Some more photos of our Tuscany adventure

Our view of the Tuscan hills

More views of Castello di Pergolato, the Tuscan landscape, Villa Antinori, Florence, Siena and San Casciano.









Our pool, followed by dinner at the Castello.

Arriving at the Castello - Lesley, Richard and David H

Dinner with Kathryn, Dan and Cheri

Birthday lunch at Rinuccio 1180

Antinori vineyard and its cellars.

Antinori cellars 

The cloisters of Santa Maria Novella

Inside Orsanmichele

Florence and Santa Maria Novella, Orsanmichele and the
outside of the Duomo.

Piazza della Signoria in Florence

The Baptistery doors

Siena with the Piazza del Campo, inside the Palazzo Pubblico and the Torre di Mangia.

Palazzo Pubblico

Sala del Risorgimento in Siena's Palazzo Pubblico

Siena Duomo

In San Casciano and our last supper.

Saturday 8 June 2019, we leave Castello di Pergolato

Up at 8.30 again. We had a nice breakfast of cereal, fruit and coffee by the pool.

Then we finished packing and said goodbye to everyone. We talked to Luisa and paid her for the food served on Monday and Friday dinners. We didn't realise that the food was not included in the advance cost, only the service. We had each paid 33 euros for the two meals on Monday and Friday.

Anyway, we set off in our car, after Richard had spent quite a while washing it. We set our direction to Thalwil, which would take 6 to 7 hours.

On the homeward journey

We stopped at some services for a drink and tiramisu - quite nice. I had some red wine left over. We crossed the border, and came through the Gotthard without a delay.

We arrived back home at about 6pm, and unpacked all our cases and bags. Then we went to Migros for food for the Bank Holiday weekend. At home, we reheated some of Friday's pasta con funghi for tea, with some nice Italian wine.

Then we relaxed and watched last week's Casualty. Another Newton family holiday successfully accomplished!

Friday 7 June 2019

I woke at 8.30 again. We enjoyed fruit and muesli on the terrace. Apart from Cheri, we were first up.

We planned to go to Coop for wine for the group and to take home. They have a good selection. We drove to San Casciano with David and Cheri, and met Lesley and David for a coffee. I bought stamps, and then we headed to Coop where we bought a variety of nice wines and food. A local man advised us as to which wines were good and inexpensive. David and Cheri paid this time. We are sharing our costs. They found some good Tuscan wines.



Then we went back to the Castello. We spoke briefly to Luisa, our contact person. She and another lady were doing the cleaning and preparing for tonight's dinner.

We rested in the afternoon, and then got ready for our last evening together. We enjoyed some prosecco, then white and red wines with dinner. The pasta course was tagliatelli ai fungi. We had a four course meal featuring beef fillet.


We need to be up at 8am in the morning as we have to leave the Castello by 10am. It's been a fun holiday.

Thursday 6 June, Siena

Today we went to Siena, apart from David and Cheri. We drove there in two cars, and we parked at the parking Il Campo and met up with the others at the Piazza del Campo for coffee.


Then we all visited the Palazzo Pubblico. Lesley and I went to see the frescoes of Good and Bad Governance by Ambrogio Lorinzetti, while the others climbed the 500 steps of the adjacent Torre del Mangia.


Afterwards we had lunch at the nearby Cafe La Finestra indoors. I enjoyed one of my favourites - spaghetti vongole. I also had some local dry white wine.




Then we went to look at the Duomo with its pink, green and white facade. Inside we admired the tall grey and white striped pillars.



After driving home, we had dinner at the Castello again. Afterwards we had fun suggesting songs for Laura to play at her wedding party.

It was a fun day!

Wednesday 5 June, another day by the pool

After our tiring day trip to Florence, we were happy to spend a day relaxing by the pool. I was rather late up at 8.30, not as early as David and Cheri.

For breakfast we had lovely muesli and berries, plus yogurt and coffee. We had a bit of trouble with the various Italian coffee makers. The younger people were a bit late getting up.

Lesley and David, David N and Cheri drove to San Gimignano in David H's rental car. Later on, Robbie, Laura and Kathryn emerged and set off in Robbie's hire car.

Richard and stayed behind and I took my art things up to the loggia and did some sketching and painting - a view of the Tuscan landscape and a pink rose from the courtyard.




In the evening, we enjoyed dinner at Il Corno, a very nice agriturismo restaurant a short drive away. I had onion and orange salad, and shared a steak and potatoes with Richard and Robbie.

A pleasant day again.

Tuesday 4 June 2019, a day in Florence

Today, Laura got up early and drove Dan to Florence airport as he had to return early. We missed him.

We had a late breakfast before taking the car and the local bus from Bargino to Florence. It arrived 20 minutes late and was a slow journey.


On arrival, we were hot and dying for a coffee so we found an outdoor cafe near the bus station and Santa Maria Novella train station. Then we went to look round the church, which had some beautiful frescoes. We also walked through the cloisters.



We then had lunch at Bracieri Malatesta, a very pleasant restaurant  suggested by Laura, with good service. I had a large pizza.

The Baptistery, Duomo and Campanile

After lunch, we walked towards the Duomo. There were very long queues to go in, so we just looked at the impressive Baptistery doors and the beautiful facade.


Then we walked along by the River Arno. We also visited Orsanmichele, a former granary and church. Inside we sat down for a welcome rest and admired the painting of the Madonna in the tabernacle.


Next, we walked along to look at the famous Ponte Vecchio and walked halfway across it. It was very crowded and we just looked at the shop windows.  We had a welcome drink on the Piazza della Signoria.

