A Pool, A Ghost Town, and a Private Chef

You may be wondering what a pool, a ghost town, and a private chef have in common. Well it's really all that happened on a lovely Friday in Italy. I really wanted to relax a little since our days were filling up with things very quickly and I felt like we hadn't really had much of a chance to sit back and relax yet. We grabbed our sunscreen, books, and some water and went down to the pool to relax a bit. It was pretty hot out and the pool was unheated, so I sat on the edge of the pool with my feet in the water to cool off. Chris felt that it was then his job to get my into the freezing cold water. I had to ask him a few times before he backed off, but it was all in good fun. Then, as I sat there staring off into the distance, I realized that I was kind of bored, so we decided to run off to another small village called Chianni which was suggested as a quick trip and a place close by that we could make it to and back in time for our Chef to arrive. We hopped in the car and took off down and up all of the hills and roads and wind all around and up and down. I have been having to carry nauzene tablets with me wherever I go, because if its not the Italian food filling me up, it's the roller coaster rides we go on every time we get into the car. We were able to find Chianni, but parking was very limited, so we ended up finding a spot that was right by the road out of town and then decided to walk through Chianni. The weird thing about this small little village is that there seemed to be no one around at all. It was about 3pm when we got there and Chris and I figured we would see if we could find a place to have a snack. We quickly started to realize that the Italians take a fiesta between lunch and dinner and dinner doesn't start until 7pm. So no restaurant in Tuscany is open for dinner before 7pm unless it is in a touristy area.

Chianni is not one of the biggest or most visited areas, so it was literally like we had entered a ghost town and it truly didn't feel right. I was worried and felt like we should leave. Chris doesn't worry like me though, so we continued walking through. We found a really cool little cobblestone alley way and at the top was an old Italian woman sitting in a rocking chair smiling at us. We told her BonJorno, which in Italian means "Good Day". She responded with the same as we passed her. We kept walking through the village and we found these steps so we went up them and at the top was this tiny little grassy area. It had a great view, but that was about it. We took some pictures and then started heading down a road that we quickly realized was a highway, so we turned back.

On our way back to our car, we passed by a bar where several Italian men were hanging out. We walked right through the area in between their chairs and one of the Italians smiled and said Bonjorno, we responded with the same, but again I had this weird feeling that we should move on, so we headed back to the car and back to the hotel to get things cleaned up and ready for the Chef to arrive.

Around the time the Chef was meant to arrive, we went down to the lobby/reception area and hung out down there until the Chef arrived. She only spoke Italian, so we silently lead her up to our hotel room. She was an older woman, probably in the 60s or so. She had an older gentleman with her that helped he carry her things to the room who also only spoke Italian. Chris and I tried to communicate with her,but it was very difficult as she did not really want to try to understand us. She didn't try until after the dinner when Chris gave her a tip.

The dinner was good, but not the greatest and Chris and I decided it wasn't worth the money, especially after experiencing the local restaurants with way better food and great service.

The private chef provided us with an appetizer of meats and cheeses which is very much the norm her in Italy. They were really good though, and more fancy then the usual meats and cheeses that they serve everywhere. After that we had a Risoto dish with leeks and sausage that was flavored with a chicken broth. It was very tasty. Lastly she made baked fish with vegetables and potatoes which was the part of the meal that I wasn't too thrilled about, but it was okay.

Chris and I decided to eat the first part of our meal outside, but it gets so chilly at night at this time of year her that I needed a lot of layers to be comfortable. Well, then the bugs started at us. Black flies were making it into the kitchen and they were flying around our heads. I couldn't handle it, so we moved inside and finished our meal inside the condo, but by that point it was too late. 20 flies or more had made their home in our kitchen and since their buzz is so similar to a bee, I can't handle them being around. My wonderful new husband helped me kill every last one of them, he even said it would be a fun game and something to do. Once we thought we had them all. Chris said he was ansy and needed to move, so we walked down the road a few condos and saw some of our new friends sitting outside, so we joined them and had a nice time chatting until about midnight or so and then we headed to bed as our friends were doing as well since they were leaving the next day. Christy was one of our new friends and she knows of a person who self-published on amazon and is doing well, so I told her I would get into contact with her friend so I can get some ideas about self publishing my book. Christy also invited Chris and I to her friend's winery that is about 30 minutes from Florence and if we have time, we plan on taking her up on that. Charlie was part of their group as well, he seems like a good 'ol chap, not that he's old or anything, he is a sales person for Hilton Grand Vacations, so he is a great resource and he's also a fun and nice guy. Gay was traveling with them as well, she was a lovely woman, and so sweet. I really liked her. She offered to look over/read/edit my book. It's always nice meeting good people on you travels!