We're here! Part 2: Spannocchia

After a few hours of driving (and what, for T, must have seemed like AGES! Did I mention she flew from the West Coast, so had crossed an additional 3 time zones in her travels?), we arrived at the drive with this little sign for the Tenuta di Spannocchia. This is where we'd be staying for the next week!



This is the looooong drive up the hill to the villa and farmhouses- we had no idea at this point that the dust on this road would become a permanent fixture on our little rental car for the week! :)



Here we are pulling up to the villa...



...alongside the long stone wall, and around the corner to the left...



...and here we are! That's our little blue rental car on the right, and our farmhouse is directly behind it.



One of the first things I remember when we pulled in was this perfectly light, sweet smell that perfumed the air. We didn't know what it was, and had to ask. Was it the jasmine surrounding our door? No, it was the linden trees in blossom! Mmm!



The farmhouse we were staying in is called Casa del Fantino, and a jockey once lived here (if I remember correctly!), which is why there's a horseshoe on the door.



This is the amazingly fabulous harvest basket and bouquet of wild- and garden- flowers we had waiting for us on the kitchen table of our little farmhouse! We made some amazing meals from this basket!



Here are AM and T in one of the bedrooms of the farmhouse! And check out their adorable shoes! :)

After dropping our stuff off we made our way over to the terrace of the villa for a glass of wine with all the other guests, then sat down to a fantastic meal.



It was clear we were newcomers to what was a very special place, with such a communal atmosphere- everything- even in those first sleepy hours!- seemed so relaxed and friendly, and just right.

We found three seats at a large table in the dining room. All the other women at the table were part of a printmaking class. Some were newbies, but many were there for their third or fourth year! They all were so nice, and all seemed to be having a wonderful time at Spannocchia.

The funny thing was, I was feeling inspired by the fact that they all traveled here from all over the US for this class, (how cool is that? I'd LOVE to do that at some point!) and they were marveling at the fact that we were there to celebrate our 30th birthdays!

I kept popping my head into their studio over the course of the week, to see their work. It was all really beautiful! (not to mention, there's something so comfortable- so normal- about wandering through a studio to look at works in progress...funny what 5 years of architecture school will do!) :)

I was just sad that we missed their gallery opening/ final presentation- that happened Friday afternoon, several hours after we took off at the crack of dawn for the airport. What I saw the day before, though was really great!