We landed at 8:05 a.m., a full 50 minutes a head of schedule. From landing time to baggage claim to sitting on the Leonardo Express to Termini station was exactly 55 minutes. We purchased tickets all the way to Arezzo for a total of €39. The trip in to Termini did take the 30 minutes I had heard, so we were in Termini at just about 9:30. We couldn’t find a big board, so we relied on a schedule poster to find the best train to take, and we determined that that was the 904 leaving at 10:57 from track 9. We hauled all our stuff down an escalator and up some stair to find bin 9. After we got settled, I went out to find some water. I went out the other way and found the main part of the station with the big board and all. I also found the WC for €.70. Down in the subway area I found a drugstore and bought some water for €.35 and then a couple of paninni sandwiches for €5.80. We discovered that the train was actually leaving from bin7, so we go over there and climbed right on the train.
Tired on the train to Arezzo
All indications are that this is the right train and Christine says it’s the fourth stop, but we shall see. Nevertheless we left at about 10:58 a.m. This actually was the first possible train I targeted, and I think we should get to Arezzo at 12:53 p.m. Total time from landing to on the train heading to Arezzo: 2 hours, 53 minutes. And we waited nearly an hour and a half at Termini.
Rendezvouz in Arrezzo
As Christine predicted, we arrived in Arezzo a little before one. We did make four stops along the way. We rode by ourselves in one of those six-seat compartments. I was actually able to fully stretch out over three seats. Trying to get to the main part of the station after we arrived in Arezzo, we discovered a little elevator looking thing to go down to cross under the track, so we climbed in and immediately discovered we didn’t know how to make it work. At that moment two women came up and started getting angry that we couldn’t make it work and were trying to tell us in Italian what to do, but we couldn’t understand. We tried to get out, but the door was now locked. Trapped! Finally we figured out that to get it to go down, you had to hold the button down. Only then it would move. So we escaped that one. After we got below, we decided to take the stairs to get up to the other side.
Once we got into the main station, we went outside to the front entrance to wait for Gary and Peggy. I figured it could be a minimum of an hour as I had no thought we would actually get that early of a train. While I waited for Christine to get back from the bathroom, off in the distance I saw Gary walking. I yelled for him and he could not believe we had gotten there so fast. Peggy actually got to me first and soon after Christine showed up. It was amazing to see them. After a year of planning and discussion, we had made it to Italy and connected. Let the fun and the joy begin! God is good!
The Peugeot they rented is tiny. Clearly it will hold the luggage of two of us, but never four. We will see what happens. We quickly got out of town and back on the road to the Borgo Argenina After sharing stories of the rest of their trip and what we know about what was going on back home and almost getting run over by several trucks–Apparently Italian truck drivers don’t care about much–we got tot he Borgo Argenina at around 2 p.m.
Borgo Argenina
Cypresses at the Borgo
Gary made all the arrangements at the Borgo and so I really didn’t know what to expect. I actually had no expectations at all other than the picture I had of the place in my mind after seeing the web site and hearing Gary and Peggy talk about it for two years. We are staying in a self-contained building all to ourselves which I found out much later is called Villa Oliviera. Downstairs is a kitchen and living area and upstairs we have our own private rooms. Ours has a private bath with a wicked shower head. I took a shower and Gary and Peggy prepared a light lunch of meats, cheese and bread with a Rosso di Multipuciano which we ate on our own private patio. We actually have two private patios. The view literally spans 180 degrees of cypress trees and vineyards. It was a bit cloudy, so the clouds were not totally brilliant…yet.
Next Peggy lead us on a tour of the place.
Our own private house– Villa Oliviera.
Apparently Elena was shopping in town, so Peggy showed us all she could. From what everyone says Elena is known for her detailed explanations of where to go and what to do in the area. Even got to see the bird’s nest INSIDE the house.
Chillin'
We relaxed on the patio sipping Vin Santo and Amaretto and muching on a Biscotti which apparently Elena always has available.
View from Elena's patio
We spoke with a couple from Pleasanton who just arrived, and also met Elena’s daughter. We walked up to tour the garden, and Elena arrived so I met her. Interestingly, today is the Il Palio and clearly Gary has no interest in going. As a side note I was absolutely fine with not going to Il Palio, but I definitely have a desire to see it first-hand. It is definitely high on my list of things to do in the future.
Castello di Spaltenna-the 30th Anniversary Dinner
Castello di Spaltenna near Gaiole
Our dinner reservations were at 8 at a place near Gaiole called Castello di Spaltenna–a 10th century castle. We drove past it and went too far up the hill, but finally found the castle and it was a great location.
We ate in the inner courtyard, and definitely had the power table in the dead center at the highest point. It was a tad windy and cool, but nothing could cool our excitement for this big day.
The kiss. 30 years of bliss.
The other fun couple.
Peggy and I had what they called the Tuscan menu, a prix fixe menu for €68 ($90.50) each. They brought us some complementary Spumante (Prosecco) to start then we had a bite of a fowl leg and honey for the amuse bouche. Our first course was a platter of cured meats with a liver crustino. Then the next course was a cold soup of tomatoes with eggplant caviar. The pasta course was a ravioli stuffed with papa al pomodoro, burata mozzarella and a light pesto sauce. The main course was a sirloin of chiamino beef in Tuscan style. The hot and cold dessert had three parts: a tear of ricciarlli, biscuit roll of siena paneparto, and an ice cream (gelato) of some kind with chocolate drizzles on it. For their dinner Gary and Christine had a zucchini blossom dish as a starter and a risotto as a main course. Christine had a dessert that had honey–that’s all she remembers.
Christine's dessert.
The wine we had was a 2004 Podere il Palazzino La Pieza Chianti Classico from Monti a town near the Borgo. The entire meal for us was €138.50, about $90 each. We were the last ones there and must have left about 11 and drove back to the Borgo where we sat out on our patio and had a glass of lemoncello until almost midnight. We also walked over and checked out the moon from Elena’s main patio. The cool thing was when we all saw a shooting star from our patio. It was up long enough for someone to say look, and every one still had enough time to find and see it.
Took TWO Tylenol PM and went to sleep. The goal on night one is to get through it with out waking up.
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