throughout the structure... and 2" thick functional wood shutters with heavy hammered iron hardware swinging open from the windows...  This Villa is no "Disney come lately replication" by Marriot or Hilton, this is the real deal! Built 150 years before George Washington crossed the Delaware! You'll love this place!   Upstairs, there's three more grand arched porticos that give way to yet another amazing seating area and gathering spot with views to die for overlooking the hills of Chianti and our "home base" Village of Radda-in-Chianti

Go ahead, take your shoes off..
The vibe is casual here... it's just us

There's two large electronic gates that secure the half mile long, tree lined private road into the property... and what would a Tuscan Villa be without a beautiful in-ground pool and a 40 ft by 80 ft Grand Terra-Cotta entertainment Terrace! 

And while all of this sounds like something out of "Under The Tuscan Sun"  here's what really throws it over-the-top: This magnificent Villa sets on a hilltop surrounded by Rose Gardens, Fig trees, fragrant  Jasmine Vines & Rosemary hedges in the middle of 2200 Acres of Italy's finest Vineyards, Olive Groves & Magical Forests on one of Tuscany's most prominent Wine & Olive Oil Estates...

Understand, this is not just a themed hospitality center with a tasting room; this is a honest to God real working Wine & Olive Oil Estate with thousands of acres of grape vines, extensive maceration & fermentation operations,  massive barrel & keg rooms and their own on-site bottling operations... It is indeed a very large wine farm! When we tell you "Truly unique, authentic and immersive, escorted and guided experiential adventure expeditions to Tuscany" we mean it... and we're gonna put you smack-dab it the middle of it! You'll meet and get to interact with a lot of our close friends we've made over the decades we've spent working in Tuscany! (And yes, there's a hamlet with a huge Castle & a historic Winery on the Estate, and as our guests, you'll be treated like family when we visit).

Adventures to Tuscany ~ making vacations fun again!

We'll tell you lots more about this incredible Wine & Olive Oil Estate in future posts, but suffice it to say this is no neighborhood winery.   Castello di Albola is one of Italy's premier Wine Estates and bottles over 1.5 million bottles a year... and distributes and sells their wines in over 135 countries around the world!  

Adventures to Tuscany... the real Italian Villa experience! Truly unique, authentic and immersive, escorted and guided experiential adventure expeditions to Tuscany...  What makes us different, makes all the difference in the world!

Q & A: do we need: hairdryers... soaps.. shampoos... etc?

 Someone has reached out to ask about hair dryers & bathroom amenities at the Villa, so here you go;

So of course, you're welcome to bring your own bath products if you have favorites... but in your bedrooms and your private  bathrooms at the Villa we will have the following amenities in place for you; very nice upscale Tuscan olive oil bar soaps, liquid olive oil body washes and shampoos, as well as kleenex, toilet tissue, bath towels, hand towels, bidet towels, pool towels, essential oil fragrance diffusers,  a bathroom nightlight, a European voltage hairdryer and two pair of slippers.  (note for the ladies: our vendor doesn't give us access to order conditioners; so if you need that, you'll want to consider bringing it along)

Rubber ducky, you're the one...
you make bath time so much fun...

Also someone has asked about bed linens: Do we need to bring bed linens like we have for various vacation house rentals?   And the answer is of course no, there will be very nice fresh linens on your bed when you arrive... But you need to understand: the Villa is not a hotel; the same linens (bed & bath) will be in your room for the full week...  All of our linens are freshly laundered & provided by a third party commercial vendor.  If you feel you need to have your linens changed mid-week, a one-time full linen change (sheets & towels) is available for a  fee paid directly to our housekeeping staff/commercial laundry. It's somewhat pricey (in the neighborhood of 30 - 40 euro per room) and we need to order it in advance. So if you're interested in this, please let us know in advance and we will make the arrangements for them to be delivered and your beds made up for you.

One thing you may notice missing is wash cloths...  Wash cloths are not common in Europe, and you probably won't find them in your hotels (unless your hotel caters specifically to Americans), but you definitely won't find them at The Villa. It's just a cultural thing...   If a wash cloth is critical to you, we suggest you throw one in your suitcase and bring it with you. 

if you're looking for a pharmacy in Italy, look for the
Green Cross... (ps: someone's always looking for
distilled water for their CPAP machine; this is
where you'll find it -  "acqua distillata")

So we make the laundry room facilities at the Villa complimentary and available for you to use at your leisure as often as you prefer.   We have a modern European Style Washer & Dryer with heat (many European dryers are just spin extractors, but ours extracts and is heated like an American Dryer), and we'll have the laundry room fully stocked for you with complimentary laundry soaps, stain removers, fabric softeners, an iron, and ironing board and drying racks.  We also have two First-Aid kits at the Villa ~ a basic one here in the laundry room, and we've put together another substantially more comprehensive kit on the desk in the downstairs living room.  You'll find most everything you may need here from various bandaids, antiseptics, and bandages to antacids, anti-diarrehals, analgesics, pain relievers, even a digital thermometer... Also there's a nice pharmacy in the nearby village of Radda-in-Chianti... And in Italy,  Pharmacists are the "first call" for medical issues and advice, and can prescribe many medications... They are the gatekeepers to make the determination if you need to see the doctor, and in most cases the doctor is right next door. (it's actually very convenient). 

