Hello from Terrell, Texas….

We had a planned excursion today that had poor Tulio, our bus driver, a wreck.  Caught in a terrible traffic jamb he arrived forty-five minutes late to our hotel.

At the beginning of the week is a huge fashion expo, Pitti Uomo, that has fashionistas and players from all over Europe invited to see the slim suits, alpaca trench coats and sandals with socks that will be all the rage next fall. (Paolo says he already has one of those trends down!) One of the big sound trucks mowed down a cyclist this morning on a narrow road into the city center on the other side of the Arno, hence all the delays.

Once reunited with our wheels, we head out to Colle di Val d’Elsa that is the crystal making capital of Italy.  We head deep into the heart of Tuscany.  In fact, I could see up on a ridge the lovely villa where we spent some time last year, Villa Lecchi.  She is still the same rose gold and pink stucco beauty I remember so fondly.

We are touring the Collevilca factory and it is most interesting.  It is first explained that crystal has to have 24% lead.  Murano glass is just that….glass.

Mario demonstrates the making of a wine glass, pulling a blob of molten glass out of the oven and then blowing it into a mold to standardize the size of the bowl.  But he fashions the stem and base by adding and stretching in a free hand manner.  Most interesting, especially the part about no eye protection, no eye wash station, no MSDS manual and no first aid kit.

The showroom is full of the most beautiful pieces, from glassware to vases to statuary.  Rigmor did some buying but I will not squeal on what she purchased. 

We next head up into Collina Alta, a medieval part of the city built on a high ridge.  It is a city within a city and stretches over a long distance.  Our destination is the Palazzo San Lorenzo, a beautiful hotel, teetering on the edge of the ridge.  Here our chef, all of twenty-six years old, prepares a chocolate torte with espresso mousse and an easy chicken dish with raisins spiked with Vin Santo.  Of course there are tastes.

The more vigorous of our group decide to walk the long corridor and take an elevator down through solid rock to the town proper below.  The rest return to the bus and will link up with us there.

The vistas are beautiful.  It is right before noon on a weekday and we love a stroll through such a picturesque and quiet town.

But now it is lunchtime at Molina il Moro, the oldest restaurant in Italy, nine hundred years and counting.  It is also home to our group’s cooking school. A diverted stream runs through the structure that was once a gristmill. The heavy stone walls keep the temperature cool and we are amazed as our waiter runs down the steep steps laden with heavy trays.

We have a delicious, small proportioned lunch of filo bags, faggotini,  filled with brie and pears over arugula salad, pici, the short eggless pasta served a la arrabiatta with wonderful and totally natural gelato and espresso as dolce.  Eventually, sometime in the future, it may dawn on me that espresso and bus trip are not a good combination as espresso can replace Lasix as a diuretic any day.

We are thirty minutes away from Siena and I have already posted about the history there.  Rita was our guide today and while she was totally charming she has that brusque, no nonsense way of the Sienese about her.  We had beautiful weather with just the threat of rain and clouds so low you felt you could touch them.

We arrive home after 6:30 and once finished with our usual wifi struggles we decided we should eat something before the Italians come out.  It is already after 8:00 and we decide to visit our neighbor Trattoria da Tito.  We were warned about Tito when we checked in.  Our room backs up to Tito's front door and it can apparently get very noisy late on the weekends. It is a favorite with the locals.

Tito's is run by cute, hip kids...in the front at least. In fact the whole vibe is cute and hip...certainly not afraid to voice the Florentine distaste for overcooked meat and cappuccino after 10:30 AM!

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We have no reservation, but they take pity on us and give us a table but warn us that we have to be out before their next seating.  We promise to eat little and fast.  While we are enjoying rare steak sliced over mixed greens with a balsamic glaze we hear a lot of Tante Auguri birthday singing, much applause, hoots and laughter.  Someone is obviously having a very good time.

We are all paying at the bar by the entrance at the same time, the birthday girls, two Dutch who are planning to walk to Rome tomorrow, and the mothers-in-law.  It is the Dutch who ask where we are from.  At the mention of Texas, they exclaim while pointing to our party girls that they are also from Texas.

Not only from Texas, but from Austin, well, Terrell to be exact.  The two cousins are here to celebrate one's thirtieth birthday.  These girls were drunk as skunks, which was certainly helped along by the shots of Limoncello that our friendly hostess is pouring for all of us, including herself. They greet us like long lost friends.

Rigmor and I are now starring in a number of selfies taken by the girls.  I ran across the street to get my charging phone to capture the moment.  We left them installed at a table so near the front door it was practically in the street, bottle of Limoncello on the table after admonishing them to watch their purses and phones.  Boy, Tito's is really a fun place.  We are still laughing!