(April 23, Pisa & Chianti Region): Room (dis)Servizio

Thanks to some pre-trip internet perusing we learned that a lot of tourist attractions in Florence are closed on Monday.  So at first we were a little worried that we'd have to be served alcoholic beverages by our new friend Sandro poolside all day.  That would be tragic, wouldn't it?!  Luckily the hotel concierge came to our rescue and arranged a car and driver to take us to Pisa and then to a winery in the Chianti region nearby.  (I seriously can't say enough how much our hotel, the Villa Cora, rocked.) Saved by the bell(hop)!

For the second day in a row we received a VIP pick up straight from the hotel and headed off to Pisa.  The only thing on our agenda for the city was to get to see the famous leaning tower and of course take the requisite pictures in various poses "supporting" said structure.  The drive to Pisa was approximately an hour or so drive.  Of course like all of our drives on this road trip- the scenery was amazing. 

When we arrived our driver dropped us off right by the tower.   Apparently he appreciated our interest in touristy efficiency.  This was the first place that seemed crowded.  I guess word that the rockstar were coming to town had gotten out?  I am not sure what exactly I expected of the tower, but I really liked it.  It was much prettier in real life than I expected.  Plus, I appreciate it's lean-y-ness.  It's reminiscent of Ryan and I's first Christmas tree, which obviously holds a special place in my heart.

Sliiiide to the left.

I didn't get QUITE as into my turn in front of the camera as some of my fellow travellers as you can see.  Obviously I'm just as strong though.

It's all in the knees.

It's a bird.  It's a plane.  No, it's Supermom!

Watching your caretakers pose awkwardly is enough to make you want to drink.

Speaking of awkward... this was.  After we wrapped up our mini photoshoot, this gentleman asked Melanie if he could take a picture with Jake.  This opened the floodgates.   Right after, 2 more people asked to take pictures with him.  Melanie thinks it's the blonde hair.  I think it's proof that To Catch a Predator: International is just around the corner.

Piazza del Duomo & the Baptistery.  The Tower is just to the right.  See all those crazed fans?  McMartin-sanity!

Next we piled back into the van to head to a winery.  Melanie's only requests to the concierge were that he find a place with fabulous wine (duh) and animals to entertain Jake.  The conceirge chose Tenuta Torciano.  It's not only a winery but also a bed & breakfast.  Pierluigi, the owner and host, is one of something crazy like 14 kids.  The winery has been passed down through the family since the 1700s. 

Pierluigi had all the things I love about a man - passion, enthusiasm and more wine than he knew what to do with.  He greeted us at the car and quickly ushered us into one of the private dining areas.  We were both surprised and excited to learn that the large table seated in the room with us was full of ladies from the Dallas area.  There were about 14 of them and they were on a chick trip.  I hope that when I'm that age I'm still going on world tours with my lady-frans.  Heaven knows Pierluigi would support it! 

To kick off our dining/wining experience we got a plate with salami, another type of meat I didn't pay attention to the name of, bread, cheses and salad with balsamic.  We also got 4 different glasses of wine.  Our task was to try each of the types of wine with a bite of each and to write which taste combo we liked best with each type of wine.  This proved to be an overwhelmingly difficult task for Melanie who immediately lost sight of the task at hand and started mingling wines and foods.  Tuition dollars have never been better spent than on the 4 of us, clearly.

Just looking at it, you wouldn't know it was harder than the TAAS test, would you?

Oh man, I never did figure out what this was but it was INCREDIBLE.  I think it was vegetables doused in olive oil.  This was our second course.

Every bit as giddy as they look.

You would think having that splendid vegetable medley, the 4 glass flight and the bread, salad, etc would be enough, wouldn't you?  Clearly you have forgotten about Italian hospitality.  I stopped taking pictures- probably because it hindered my face stuffing- but after these courses we got served another flight of 3 wines.  THEN Pierluigi capped it off by feeding us his Mama's Lasagne with homemade truffle oil.  Somewhere in the midst of that we also got to sample 2 different Torciano olive oils.  You know how you can change your name?  Is there a way to change your ancestory?  My family tree is severly lacking some Italian.

OMG, how did you get that much food in your mouth?  I've never seen anything like this.

Beautiful dining backdrop.

Once we'd finished sampling everything Pierluigi would let us, we somehow managed to remove ourselves from our chairs without the use of the jaws of life.  We headed outside to explore the grounds and to check out the animals for Jakey-pants.

