ItalyA Simple Day in Tuscany
Written by Jack on April 21, 2014
68° F
As in Switzerland, we took the first full day here in Tuscany to relax and play it slow. It began with an Italian-style buffet breakfast chock-full of pastries, cured meats, fruits, yohgurts, cereals, and breads, and was followed by a morning and afternoon of exploring the grounds of our agriturismo. It was Easter Monday, a big holiday in Europe, so not much was open anyway.
I took Evan down to the archery range to show him how it’s done. And by “it” I mean, the most rudimentary techniques on sending an arrow from the bow towards a fixed target. He loved it. I helped him pull a few shots, and while none of them hit the target area, he enjoyed it as if they had. As a side note, I must have been using some poor form though, because my middle fingertip is still numb (writing this the next day, in the afternoon). Hopefully that will work itself out. Genghis Kahn would be embarrassed of me. Thankfully I don’t need to kill from horseback to survive in this world.
Late in the afternoon we took a drive through the countryside to the only supermarket open on the holiday. It was roughly a 50km roundtrip, every kilometer of it breathtaking. I’m not going to lie, I was more than a little afraid that Tuscany was all “done up” for the movies, and that what you see was only a small selection of some secret, hard to get to areas. I can now say with much relief, it isn’t. It’s quite literally as beautiful as every photo and painting I’ve ever seen, and it makes me grin just trying to take it all in. It’s incredible.
I almost don’t want to take pictures of it because I know they’re pointless. The surreality of it how it continues as far as the eye can see, in every direction. Layer upon layer, hill behind hill, vineyard after grove. When I take a photograph, It captures only a single layer, or at best perhaps 2 or 3. When I put the camera down, I see all 40 or 50 layers. You have to stand here, with your own eyes, to truly appreciate it. I hope to get one single spectacular photo while here. Just one. I can’t possibly hope for more than that. The conditions will need to be perfect to light it just right to capture enough of it. Wish me luck.
