2008.06.01 Woolley Family Reunion in Tuscany

Our family decided in 2007 to plan a reunion in Tuscany. We rented Villa Zaballina in Cinciano, a hill village near the town of Poggibonsi, midway between Florence and Siena. Built over 900 years ago, it has three foot thick fortress walls. It's 1100 feet above sea level with views of Chianti Classico vineyards, olive groves, and the towers of San Gimignano. Poppies and other wild flowers were blooming everywhere we went. The ones in this picture were in a field at the villa.


This is Villa Zaballina and one of its olive groves.


From the house we could see San Gimignano in the distance. The pool was too cold for me, but the grandchildren went swimming a couple of times.


Beautiful terraced gardens led from the kitchen to the pool. The grotto and fountain were midway down.

This is the family kitchen and dining area. Next to this there is also a full stainless steel catering kitchen. We used both kitchens, which were equipped with modern appliances. On the left is an indoor charcoal grill.

Some of the bedrooms, as well as two of the three bathrooms, were located on this hallway.

This was the bedroom where Bill and I slept!

Bill, Henry, Steve, and I visited the town of Castelina in Chianti on Monday, June 2. It was a national holiday and a local band was playing in celebration in front of the church.

On Tuesday, June 3, Guido Bandinelli (http://www.travelsintuscany.com/) picked up Jenn, Eric, Steve, Al, Bill, and me at 9:00 AM for the wine tour Jennifer, Eric, Pamela, and Henry gave Bill and me for Christmas. It was a fantastic tour. Native Tuscan Guido was an excellent guide and provided historical and economic background information as we drove to the three wineries and their surrounding sites: 1) Poggio Antigo Winery in Montalcino; the Sant’ Antimo Abby, a simple 12th Century Benedictine Roman-style church; and a view of the walled town of Castelnuova dell ’Abate; 2) Lunch at the Taverna dei Barbi and wine tour and tasting at Fatroria dei Barbi-Proprieta’ Cinelli Colombini; 3) Fanti Tenuta San Filippo. This is the cellar at Poggio Antigo.

Brunello is the top wine of the region, and they only make it in very good years. The grapes are used for other wines, which are also quite nice, in the years they don't make the Brunello. In this photo Allen is looking at one of the wine shops in Montalcino.

These are typical streets in Montalcino.

On Wednesday, June 4, we hung out at the villa until about 11:00 and then the whole family, in four cars, caravanned to Siena. We went into the Duomo and then walked up to the campo, the square where the famous horse race, Il Palio, is run twice each summer. The people of Siena identify most strongly with their neighborhoods, called contrada, rather than with the city of Siena or the country of Italy. The horse races are contests among the contrada, each of which has it's flag and symbol (eagle, dragon, tower, caterpillar, unicorn, panther, seashell, etc.). The kids enjoyed finding the symbols in various places, such as statues and street markers on sides of buildings.

This is the campo, where Bill found us three adjacent empty tables under umbrellas at one of the restaurants. No sooner had we sat down than it began to pour rain, but the umbrellas kept us (mostly) dry. By the time we finished eating the sky was blue again.

This is the duomo in Siena.

Bill and I rented this little Fiat Punta. I drove, Bill navigated, and Henry had a car seat in back. Fortunately, Bill has a great sense of direction and reads maps and signs like a pro. Even with all that skill, getting from one place to another was plenty challenging at times.

On Thursday, June 5, Bill, Henry, and I went to Volterra. Henry had already been there with Maria, Mindy, Anna, Kate, Amanda, and Sophie on the day the rest of us went on the wine and history tour with Guido. However, he elected to return to Volterra rather than dip into that cold pool at the villa again. This view is from the wall in Volterra.

This Etruscan gate is one of the oldest structures in Itay. During World War II the Germans were going to blow it up to keep the Allies from entering the city. The residents of Volterra asked permission to brick it up so that it wouldn't be destroyed and the Germans agreed. After the war they removed the bricks from the gate they had preserved.

Volterra is a center for artists creating beautiful pieces--both large and small--from alabaster quarried nearby. It's hard to pass up all the wonderful things in the shops, but with the Ryanair weight limit of 15 kilograms (about 33 pounds) and the weak dollar to euro exchange rate, we emerged with only one wedding gift and three alabaster eggs. Several artists like this guy were working out in the open air on the plaza.


We spent our last night in Pisa along with Steve and Maria's family. It's a tourist zoo, but still worth the doing. We flew back to Brussels from there. Actually, since Brussels was fogged in we ended up in Liege. Pamela came to get us and we spent another very nice weekend with her before flying back to Chicago.