The Greatest of These by Greg Wendleton (booksvooks txt) 📕

that directed us to Firenze. I remember Fonda giving me her most sincere look and saying “Babe, that’s the Italian spelling. We call it Florence. Bless your heart.” I love it when she takes pity on me.

We checked into our hotel in Firenze and I was never more thankful to have parked a car in my life. I’ve never seen more roundabouts, motorcycles, motor scooters and crazy ass drivers concentrated in one place before. Thankfully we had only one day scheduled in Florence before we headed further into the Tuscany region to establish base camp in Siena. So, we left the car parked and headed out for dinner, wine and more Stracciatella. We found a sidewalk café a few blocks from our hotel and had a great pasta dish that I couldn’t pronounce then and still can’t to this day. We finished a bottle of Rosso Brunello and then meandered about looking for gelato.

After our romantic meal and walk we returned to our hotel for a nightcap and then franticly stumbled into our room leaving a trail of garments throughout the finely appointed spaces. The morning sun seemed to burst through the windows early and powerfully. As it turned out it wasn’t that early and the curtains were wide open. If there were any peepers out there last night, I hope they enjoyed the show! Since we were in the city of naked statues, I guess they didn’t see anything they hadn’t seen before.

We did our touristy things and then in mid-afternoon retrieved our car and headed south to the historic and beautiful city of Siena. I had planned to stay in Siena for three nights so that we could explore the city and also use it as a base of operations for driving into the wine country. We checked in to the Hotel Athena in the center of the historic district of Siena and fell in love with the ancient city and its history. For two days we meandered through the very narrow streets, getting lost several times, and tried to immerse ourselves in the local culture.

Honestly, getting lost were the best parts of our adventure. We always found someone willing to guide us back to a familiar landmark or give us directions to a main street. Most of the streets were for pedestrians so we had little fear of being run over like we had in Florence. So, slow walks, window shopping, shopping shopping and stopping for wine or appetizers was a true pleasure. In fact, we discovered a fabulous wine shop and cellar trying to find our way back to the Hotel Athena on our second day. This was when we met Federico Pieri, the proprietor of Cantina del Brunello di Montalcino on Via della Sapienza, Federico did his best to educate us; he made us wine enthusiasts of the region’s finest, Brunello di Montalcino. This experience easily ranked in my Top Ten, best moments ever list. The finest Italian wine I have ever tasted and the next village that we would have to visit was Montalcino. We bought a case of various labels and had it shipped to our home in San Antonio knowing we had made a new friend.

After a candlelight dinner that night at Ristorante Tar Tufo, we walked back to our hotel and planned to arise early the next morning, head into the wine country and of course, the village of Montalcino. What a day we had. The scenery, the people we met, the shops we ambled through, those exquisite Tuscan linens Fonda purchased were instant heirlooms. The cafés and wine bars we sat in were all beyond my comprehension. We sat outside and dined on bruschetta, antipasti, gnocchi and other wonderful delights. We paired our food with various wine flights and not surprisingly, we purchased more bottles of Brunello di Montalcino to be shipped home. I began to wonder where we would store all the wine we had purchased and we talked about having a wine cellar built in our home. Of course, we don’t have a basement, so maybe a wine closet would suffice.

Fonda and I were in love with Italy and started having conversations about how we could purchase a home in this beautiful country. Maybe we should plan to retire in Italy. Of course, we had barely begun our work lives and here we were talking about retirement. It’s never too early to start planning, especially when you lead a duplicitous life. Or is it even something I should be thinking about at all?

Rome was the final leg of our Italian holiday. I had planned to keep our rental car for another three days while we were in Rome, but after driving in Firenze, I decided to return the Mercedes early. No need to take chances with the strict damage rules they have on rental cars in Europe. So, we dropped off the car at the airport. I kissed the pavement in thanks for a safe return and we took a cab to our hotel in the heart of Rome.

The Grand Hotel Palace Rome on the Via Veneto was within walking distance of the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain and many of the main attractions in Rome. Conveniently, the American Embassy was located across the street. Something for a knucklehead like me to keep in the back of my head. Anyway, the beautiful hotel, designed by noted Italian architect Marcello Piacentini, was built in the 1920’s, so it was a new hotel by Italian standards.

Again, we spent two full days visiting the usual attractions, the Colosseum, the Forum, Saint Peter’s Basilica and Vatican City. We also wandered the side streets drinking Aperol Spritz and dining on Carbonara and seafood. When each day was complete, we sat in the large bath tub soaking our tired muscles and relaxing with more wine. Finally, after eleven day of traveling the highways and sidewalks of Italy it was time to return to our hometown.

The return trip took thirty-two hours, but eighteen of them were