Monday morning we checked out of the hotel in Nice and headed for the autoroute, or autostrada as they say in Italy. The tollway in this part of the world runs through seemingly endless tunnels connected by viaducts running high above the deep valleys that plunge into the sea. Some tunnels were so long that the weather changed when exiting on the other side.
We passed around Genova and exited just south where a couple of seaside towns hugged the coast. This one, Sestri Levante, is where the unwell Lord Byron rested for a year on his yacht Bolivar anchored in the Baia del Silenzio or the Bay of Silence. He claimed that the cod fish and wine revived him, perhaps it was the serenity and beauty of the Italian Riviera.
It revived us after several hours on the autostrada, or maybe the coffee revived us. In any case, we were ready to mingle, once again, with the Italian drivers speeding g along at 130+ km/h.
We reached our hotel safely. Nestled in the northern edge of the Tuscan hills, Villa Sonnino located just outside the village of San Miniato welcomed us. Peaceful and bucolic, simply wonderful after Nice.
Dating to the period of Frederico, San Miniato is ideally situated to govern the ancient road from Florence to Pisa and the passage Valdelsa and Lucca. Today, it is a very quiet hilltop town.
One narrow road leads through the center of town passing a couple of trattorias and a gelateria.
No gelato for us, though. It was time for dinner, time to try the restaurant at our villa.
Melon and prosciutto, homemade pasta in a pesto sauce, filled pasta with pears and walnuts, an Italian millefeuille pastry and the specialty dessert of the region (I already forgot the name but it was delicious), and some white wine followed by coffee was our first meal in Italy. Delicioso!
Tomorrow, we explore some Tuscan villages.
Location:La Toscana Italia
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