Day 7 Pisa

Today we awoke to a wonderful organic breakfast put on by our wonderful caretaker, Graziano. We are the only ones staying at the villa (only 4 rooms) and it feels like our home. We decided to try to drive to Pisa to see the leaning tower and some of the tuscan country side. It was a bit scary driving through Pisa but John did it and we somehow made it so close to the tower (without a map) that we only had to walk a block to see it. We saw the leaning tower of pisa! It was awesome! It actually made me laugh because it really leans far! You could climb to the top but it comes with a 15 euro fee and we were fine admiring it from the ground :-) The whole area is called the "Field of Miracles" It consists of a duomo (cathedral), baptisery, cemetary and the leaning tower, which is the bell tower. All of this is scattered on a huge field of green grass. On the grass were tourists posing for pictures and locals enjoying a picnic. We did the touristy pose of "holding up" the tower. It was so much fun. After seeing the tower we did a little shopping and then headed back to our villa to enjoy our dinner (Pisa is 90 km away-about 55 miles). We got back to our villa and enjoyed some wine on the terrace while admiring the view of Florence. We were served dinner at 6:45pm and it was one of the best experiences of my life. Graziano cooked in front of us homemade pasta (he had been cooking the sauce all day-using tomatoes and red peppers from the garden). We ate heartily. Our second course consisted of steak and fried zuccini and potatoes-delicious. Lastly he served us his home-made tiramisu. That was like nothing I had tasted before. All the while he told us about the Yonnetti name. He said that he believes Yonnetti was originally spelled "Ionnetti" or even possibly "Jionnetti". He also said that names that end with "i" generally come from the region of Puglia which is above Calabria. He said that names ending in "o's and a's" usually come from Calabria region and "o's" also come from Sicily. Him telling us the correct pronunciation of Yonnetti and about our name's history brought tears to my eyes. It was incredible. Of course that story doesn't top John and JoAnne's experience in Calabria. When they went to Calabria found the village John's great-grandmother was born in and even found her birth certificate! They were able to make copies of it and made tons of friends there as well. You will have to have them tell you the story-it gives me chills. So we ate dinner until 10pm talking with Graziano and enjoying good Chianti. It was unforgettable. I will miss this place and will definitely return again. It would be a great place to go with family and enjoy the tuscan countryside. (there is a pool Maddy!). We leave for Venice tomorrow so I may not be able to post after today. We will try but if not, love to you all and we will see you when we return! Ciao!!!