 (ps: if you're new to The Blog, we suggest you take some time to go back over and at the very least, skim the past posts; The Blog is written like a diary (in reverse order).  There's approximately 30 previous posts like this this one that will go far to helping you understand your Adventures To Tuscany Tour, The Villa, our daily activities, etc... and you'll likely want to spend some time with the various resources in the right sidebar of The Blog... (If you're only viewing this on a cell phone, you might not be seeing the right side bar).  We will be posting to The Blog approx 2 - 3 times a week up through your departure.  As always, reach out to us anytime with questions about your Tour!  E-mail us at AdventuresToTuscany@gmail.com,  or feel free to pick up the phone and call us @ 610-657-7894 anytime 9am - 7pm Monday - Saturday.  We're always happy to help!)

just a little diddy from our favorite band: Music Travel Love

Once you dip your cookies in this, you'll never go back to milk & Oreos!

   So as we've mentioned before, Castello Di Albola , the large Wine Estate our Villa is on, is a major winemaker, and they make several different types of wines (about a dozen at the Estate in Radda-in-Chianti) and of course we've now also shown you their amazing Olive Oils...

So today we'll tell you about Castello di Albola's Vin Santo...  Vin Santo is the famous specialty dessert wine of Tuscany. It's made from Trebbiano Toscano and Malvasia del Chianti grapes that have been allowed to ripen and get sugary sweet on the vines and then picked late in the season, and hung for months and allowed to dry before making into wine...

After being set to dry for approximately four months, the wine is aged for eight years in 180-liter chestnut barrels called "Caratelli". The barrels are not changed and are used multiple times over their lifetime. Fermentation occurs inside the barrels, which are covered with a deep red wax, keeping the wine unexposed. This is a very rare & expensive wine, so only about 2,000 bottles are made annually.

This creates a bold, flavorful, sweet dessert wine that in Tuscany is most often used to dip/dunk Cantucci (biscotti) into for an after dinner dessert...  This is one of Albola's super premium upscale wines that we'll have at The Villa as an after dinner cordial one evening with some of Chef Angela's homemade Cantucci!  You'll love it!

COLOR:  Golden amber with rich, luminous reflections

BOUQUET:  Intense and complex; perfumed with scents of raisins combined with aromas of apricots, figs, dried fruit, wood, and honey fused with aromatic notes of a great personality

PALATE: Full and warm with a velvety texture, sweet delicate notes and an extraordinary finish.

FOOD PAIRINGS:  Pairs well with fois gras; perfectly compliments desserts, such as Cantucci, high quality dark chocolate, Gorgonzola, and nut-based tarts

ALCOHOL LEVEL:  15.5%

Dream of Italy

  The Dream of Italy series has become a popular series on public television... this episode is purely about Tuscany, or what they call The Crown Jewel of Italy and most of the content comes from the Chianti area...  and specifically The Chianti Classico...  This area, as we've mentioned before, is indeed "The Bullseye" and our Estate, Castello Di Albola sits in the very center! Much of this video is filmed right in the very area around our Villa...

As you watch this, you'll see them visit the Ama Wine Estate... We used to go to Ama years ago, but over the years we've found what we believe are nicer Estates to take you to... We'll have VIP Tours and Guided Wine Tasting at these Estates as well as wonderful Alfresco Luncheons. 

Other notes about things you'll see in this video:

• You'll see the Wild Boars running thru the vineyards around our Villa
• You'll be enjoying Castello Di Albola's own Extra Virgin Olive Oil every day at the Villa
• The Cashmere Goat Farm is just down the road less then a mile from The Villa
• We'll be stopping for lunch in Panzano, so we'll stop in to Dario's Butcher shop and you'll likely meet him!  He's a hoot!
• We'll be enjoying The Famous Bistecca Fiorentina during our Tuscan BBQ!
• The Zonin family that owns the Albola Estate owns lots of other Estates in Italy as well, including one in The Maremma where the Butteri Cowboys are...

Fast Forward to 1:10 to skip ads

 

EAT ~ PRAY ~ LOVE

Julia Roberts plays Elizabeth Gilbert in Gilbert's true story
about traveling the world to find true love and happiness 

Eat, Pray, Love - without a doubt, these are three of our favorite things to do in Tuscany!  You're gonna love to EAT the foods... You can't help but want to PRAY when your inside of one of these great cathedrals...  And everyone falls in LOVE with Tuscany! It will take your breath away!

