Since the trip down to Tuscany was about thirteen hours, we decided to break the drive up into two days. We stopped in a little town named Croce which was just outside of Menaggio on Lake Como
Our trip down was uneventful until I took the wheel so that Jim could make a call for work. While cruising down the A61, I noticed a mama duck and her little ducklings on the side of the road. When they started to cross the 3 lane autobahn I wasn’t able to swerve in time and hit the mother head on. Of course in my pregnant and highly emotional state, I started crying immediately. I couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that none of those cute little ducklings were going to make it now that their mother was dead. I also couldn’t help but think what kind of mother I’d make since I was now a mother duck murderer. Jim assured me that if I hadn’t hit the duck someone else would have but it didn’t make me feel any better. Thankfully we were near a gas station so I could pull over and compose myself.
We arrived in Menaggio at about 5:30. Our hostess was sobbing when we arrived so her husband showed us to our room. We found out later that her son is manic depressive and had done something that involved the police but she didn’t give us any other details. She was a sweet woman from Scotland and after composing herself offered us some tea and coffee to have out on the terrace overlooking the lake. Unfortunately as soon as we sat down, it started raining so we moved our tea party into our room.
Initially I had planned to take a ferry across the lake to Bellagio but after the rain stopped it was too late to do that. We decided to walk down to Menaggio for some dinner and a little fresh air. However, the main road down to Menaggio was curvy, narrow and didn’t have a sidewalk. We decided that it might not be a good idea to walk on the road in the dark with blind corners and reckless Italian drivers. So for dinner, we settled on the only place still open in Croce – a gelato shop. Who says gelato can’t be dinner?
The next morning, the weather was still stormy. We attempted to visit the Villa Carlotta but our GPS system wasn’t cooperating and we finally gave up just as it started to pour.
On the drive to Tuscany, we thought we’d bypass the gas station lunch and go to a little Italian town just off the highway. We stopped at Monzuno hoping to find a cute, small town pizzeria. However, the only pizzeria in town was closed so we ended up at a café having yet another gelato for a meal. I started to think that an all gelato diet for the week might not be such a terrible idea.
Since the gelato didn’t completely fill us up, we stopped for some pizza at a gas station / rest area. The Italian gas stations are so different from the German ones. First of all, you have the good espresso in Italy, and then the food selection in Italy is much better. I’d trade greasy pizza slices for wurst any day. However, the bathrooms in Italy are definitely not as clean as the ones in Germany.
The radio stations in both Germany and Italy aren’t very good but one station we found in Italy really wins the prize for worst radio channel ever. This station put just about any song to a techno beat. Now I know that a lot of songs are remixed with an electronic beat to liven it up a bit but this station went to the extreme. They mixed Old McDonald had a farm with some killer bass beats. I was curious to hear what they might do with Hickory Dickory Dock but we lost reception for that channel.
After hitting the grocery store and stocking up for the week, we made our way to Tenuta di Lupinari (www.lupinari.com). We discovered this place through some friends who had stayed here on their honeymoon.
The road to the estate was a dirt country road lined with Cypress trees and vines. It was idyllic and exactly what you imagine Tuscany to be. The estate itself had a bed and breakfast as well as 8 independent apartments with kitchens. There was also the most amazing pool lined with flowering bushes so the air around the pool smelled incredibly sweet. The owners of the estate live there as well in the castle which was fenced off in a private area. It was an incredibly relaxing place to spend a week.
We rented La Logetta which was the most private apartment and had its own little secluded terrace. I would highly recommend it for anyone looking to spend time in the Tuscan countryside. We were only about 5 km from Bucine which was a reasonable sized city with grocery stores and a train connection to Florence.
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