Day 5 - Uzzano

Saturday was a welcome change from our busy pace of the past few days. We had no plans besides to bum around the amazing house. We were the first one's up, but Jimena followed not too far behind us. She made us coffee and fed us cereal, crackers and some of her homemade orange marmalade. YUM! It is made from the same oranges that she made the orange liqueur from.

Homemade Orange Marmalade

Over breakfast we chatted about health and fitness stuff. Her and her hubby (which we didn't get to meet because he was out of town) keep active and seem to have a lot of fun doing it just like us. As we finished breakfast she said we could do some "sport". It included bringing in wood for the big fireplace. So, we were off to the garden to pick up lots of wood! Michael and I lugged in the big pieces by the door and she went off with her wheelbarrow to gather lots of little pieces. This was a fun and different way to start the morning!

Morning Sport

The fire in the fireplace

After the fire was built Michael and I wanted to walk around the garden and the area so off we went. Oh, I should introduce the resident dog. His name is blackie, is nine years old, and is oh so sweet. He is actually the same age Hendrix would be if he were still alive! He followed us around the yard from a distance, almost as if he were curious as to where we were going, but as we approached the gate to leave, he quickly caught up to us as he obviously wanted to come with us. We tried to get him back in the gate before we went out, but he would have none of it. He is a slow walking easy paced dog so the walk was simple with him though we had to keep looking back to make sure he was still with us. He apparently goes out for 4 or 5 days at a time. There have been times Jimena and Andrea have found him down the mountain in Pescia. He has even gone to the hospital down there to be fed!! He was a fun dog and told us all about the mountains!

Wait for me!

Lazily Walking Along

View - I like all the old wine barralls

Me

After our little walk, Blackie was exhuasted

The home we stayed in was amazing, both inside and out. I didn't actually take many pictures inside the house, so the pictures from outside will have to do. They are hoping to get a Bed and Breakfast up and running as early as next summer! So if you're ever in this area and looking for a place to stay, this is a great place to take your business! :)

Entry Way

Back of House

Front of House

I fell in love with this orange tree and orange wall. The smaller tree that you can see branches of is an olive tree. Our room window was the one on the right above the tree.

Michael in the garden

Side view from Garden

We retreated inside just in time to visit with Myra. Jimena made us a delicious lunch of pasta, salad and cheese. We even tried Pumpkin Pasta! I had never heard of it before and it was quite good. There is a way to eat cheese in Italy, you put honey on it! Surprisingly it is VERY good. We had tried it the night of Myra's party and got to do it again here. This time, with Jimenas' homemade honey! Wow, is there nothing this woman doesn't do?

Feed Me Michael!

After our late lunch it was time for a nap and again some more sitting around and chatting before dinner. Michael and I sat on a bench outside admireing the view as the sun was setting, and blackie came to join us. The day had been pretty foggy so I couldn't get a decent picture of the magnificent view during the day or at night. Nor, could I see it as it should have been seen.

Pretty

The boys watching the sunset
Get away from me crazy woman!

Was that really so bad?

Jimena took us to a local restaurant for dinner which was amazing. We had pastas, appetizers, homemade wine, fresh home grown olives and cake for dessert. YUM! We had walked to and from the restaurant and when we arrived back home, we crashed. Sunday would be an early morning back to Florence.

(As a sidenote, we arrived home last night from Italy. Michael left Denmark this morning and is in the air somewhere between Germany and Dallas. I leave first thing tomorrow for Dallas. It has been a busy couple days!)