Jess 1-27-08

Some photos of Chianti!


:)


This was the cutest little dog, named Vespa. She liked Bill a lot but she was a little skittish of me. I think Vespa is a very clever name (meaning moped, and everyone has one in Florence). Look at how excited Bill is to see see her!




Me in the gardens that overlook the hills in the front of the house. That fountain, I believe, is newer and used to open up to a dirt road. Look at how beautiful the scenery is! This was a winter garden, and apparently in the 80s there was a very cold winter that killed all of the olive trees in one night. So the olive trees that they harvest from now are only 20 years old or so. However, since the decorative olive trees inside the garden were enclosed by walls and nearer to the house, they survived and are much older.

Bill and I in front of the stainless steel wine barrels where the grapes ferment into alcohol. I didn't know that you can get white wine from red grapes if you don't include the skins. It makes sense but I suppose I've never really thought about it before. The whole place smelled like wine and olive oil.

Bill's roommates, Rob and Drew (left and right, respectively) climbing the "stairs" in the courtyard to the terrace overlooking the countryside. It's really a ramp with small lateral bumps on it, originally used to dry out grain (the raised slats stopped the grain from falling down into the courtyard).

The courtyard to the Medici's "ugly" house. That's a small water hole in the middle, and I bet in late spring when everything blooms it will be that much prettier. On the "stairs" that I'm standing, there is a great old vine that looks both ancient and alive -- I'd love to see it in bloom.

These are olive trees -- I can't believe I'd never seen one before. Sorry that there are no people in this picture, I didn't take any pictures with both olive trees and people in it.

Bill in front of the vast vineyards. They just keep going on for miles. When it's green I bet it looks that much more beautiful. Right now there are only two people tending the fields, pruning the vines for new growth in a few months. Looks like they have a lot of area to cover. It's interesting that in this direction the landscape looks so flat, because if you turn around there are giant snow-capped mountains in the distance.

Well... this seems to be all that the leeched internet here can handle. When we get back to school we'll be able to do more.