Best Day

Friday was the best day of my life.  I think that pretty much sums it up.  I checked the weather for our region the night before, and it was supposed to be a high of 66 and sunny all day.  My roommates and I decided to bust out the sun dresses.  I chose a bright yellow dress, my favorite one.  I also wore my new bright coral flats from Venice that have flowers on them.  I made the executive decision to leave all jackets at Santa Chiara.  You may think these are irrelevant details, but these choices lead to all my dreams coming true in the form of the best day of my life. 

The plan for Friday included meeting with an architect at a resort she renovated, having lunch cooked by a wonderful chef, and going to a vineyard for a wine tasting.  We took a morning stroll to wear we were meeting our bus, and as we were going downhill all the school kids were walking uphill.  We got some strange looks from pretty much every Italian that walked or drove past us, because they were all bundled up in the 45 degree morning, and we were dressed for a summer pool party.  It was a brisk morning, I’ll admit, but nothing I can’t handle. 

We hopped on the bus, I fell asleep, and when I woke up we were in the most beautiful area I have ever seen.  I thought I had become numb to the breathtaking scenery that surrounds me everywhere I have been in Italy, but this was something else.  We had arrived at Borgo Finocchieto, a place that had once been a village, but has been renovated into an amazing resort.  It is just south of Sienna, about an hour and a half north of Castiglion Fiorentino.  We watched a video on the restoration, and it has an amazing history.  They interviewed a man that lived there from his birth in 1923 until it started collapsing in 1983.  He now lives just down the street and is 88 years old.  In the video we watched, he talked about how there used to be stables on the main level, and about where he lived – in one of the buildings with 60 other people.  The buildings that had once crammed poor Italian farmers into tight spaces are now high class apartments that rent for up to 21,000 euro/week.  And they’re worth it.  Pictures will have to describe what I saw, because everything was so beautiful I can’t put it into words.

When we first met the architect, we were standing outside the main building.  We were listening to her talk about the history and some background on the project, and all of a sudden a fighter jet flew right over our heads!  The manager of the resort, Marco, told us we were close to the Air Force Base, assuming American.  A few minutes later another one flew over head – this one fully armed with missiles on either side.  Sweet!  They must have known we were coming and did a fly over just for us!

We toured the site before going into buildings, and as we stood in the warm sunshine we all agreed we made a wise choice with the dresses.  We saw beautiful views from every part of the site – it sits up on a hill that has a historic castle on it too, so you can imagine how it’s prime real estate.  There were a couple artists with easels out painting the sites.  We walked around the vast green grassy fields, saw the tennis and basketball courts, saw the sleek oval shaped pool that overlooks the valley, and went inside the work-out room (which I would dare to call a complex).  The work-out room was fully stocked with everything you’d need to work off all the delicious Italian food.  The weights are right by the window that overlooks the pool and valley below – I’d work out every day if I had that set up!  We went back into the locker rooms, where they have everything from a hot tub and sauna to a cold plunge and steam room.  Not to mention it is all curvy walls and modern and pretty.

After the tour of the site, we went inside the buildings.  We saw some of the rooms that you can rent out, all looking pretty five-star to me.  There are living rooms and kitchens and studies and big-screen tv’s for the guests.  They kept the original architecture as much as possible, including one of the buildings that was built with rammed-earth walls.  They did some tricks, such as a solid wood beam (that spans much farther than it should) has a steel wide flange inserted into it, hidden into the original design.

Enough of that, next we watched the video I talked about that had the history and some of the restoration process.  After the video we asked the architect some questions, and then it was time for lunch!  They had prepared one long table in the courtyard for us to eat at.  It was on a porch overlooking a fountain, reflection pool and garden area, and all the scenery past that.  We had an antipasta of veggies and cheeses and meats, all in weird combinations with odd sauces and all delicious.  Next we had ragu penne pasta with WILD BOAR meat. Yum.  For dessert they brought out a beautifully presented strawberry shortcake-like thing.  It was like a pound cake, with ice cream in the middle of the cake, strawberries all over the top, whipped cream and a sweet little chocolate spike on top.  I think they used Hershey’s shell syrup to make the little accents.

