We started off our 7 day Tuscany 2.0 trip on Friday morning by meeting the group of 24 in Florence. We had lunch in Florence and shopped for a few hours. We went to the leather school (Scuola Del Cuoio). It is in a 14th century monastery which started after World War II to teach orphan kids leather-working skills. It is still a family run business. When we left Florence it was a magical,beautiful,quick ride to the villa. ://www.borgopetrognano.com/en/ It is the the Tuscan region and the closet town is Barberino-Tavarnelle . Dinner that night was delicious at the villa with some violin players. Steps-11934 Floors-7

Saturday we went to a Benedictine Monastery(Badia a Passignano) .https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vallombrosians It was most interesting. Located in the heart of Chianti Classico, the Abbey of Passignano is a medieval monastery that was founded in 395 A.D. by the Archbishop of Florence.
Today, the Abbey is a working monastery of the Vallombrosan Order whose monks safeguard its cultural and historical heritage and valuable artifacts. Galileo Galilei was involved as a teacher there in 1587. Anish is an Indian monk who lives there and was our tour guide. Also In the Abbey we were able to see the wonderful monastic where the frescoes “The Last Supper” made by Domenico Ghirlandaio. Painted in 1476, the massive (34 feet wide and 11 feet high) Last Supper in the Badia’s refectory was the first of three by Ghirlandaio, who was a contemporary of Botticelli and taught Michelangelo! With detailed and realistic portraits of the apostles and the meal itself—loaves of bread, carafes of wine—the fresco continues the Florentine tradition of visually extending refectory walls with Last Supper scenes so that monks may reflect while dining as if with Jesus in the same room.

We then had a 3 hour lunch la Cantinetta di Rignana. https://www.lacantinettadirignana.com/en/restaurant/

It was in middle of nowhere and had amazing views and delicious food.

The winery we toured next was a small family business. Renzo Marinai uses French oak barrels and Mozart music is played gently in the background. Dinner was 2.5 hours at Paolo’s in Tavernelle. (Caffe degli Amici) . It is very local and delish.

Steps-4442 floors-3

Sunday we did a walking tour of Lucca followed by 3 hour Lunch at Buca di San Tantonio https://www.bucadisantantonio.com/en/ Lucca is an Renaissance-era city walls and its very well preserved. The tower dates back to the 14th century and many movies have been filmed there. We then walked to a fun and very interactive cooking school https://www.cucina-italiana.com/. We made biscotti and tiramisu!

Dinner was at L’ Archbugio https://robertstjohn.com/recipe/quatro-frommagio-pizza/ . The most delicious thin crust pizza!

Steps-7614 Floors-5