Tuscany/Florence, Italy

It was so nice to live like the locals and drive through the hills of Tuscany. On our way we made a pit stop in Pisa to see the leaning tower.   We were still blown away that the tower truly does lean. After our short stop we drove deeper into Tuscany to check into our farmhouse. We drove up to what we thought was our farmhouse, but thank god Rachelle spoke Italian and was able to get the right directions from the owner of the house, who seemed a bit confused. We arrived at the Salvadonica farmhouse in the Chianti region of Tuscany and to our surprise it was like we had died and gone to heaven. It was picturesque and like out of a movie. We thought that booking.com had made a mistake on the price of our stay. At that point, our plans for wine tasting around the region, went out the window, as we decided to stay and enjoy the luxuries that our little farmhouse had to offer. We enjoyed a picnic overlooking the rolling hills, had a delicious traditional Tuscan dinner, and of course the wine from Chianti. One of the owners had two children who were selling lemonade to the guests outside. They were so adorable, we had to get a glass. And they got so excited by the amount we gave them, they ran off giddy. They were so happy, they bragged to their mom and the children brought us out a plate of  watermelon to thank us. The next day, which was a Tuesday, to our amazement we were fortunate enough to get a cooking lesson even though they are normally held on Wednesdays. We learned how to make Tuscan bruschetta, anchovies, gnocchi with artichokes and ham from the region, and  chicken legs stuffed with pecorino cheese and green beans. We think our "Michelin Star Chef" thought we did a great job, but our hunch is that she says that to all of her students. We walked up the stairs to a table that seemed to be set for VIP's, but no, that table was for us!!! We ate, we drank and took in the beautiful scenery before checking out. Upon checkout we drove to Florence on our way back to Santa Margherita and took in all of the sites the city had to offer. We couldn't stay long because we had to get back for Jillian's big phone interview. We stayed in, packed and booked our hotel for out next adventure Venice...