Fattoria La Sciolta & San Gimignano, Italy (September 20, 2009)

On Sunday we woke up and took a walk around our villa before heading to San Gimignano for the day. We decided to take the opportunity to shoot some portraits of each other. The rusty old tractor made for a great prop.









On our way to San Gimignano we found the perfect Tuscan road to take a few more portraits.







San Gimignano is an amazing place. I could have stayed there all week. It also made for the perfect place for a backdrop for more portraits. The city was founded as a small village in the 3rd century BC by the Etruscans. During the Middle Ages and Renaissance era it was a stopping point for Catholic pilgrims on their way to Rome and the Vatican. Of the 72 towers in the city only 15 remain.









A few of the remaining towers.

Florence, Italy & Fattoria La Sciolta (September 19, 2009)

We woke up the next morning and made our way back to the Dumo so that we could take a look at the inside.









After a quick look we headed back to the room, packed up our things and made our way to the airport to meet up with my Mom, Aunt Sherry, Barbara & Brad. We also picked up our car for the week, the ever so spacious Nissan Micra.



We drove to our farmhouse, Fattoria La Sciolta, in Gambassi Terme to meet up with our group of 16 family & friends. Fattoria La Sciolta is an early 1900 farmhouse we rented for the week. It was used for many years as a hunting lodge for Vasco Magrini & his friend Benito Mussolini. Vasco Magrini was a famous Florentine aviator and was also well knows as a winner of several car races and air competitions. We all know what role Mussolini played in Italy. It was a little strange to think that I may have slept in the same bedroom as Mussolini.











That evening we had a wonderful meal prepared for us by a local Italian.