So we received a question about "dress codes" for touring the cathedrals throughout Italy, and we wanted to pass our answers along to all of you;

Churches are a really big deal in Italy, and because of their amazing history and magnificence, they rank as some of top tourist sites throughout many Italian cities.. 

If there is any place in the world to feel close to God... to just take a minute to light a candle, kneel and make a special Prayer, one of Italy's historic Duomos is certainly the place! They say God will hear your prayers anywhere... But we assure you, you'll feel the significance of talking to God from the floors of one these magnificent churches!   We personally always take a moment to break away from the group, light a candle, and express our gratitude to God... It just feels right when you're in one of these amazing churches!  Standing at the center of one of these great cathedrals admiring the architecture, art and stained glass windows, and thinking about the fact that many of these churches were built over a thousand years ago, you'll feel your breath quiet, and you can't help but feel a little humble and be in awe...  

And yes there are definitely dress codes for visiting the cathedrals throughout Italy, and they seem to vary in strictness and enforcement based on the "importance or significance" of the individual church and the gate-keepers or enforcers who are on duty at the doors on the day you visit...  

The Duomo in Siena - nearly 1000 years old... Our Adventures
to Tuscany Tour Guide Stella will take us on a tour Thru this
amazing Duomo and bring it's incredible history to life for you

The general rule of thumb for all churches in Italy is: shoulders and knees covered for both men & women...  And as you might imagine the benchmark is St Peter's Basilica in Rome and it is most usually strictly enforced...  For visiting St Peters, we always suggest long pants for men and no tank tops...  and women should have shorts or dresses that cover the knee and tops that cover the shoulders and no bare midriffs...  (but we're always careful to tell you that you will sometimes see the rules broken... We've seen women in short-shorts and tank-tops...)  but these are typically the exceptions... 

Often the bigger cathedrals will have gatekeepers inside the door who will give/sell paper robes for those who don't meet standards...  but you can't count on it, and we have seen people turned away.   (You can usually assume that if there's admission charge to get into the Cathedral, then there's going to be dress code enforcement). The Duomo in Siena (which we will be touring) is also usually pretty strict. (your admission price & tour guide is included in your tour price). Your Lesser known and smaller cathedrals, and certainly the small churches in the tiny hilltowns,  while still often having dress codes, rarely have people there enforcing them...  and they count on visitors to use their own good judgement...  What many women  do is to pack a very lightweight shawl that they can wrap around their shoulders or waist. Another common thing you'll see men doing is to wear those shorts/pants with the zip-off legs...  Often, other then the cathedrals mentioned above and other large & famous Cathedrals in the larger cities, men and women can get away with wearing shorts if they're not too short.  (but again, the unwritten rule of thumb is shoulders & knees covered... So if you want to be 100% sure you won't be turned away at the door, heed the rule).  

(PS: an admittedly unofficial ,  non-scientific and casual survey of our past guests who we've personally witnessed kneeling & praying in one of Siena's two Cathedrals that we Tour show that sincere prayers have overwhelmingly been answered...  get you're prayers ready in advance!)

5o years ago today on the Ed Sullivan Show!   

Paul McCartney age 21,  Ringo Starr 23,  John Lennon 23, and George Harrison 20

Oh my gosh... we're blushing with pride!

We got some wonderful "Thank You Letters / Reviews" from a few folks on a couple of last year's Tuscany Tours in late May and September...  We get a lot of really nice reviews from our guests, but these took our breath away and brought a little tear to our eyes... The first letter was from a private charter that came to us as their own full group from a travel agent that referred them to us... We didn't know any of them, but by the end of the Tour we all became close friends!

The second card was from two older sisters from New Jersey that each came with their adult daughters... Their love for each other & their sense of family carried over to the whole group...  As they were both "The  Aunts" of the two daughters, they introduced themselves to the group as Aunt Dee & Aunt Lyn, so the whole group ended up calling them that throughout the Tour! Diverse age ranges often make for some of the very best Tour Groups!  Over the decades, we've had guests as young as 3 months, and as old as 93! 

The last one here was from a sweet couple down near Philadelphia that reached out to fill a last minute cancellation that we advertised...  They instantly bonded with the group and have become great friends and wonderful members of our Adventures to Tuscany Family!

Here at Adventures to Tuscany, we feel so very grateful to get to do what we do... We know how fortunate we are... And when we get a bit of love & praise for how we've done, we can't help but get a little choked up and feel proud of ourselves... and of course, we like to share it... 

Our ultimate goal is that each of you will feel the same way once you experience our Tuscany Expedition!