Pretty shot of the buildings on the property.  We ate in the one on the right.  I think the one on the left may be the bed & breakfast.

C'mon!  Perhaps if you hadn't finished your lasagne this wouldn't be so hard for you.

Geeeeeese!  If I'd known how mean these boogers were as a youth, I'd probably have felt differently about Mother Goose's fairy tales.

Hot chicks.

You would never guess they were from Texas based on their comfort level in this picture.

Melanie & Jonathan in the courtyard.

Late in the afternoon we bid adieu to Pierluigi and hoisted ourselves back into the van to head back to Florence.  We convinced our driver to drop us off in the center of city by the Duomo so that we could take a look at it from afar and grab some gellato before he dropped us back at the hotel.

Watching the adults is a tiring, thankless job.

Be-a-utiful countryside on the way back to Florence.

Do you think Italy has HAR?  Note to self: look that up.

Here's the Duomo in the center of Florence.  I love the architecture and lines.

Typical Martin family photo.

Over the river (Arno) and through the woods to the Villa Cora we go...

Of course, since this was our last night in Florence, we decided to take one last soak in the hot tub (and one more scented breeze shower for my better half) for memory's sake.  Had we known what the dinner situation held in store for us we may have tried to stock up even further on relaxation.

Show me to the ya-cuzzi!

For our grand Florence/Villa Cora finale, we decided to take a bottle of wine up to the roof to watch the sun set and to reflect upon our favorite parts of Florence.  (Collective awe- yes, we are so Keaton family).  We all hung out on the roof and watched the sun go down.  The view was even more spectacular than we expected it to be thanks to the hotel's location on the top of a hill just on the outskirts of the city.

Just sittin' on top of the world.

Oh so pretty.

We were so relaxed sitting on the roof that we decided to order room service so we didn't have to leave.  At first we were under the impression that you could order room service anywhere at all in the hotel.  We carefully selected a cool cigar/wine room in the basement of the hotel.

That's one hot barkeep.

Distinguished gentleman.

Eventually after what felt like an unusually long wait, we chased down the maitre d of the hotel who informed us that no, you can not in fact have room service (room servizio) delivered anywhere in the hotel.  It had to be to your room.  At this point we were roughly 30 minutes deep into this decision.  Melanie & I were starved.  So we relayed this new information to our men who had not interest in food nor ensuring our growling tummies were fed.   Strike 1 for the room service crew and strike 1 for McMartin men.

So we womenfolk took matters into our own hands- Melanie, Jake & I went to Ryan & I's room to order room service.  We ordered a hamburger (for Ryan), pizza (for me), soup (for Melanie) and something I can't remember for Jake.  Jonathan didn't get dinner because he had already exhausted the no tolerance policy.  After about 30 more mintues our servizio arrived - hallllllelujah!  Immediately it became evident that Melanie's soup was wrong.  They neglected to tell her that they were out of what she ordered when she placed her order.  So they took it upon themselves to decide what type of soup she would prefer.  To amend the situation she ordered a hamburger. 

Flash forward another 15 minutes when Melanie's hamburger arrives.  At this point I have blown through the fries with Ryan's meal, so we order another hamburger for Ryan.  I think we added at least 1 more thing to the order then- maybe a pizza for Jonathan?  After they left for the third time, Melanie cut into her burger which may as well have been mooing.  Hello gas- meet fire.  The boys strategically choose this time to return to the room.  While trying to explain the situation to them, Ryan gave me some lip about what HE would have ordered.  Meanwhile Jonathan asked if the red, mooing burger was off-limits.  Let's just say stuff popped off between the men and women in the room. 

Fourth of July fireworks have nothing on the McMartin family civil war.  Just looking back on it all makes me laugh.  The names will be withheld to protect the innocent, but imagine with me... a dramatic exit, a command to "wipe that smirk off your face," a threat regarding a stroller and an adult trying to wheel a room service cart across a hotel and over cobblestone.  Who knew when we were on the roof just hours earlier that the part of the trip that makes me laugh the hardest hadn't even taken place yet?

Luckily Melanie and I are very forgiving women and by the time we left the next morning we were all laughing.  Needless to say - the room servizio marathon some bill confusion upon check out.  I still maintain that the memories are priceless. 

Up Next:  Road trip back to Geneva