Fiesole by Sonja
Spring has made an early triumph over winter in Florence this year. It’s good news for me: after spending the past few months cooped-up in my Italian homestay, it is time to pitch my umbrella in the back of my closet and spend all the time I have left on weekend jaunts to the million destinations around Tuscany that make for perfect day-trips.
The first beautiful spring weekend that we had, I was out of the house before nine to meet up with Federico and Filippo (two of the FFF tour guides) for a scenic (not to mention healthy) hike through the hill side paesaggio around Fiesole.
Fiesole is the sight of an ancient Etruscan city which in more recent years has become home to the villa’s of millionaires across Europe. Considering the stunning view of Florence, it doesn’t come as much of a surprise that the crème de la crème would plunk themselves down here.
After a bus ride up the hill (during which Federico made sure we were all watching our pockets; apparently number seven is the most famous pick-pocket sight in Florence) we headed up towards the spot from which Leonardo launched his flying-machine–or rather the point from which he had (forced) one of his slaves to test-drive the contraption off a hill. Filippo explained that the test drive wasn’t terribly successful and the slave ended up with a decent number of broken bones.
As we continued down the road to Vincigliata Castle, we saw locals picking wild asparagus in the woods along the path. Rumor has it that Bianca Vincigliata (Tuscany’s version of Juliette) was so beautiful that men came from near and far to court her, but she had to fall in love with an enemy of the family. They decided to escape together, but as Bianca waited for her lover in the tower of the castle, she saw him get murdered by her brothers. According to the legend she died of a broken heart and her ghost still haunts the halls of the castle and is the protector of impossible loves. Today the castle is a popular spot for weddings.
We were all getting pretty hungry as we wound down the path towards the Fattoria Maiano. A farm a few kilometers east of Fiesole which has been the set for films such as Tea with Mussolini and A Room with a View. At a nearby restaurant (home of Tuscany’s best olive oil) we sat down for our Tuscan barbeque. The meal was delicious and filling in the way culinary experiences in Italy should always be.
The people on the trip were students (of all ages) and most of them were studying Italian here in Florence. The meal was a great chance for us to practice speaking with each other, and also with native Italian speakers. Federico and Filippo were patient and good humored about explaining everything in Italian (as many times as we needed to hear it) and helping us to get our own little anecdotes out, too.
All-in-all it was a great trip. With my tummy happily full of Tuscan barbeque, a bit of sun in my winter-white cheeks, and a list of e-mail addresses from all the fun new people I’d met, we came back down the hill, excited for next weekend’s trip.