We had some trouble finding the bus stop for our return journey, and eventually walked to the bus station where we found a bus to Bargino. From there we drove home to the Castello.




For supper, we had snacks and nice wines - some Tuscany white blends. Then straight to bed after a tiring day.

Monday 3 June 2019, at the Castello

Today we spent a relaxing day at the pool. I had two swims. We also had lunch at the Castello.






In the evening, we had a lovely catered dinner of mixed antipasti, maltagliata with tomato sauce, chicken with pine nuts and raisins plus roast potatoes, and panna cotta with fruit sauce.



It was Dan's last night at the Castello. We had a fun game of Linkee with two teams trying to find links between answers to word puzzles.

Sunday 2 June 2019, my birthday and Antinori visit

I was very excited to be celebrating my birthday with the Newtons (apart from Matthew, sadly) at Castello di Pergolato in Tuscany. I received several cards and presents, including a lovely photo album of my life highlights created by Laura with help from Richard.




I had booked lunch at Rinuccio 1180 and a wine tour at nearby Antinori vineyard, a family favourite winemaker. First we drove or walked up to the restaurant (I went by car) and found our table for ten on the terrace. Several people went for the tasting menu with matching wines.

After a lovely lunch, we also had a wine tour of the Antinori winemaking reception area and the cellars, given by Lucrezia. She mentioned that the Chianti Classico wine-growing area between Florence and Siena was one of the oldest domains in the world, and the elegant new premises had been open to the public since 2013.

Antonio was the Antinori founding father and a member of the Florentine wine-makers guild. We were able to see the extensive vineyards as we explored. We also saw how the wines were stored in oak barrels and steel tanks. Antinori produces two premier wines, the Chianti Classico  and the Villa Antinori Riserva. Now they have added a so-called Super-Tuscan to their range.






After the comprehensive tour, we experienced a tasting of three wines (the scores are mine):

 1) Vermentino Bolgheri DOC 2018 - a green-yellow white, fresh on the nose, with citrus and mineral notes. Good with raw fish, very drinkable. 9/10.

2) Villa Antinori Chianti Classico DOCG Riserva 2015 -  90% Sangiovesi, 10%  Cabernet Sauvignon. Taste of berry fruits, a strong taste. 2015 was their best year for 20 years. Intense in the mouth, spicy and tart. Julia 8/10, Richard 9/10.

3) Cont'Ugo Bolgheri DOC 2016 - 100% Merlot. A spicy intense red, still tanniny. Needs time to appreciate. 8-/10.



After the informative tour, I bought a bottle of the white Vermentino for 14 euros, before we made our way back to the Castello. In the evening, we had supper of local bread, tomato salad and beer. A memorable birthday!

Saturday 1 June 2019, Arrival at Castello di Pergolata

We were up at 8.30 in our hotel Grande Albergo Roma in Piacenza. The shower was in the bath which was a bit tricky. We went up to the 7th floor for breakfast - some nice muesli, melon and yogurt, scrambled egg and bacon, coffee and a nice apple gipfeli. It was sunny outside.

We strolled to the Duomo and went inside, where a service was taking place. Then we walked round the cloisters and through the market. I bought and wrote three postcards to my ZIWA garden-loving friends.

Then we collected our bags and car, and drove to Castello di Pergolato. Leaving Piacenza wasn't as difficult as getting in! On our arrival at 4pm sharp, we drove up a steep hill and at first we missed the Castello but eventually found the way in.

Luisa was waiting for us and showed us round. It was quite a confusing two-storey building. There was a lovely swimming pool outside with sunbeds.

We learnt that the castle was built on the foundations of a Roman Settlement in the 10th century by the Buondelmonti family, who ruled the surrounding area as the Imperial Visdomini. The feudal castle was converted to a Villa residence between 1450 and 1500.




Soon Lesley and David H, David N and Cheri, Laura and Dan, Kathryn and Robbie arrived. We chose our bedrooms - ours had a red bedspread on the first floor.




Richard and I had bought food for our first meal. It was quite tricky to find all the utensils and work out the cooking equipment, not to mention providing food for 10 people with different tastes and requirements!

Friday 31 May 2019, Setting off for Piacenza

Richard and I set off a day early to drive to the northern Italian town of Piacenza, on our way to our Tuscan Castello south-west of Florence. We left home at 10.50 towards Zug and Luzern, and then on through the Gotthard Tunnel. We had a clear view of Pilatus, Rigi and the Eiger, Monck and Jungfrau as we drove. We listened to Lang Lang on the car CD player.

There was only a ten-minute queue at the Gotthard and we emerged into bright sunlight, and we made good progress through the Ticino while listening to David Bowie.




We had no trouble at the Italian border or finding our way to Piacenza, but the one-way streets and pedestrian zones confused our GPS. Eventually we parked by the Duomo and walked to the Grande Albergo Roma, where the receptionist advised to take the ring road round to the hotel car park. We had a nice shower and went up to the rooftop bar for a drink of cold beer.  We watched the swifts swooping.




We had dinner at the hotel accompanied by a local red wine, Vignamorello La Tosa 2017 suggested by the waiter. It was dry with a full flavour. We both ate cuttlefish (rather chewy) and veal, and I  enjoyed a dessert of berry fruits with chocolate ice-cream and sauce. Yummy!




Afterwards we strolled around the town with its Duomo and castle, and I slept like a log, in spite of a party taking place upstairs!