We always say; Truly unique, authentic & immersive, escorted & guided experiential adventure expeditions to Tuscany ~ the real Italian Villa experience! There's a lot of adjectives in that line, and it can sometimes seem like a big promise to live up to... But we've been running these Tours for a long time, and we always try our best to deliver on the promise! If you want to read more things our guests have had to say about our Tours over the years, you can read them on our website... We only publish reviews where our guests allow us to publish their full names and addresses, and you can read them here:  Real Reviews From Real People

The first of you are leaving in less than 7 months, So we hope you guys are getting excited!  We are... We go here multiple times each year over the last 24 years...And as many times as we go here, we always get excited for our upcoming trips!  First, we've got a couple of Tours to Provence in June, but we'll be heading to Tuscany right at the beginning of September to prepare for your arrivals...  Tuscany is a second home for us, and we have a lot of friends there that are like family to us... We get homesick when we haven't been there for a while...  And we're getting so close now, we can almost smell the grapes!

From our May 20 - 27th Tour Group!

From one of our guests on one of our September Groups
She's not really our aunt, we just met her...  
but we're proud she let us call her Aunt Dee! 💛💛💛

Rose and Bruce were on one our May/June Tours last year

One of our favorite diddys from our unofficial namesake band; Music Travel Love

I've gotta pee! Who's got coins???

 So we've all gotten use to charging everything to credit cards these days, but while in Italy, it's always a good idea to keep some Euro cash on you, because every now and then you end up in a small store or restaurant that just doesn't accept credit cards, or a credit card is declined for some random international reason...

Another thing to be aware of, is that often while we're out and about touring a village or city you'll find that there's commonly a charge to use a public restroom... Usually in the neighborhood of 50 Euro cents... Sometimes there's an attendant, and other times there's just a turnstile,.. Whatever... trust us on this, you're gonna want to have coins!   In cafes & restaurants of course there's no charge to use the restrooms, but they're very, very strict about the fact that restrooms are for their customers only.  

These are the eight Italian coins... sometimes 
in bigger cities, some unscrupulous retailers  
will try to pass off old (worthless)Italian Lire
coins on you... keep a sharp eye out for this...

Parking is another situation where you'll want to have coins... As we've written about here before, many parking lots will have a kiosk to purchase parking time... In bigger more touristy areas, the machines take credit cards, but in the smaller villages, you'll need coins! There are eight different denominations of euro coins: 1c, 2c, 5c, 10c, 20c, 50c, €1 and €2.  

We suggest starting from day one, you keep a pocket full of coins wherever you go! Don't be tempted to give a retailer exact change...  Every now and then, pay with cash, so that you get coins...  

Our Grand Tuscan Breakfast Buffet

Here's the typical day's scenario;  You'll get up and have breakfast at the Villa... Our "Abbondante Tuscan Breakfast Buffets" at the Villa are substantial... This is not your typical European "Coffee and a Stale Roll Continental Breakfast..."  We have assorted juices, waters, teas, coffees, Prosecco, Mimosas, pastries, assorted granolas, nuts, dried fruits, Tuscan specialty meats,  fresh fruits, freshly sliced melons, fresh berries, a Tuscan cheese board, hot scrambled Eggs with pancetta and a Toasting Station with assorted breads & muffins! 

You'll surely want to try a glass or two of Italy's amazing Blood Orange, Carrot and Lemon Juice...  I know... We don't drink juice at home either, but once you taste this incredible meritage of juice, you'll love it!  And we also have Mimosas, so you might like one of those!  Then a couple cups of coffee or Espresso... (Italy has the best Coffee Roasters in the world). We get Lavazza, and if you're not familiar, you'll be pleasantly surprised... Let's just say it's somewhat more bold and flavorful than Folgers... And they don't have "half & half",  so we get Panna Fresca, (fresh cream) for our coffee bar...  all this being said, the coffees and juices are delizioso, so you'll be tempted to have more than you usually have at home...  

Now, after breakfast, we head out on the road and it's usually 30 minutes to an hour to get to our first destination... Till we get parked and walk into town,  you're gonna want those coins in your pocket... or you're sure to be the one yelling "I've gotta pee... who's got coins!"

Va Bene...

  As some of you are coming over a few days early before the Tour, or staying a few days after, you may want to make a lunch or dinner reservation while in Rome, Florence, Lake Como or wherever you're going...  If you don't speak Italian, this can sometimes at first feel uncomfortable... But don't let it be...  Know that they of course want to take your reservation, and even if you don't speak a word of Italian, they'll likely take your reservation if they have availability... But as we've mentioned before, be polite (start with: Buona Sera), try at least a few words of Italian... Use "per favore" (please)...   they'll respect you for trying even if you murder it (remember the 1% rule)... Doing a few of these things will help get you a better table, a better time slot, and ultimately a better experience! Pick up a few pointers here on this video from our favorite Italy Vlogger Kylie Flavell...  and feel confident about making the reservation!