It didn't take long to fall in love with Florence. We weren't in the city limits for an hour and I was already telling mom that "Florence was the place for me."
We checked into a beautiful farmhouse outside of Florence, La Fattoressa, on Tuesday night where we were greeted by a woman from a second story window. It was just like a movie. Her shutters opened and she popped her head out, "Buonasera!" She took us to our room which had exposed beams and french doors that opened to a garden full of terra-cotta pots overflowing with geraniums, pansies and herbs. A vegetable garden and fig tree were not far from our view either.
The house sits at the bottom of a monastery and you can see the bell tower from the cobble stone driveway. And we woke up all three mornings to the bells sounding off. Breakfast was cooked and served by the owner, a pleasant, busy elderly lady, at a large table with everyone else that was staying in the six room farmhouse. When you think of an older Italian lady cooking spaghetti in the kitchen, saying, "Mama Mia!" you picture this sweet lady. On our way out the door she squished my face, kissed both cheeks, and said "ciao bella, grazie."
Coffee so strong it'd knock you into tomorrow, kept us up and moving through the city all day. There were several families, each from a different country, staying on the farm. Lots of kids. The familiar sound of children playing made us feel at home.
Everything was so perfect we hardly even noticed that there was no air conditioning.
Bello!
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