Insouciance a Toscana

So many photos – so little bandwidth.

We migrated to Tuscany 4 days ago, and have been based at the mother ship of Italian guest “farms”, Agriturismo Savernano.

There are more expensive retreats, perhaps some with more elegant food or designer accommodations, but nothing in our experience compares to David and Eva’s hilltop refuge in the heart of Tuscany. We have tried to analyze specifically what we find so relaxing and appealing (we have been here for the last 3 years, around the same dates), and it seems to come down to the soul of this family and the way they work, live, and radiate the heart of rural Italy.

David (Daveed) is a relentless and skilled builder; he is constantly bringing value to his land, his property, his family, and his virtual Ark of all stripe – peacocks, exotic pheasants, chickens (who yield the most fabulous eggs that David scrambles each morning into creamy golden folds), ducks, swans, carp, turtles, canaries, songbirds, pony (1), donkeys (“cafe e latte”), sheep, goats (2 kids that are 3 weeks old), pigs (for Christmas dinner) and prosciutto, and rolling hills of Chianti grapes and trees bearing fruity olive oil.

David and his father restored an old farm and built the guest rooms, grounds, and winery. Each season, improvements to the circuitous road, vineyards, and orchards, the house and facilities are unceasing. Eva, with a quiet guiding hand, lovingly looks after the family and turns out comforting home-style fare and beautiful cakes and pastries for the morning side-board. Grandmother seems to have responsibility for many of the flowers.

378 readers of TripAdvisor have given Agriturismo Savernano a very deserving 5 stars – citing the obvious comforts and amenities. However what goes unstated is the feeling of enrichment, of life being fully lived, which is the real stellar quality of this unassuming 21st century sanctuary.

We occasionally debate which of the urban jewels of Italy–Rome, Venice, Firenze, even Milan, are the most beautiful and inspiring. It seems that whichever you are currently visiting steals your heart and lifts you to an inner circle of Dante’s realms:  “all’alta fantasia qui mancò possa”—”at this high moment, ability failed my capacity to describe,” Paradiso, XXXIII, 142).

Today we are off Verona, via the diabolical Autostrada – the path to heaven is paved with the profane.

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