Vagliagli in Tuscany

 [11-25 June 1994; all photos with a date-stamp are courtesy of Dick VandenBerg]

From Umbria we drove west to Tuscany skirting Lake Trasimeno. We contacted our host for the next leg of our trip and met him at his farmhouse outside the small village of Vagliagli just north of Siena in Tuscany. 

We settled in and the following day drove to Terontola to pick up Dick and Dorothy at the train station. The four of us would spend the next two weeks exploring the wonders of northern Tuscany. 

One of the best -- probably THE best -- things about this house was it came with a lovely terrace overlooking the pool and provided great views of the valley. 

Steve, Susie and Dor, with our house in the background

drive to our house

Susie taking a break

Dor

and yes we had a pool - which also came with a swarm of bees one day

many a morning we sat out here over coffee listening to the cuckoos

The house itself was spacious and comfortable with a large sitting area that opened onto the terrace

Dorothy in the living room

Dick lighting the fireplace

Steve attempting to cook something Italian

the dining room

living area

the kitchen - outside the door on the left was a huge rosemary bush

dining and living opened onto one another in a rather grand fashion

our bedroom, which had a sealed doorway leading to the upstairs

There were a couple of quirks that took some getting used to. 

For a week there was a family of four Americans from Oklahoma staying in the top floor of our building. We could often hear them through the sealed off doorway in our bedroom. 

We quickly learned that using the washing machine or the hair dryer ran the risk of shutting off the power. 

the Brits living next door

meeting with our landlord (center) to discuss the electrical issues unique to the house

But we were in Tuscany!

Early on we walked into the village to get a sense of exactly where we were living.

One morning I took the opportunity to walk into the village to get fresh pastries for breakfast at the (only) bar in town. Little did I know that a precedent had been set and that I would bring breakfast to my wife forever afterwards. How cool is that?

We did eat one meal at the local restaurant in the village. I remember little of the food now but have pleasant memories of the experience so I suppose the food was good. The server spoke multiple languages and that impressed the four of us. Of course we also ate at home: I fixed eggplant parmigiana one night and Dick fixed pasta carbonnara.