With all the wine you can drink, you can imagine there were a few spills of the day.  Our professor, Chip, knocked over a wine glass and it shattered – way to go, teach’!  My spill of the day was actually intentional.  I was so thirsty I poured myself a huge glass of water from one of the bottles.  Unfortunately it turned out to be the sparkling water.  I tried to chug it, but all the bubbles were too hard to get down.  I decided to pour it out under the table.  I sneakily made sure everyone around me had picked up their bags, and I lifted our clean white table cloth and slowly poured my glass out, creating a puddle underneath the perfectly set table.  Later that afternoon I did find some red sauce on my white cardigan, no idea how it got there. 

After we stuffed ourselves with the wonderful food, we walked out to the edge of the property and basked in the sun.  Well some people basked.  I chose to frolic around in the surreal atmosphere I was in – we hopped over the string that fenced in the clean cut grass and adventured into the tall grass on the hill.  This was the height of my day.  Of my life.  I was in my favorite dress with my favorite new shoes running through lush green grass in perfect weather at an amazing resort after eating an amazing meal, in Italy.  I even belted out some “Sound of Music” while I was spinning on the hill.  There are plenty of pictures to give you a better idea, and plenty of new profile pics for me!  Unfortunately, we had to snap back to reality and realize that time ticks on, and we had another appointment to make – a wine tasting just down the street.  We all slowly made our way to the bus and said goodbye to paradise. 

We had been told that at the next place we would have to walk about a mile, because the bus can only go so far.  Walking a mile was no big deal, seeing as we walk more than that to get to La Pievuccia, our site for studio.  When we came to a dirt road with a woman flagging us down, we saw the mile we were going to have to walk – all uphill.  We began walking up the hill, and the steeper the incline got the happier I was with my wardrobe choice.  If I had been wearing much more I might have had a heat stroke.  It was still beautiful and wonderful and so awesome, just a little more strenuous than expected.  Didn’t put a damper on the perfect day though, considering the landscape we were walking through.  When we got to the top of the hill the woman, Analise, goes, “Oh, you wish it was this house! Keep going!” So we walked another half mile or so, and finally arrived at her house. 

This was another historical building.  It used to be a monastery, and then a convent, and now is her home and vineyard.  She told us about her history, how her and her husband moved there, looked out at the land and asked, “A fourth child, or wine?”  They chose to plant some grapes and see how it goes.  They struck gold and now produce 4000-5000 bottles each year.  We saw the cellar, and then went in the church that is attached to her house.  The church has enough room for about 30 people, and that would be pushing it.  It’s very small, and still has all the original architecture and even some original furniture.  She told us that she sometimes has a priest come and do Mass, on special occasions such as before and after harvest. 

The wine tasting was very casual, probably because she had 30 college students with her.  We tried one red wine, and it was very good – I think as a whole we bought the rest of her stock for the year.  We all just hung around and talked, and refilled our glasses as much as we wanted.  I was just thrilled that there were saltine crackers and natural water.

After the wine tasting we hiked back down the hill, got on the bus, and I fell asleep until we were pulling into Castiglion Fiorentino.  We took a quick nap before dinner, ate pasta with olives, potato quiche, and even got a blood orange for dessert.  I showered, watched a movie (The American – warning, very confusing and depressing), and now I’m about to hit the sack.

What a perfect day.  Best day ever.  Wish I could relive it.  Saturday we plan to go to Orvieto for a battle between the two schools on the soccer field.  We plan on losing – already accepting it.  In the evening we’ll be wearing our masks and parading around Orvieto for a jolly good time with all the K-State kiddos in Italy. Hoorah!

Cara Marie