We're Off!

 Well guys,  this is it... It's Sunday September 1st, we've started our "Tme Shifter" app today and we're leaving for the airport Tuesday morning, heading over to Italy to prepare for your Tours!  This is likely our last post here on the Blog...  If you've been following along over the last 9 ½ months, you know we've posted over 111 articles to help prepare you for the Expedition!  And if you've read them (trust us we know everyone doesn't), you're now much better prepared for Italy than 99.9% of all Americans that ever go there! 

we look forward to seeing you very soon!

We've really loved sharing all of our decades of experience & research about Italy, Tuscany, Chianti,  Castello D'Albola, Dievole, The Villa, the geography, our Tour Guides, travel tips, currency exchange, travel insurance, electric converters & adaptors, using credit cards,  cell phones, international calling plans, translators, phrasebooks, language lessons, hotel recommendations and reservations, luggage, ATM's,  debit cards, overcoming language barriers, Italian Culture and Etiquette, local weather, packing tips, Foods & Wines, differences in restaurant etiquette, dealing with jet lag, guidebooks, driving in Italy, Italian road signs, espresso bar culture, itinerary ideas, Tipping Etiquette, flights, car rentals, trains, winery visits, maps, gps units, our two-way radios, daily touring activities, Siena, San Gimignano, Greve, Radda-in-Chianti, Panzano, Castellina, and on and on, and on... and as many of you have told us you would be extending your trips, we also posted articles on Rome, Florence, Lake Como, Milan and so on.

We hope you've enjoyed reading The Blog as much as we enjoy writing it! And we hope you can tell by now, that Italy is a passion of ours... We consider it our second home...  and we truly enjoy showing our guests one our most favorite areas of the world!

While we probably won't be posting much more to this Blog, we invite you to skim back over the posts to refresh yourself on some of the topics... and of course if there's something specific you're looking for, try putting a few key words in the search box in the very top left corner..

A couple of things we want to remind you of for your arrival & check-in on Saturday:

• please remember you can not come to the Villa before 4pm on Saturday, and the password to get them to open the security gate is "gatto puzz olente" (gat-toe pu-zel-len-tay)
• please arrive with a full tank of gas on Saturday. The Tour starts early Sunday morning; we have a time schedule for tours, tastings & luncheons... And it's very difficult for us to stop the expedition because someone didn't fuel their car. (please don't be this person)
• If you told us you want to take Angela's cooking class, we need to collect the 30 euros/person from you on check-in, so please plan on having Euros with you when you arrive; Angela doesn't have a way to accept credit cards
• Also, if you're joining us for lunch in Panzano on Monday, you'll want to have euros to pay for your lunch; separate checks is very rare in Italy and this place, does not provide them. (prices here are very moderate, and we pay for everyone's coperto & lots of pellergrino for the table).

If you need help with anything, reach out to us by email, text, phone, or on your new "WhatsApp" group Chat... While we pride ourselves on trying to answer inquires as immediately as possible, we will be very busy over the next 7 days as we leave for Italy and prepare for the Tours,  so it may take longer than normal for us to respond... 

So Buon Viaggio my friends!  Travel Safe... We look forward to sharing great times with you in Tuscany! 

a Presto,

Tommy & Terese            

Adventures to Tuscany ~ the real Italian Villa experience!