Monday Morning On the Road
Along the way from Carrara we had seen some interesting places (especially some signs for wineries, mainly around the area of Terricciola) and decided to go back in that direction on Monday morning.
The Initial Route from Podere San Lorenzo
Leaving the Podere San Lorenzo and driving back toward Terricciola.
We headed up the driveway and when we reached the "main road," the Borgo San Lazzero (SR68), we turned left (east), away from the town of Volterra.
Then we turned left (north) back onto the SR439dir, on a section that we had not been on during our drive on Sunday.
The Red Ring
is pictured in the photos below, and is located in approximately the location pointed to in this map.
The next two maps show the overall route between the agritursmo and Terricciola.
The route from the Podere San Lorenzo to Terricciola.
Once we passed the Via Pisana, we were once again on the section of the road that we had been on during our drive on Sunday.
Tuscan Countryside
We hadn't gone very far on the Borgo San Lazzero before we came to an area where we could pull over and get some photos.
The Red Ring
Next to the area where we took those photos was this big red ring. We don't know what it is or why it was there. There was no sign or anything else to give us a clue.
Sunflowers
We continued on our way and soon came across some sunflowers.
As you will see, we will find many more.
These two photos show some typical Tuscan views, with the farmhouse, sunflowers and Italian cypress trees. We bought a hand-painted vase in Volterra with a similar scene.
More Tuscan Countryside
The photos below are more scenes along the way.
Grape Vines
More Tuscan Countryside
We don't know what kind of nut or fruit this was.
An Italian Grocery Store
Inside a grocery store. Some kind of devices to allow you to scan the prices on the products you are buying. In 2009, our local grocery store started using a similar system.
Bread
The meat counter
Frozen seafood
Frozen seafood
Frozen seafood
Frozen seafood
This gives some idea of how the Italians view us Americans
A case full of frozen octopus
More Tuscan Countryside
More hay bales
School bus
School bus
School bus
This is a close-up of the building you can seein the photo to the left.
Wineries and Vineyards
We found some interesting places and things, but our timing was bad and most of the places were not open, so we decided to come back this way on Tuesday.
One of the wineries we discovered.
Sorelle Palazzi
One place we found that was open was the Sorelle Palazzi, a winery in Terricciola.
The phrase Vendita Diretta
on the sign means that you can buy directly from the producer.
We drove into the driveway and someone pointed to where we should park, and then got someone to help us.
The woman who helped us didn't speak much English, but we managed to get a very nice wine tasting, along with the olive oil they make.
She provided some bread and parmesan cheese for us to eat with the tasting.
The chianti they made was very good, and I liked it better than other chiantis I tasted in the Chianti region.
We bought a bottle of the chianti and a bottle of the olive oil.
More Sunflowers
A larger, more mature field of sunflowers.
Those big sunflowers sure shed a lot of pollen.
Karen communing with the sunflowers.
A Shrine
Here is a roadside shrine we found along the way back to the agriturismo.
More Tuscan Countryside
Here is a view of the Podere San Lorenzo as we came down the long winding driveway.
Our First Cooking Class
When we returned to the Podere San Lorenzo, Giulietta was waiting for us.
She is the woman who runs the Fagiolari agriturismo that we had first found out about that offers cooking lessons.
The woman who runs the Podere San Lorenzo, Marinella, is her twin sister and was away at Valencia, Spain to watch the America's Cup yacht races.
So Giulietta was there to fill in for her.
We spent a couple of hours cooking, including a pork roast cooked in milk, took a break while the pork finished cooking, and then came back to have dinner.
Another couple that was staying there must have paid extra for meals because they joined us for dinner.
They were surprised when they found out that we had cooked it, but seemed to like the meal as much as we did.
After dinner we were on our own and relaxed on the grounds of the agriturismo.
