On Friday we had lunch with Giovanna, Marchesa (Marquise) Bartolini Baldelli, in her Tuscan villa, that used to belong to Machiavelli.

After visiting the Castello di Gabbiano in San Casciano - Val di Pesa, we went in our Jeep to Impruneta’s hills, Florence.

With splendid views over the Chianti hills, Giovanna showed us the Fattoria di Bagnolo’s wines and olive oil and invited us to her home.

Dating back to 1419, when this estate was called ‘Al Fonte’, it belonged to Machiavelli family from 1458 to 1585. Now it’s filled with art and enchanting little corners with breathtaking views.

The funny anecdote is that while strolling through the vineyards and olive trees, Giovanna kept asking if we knew any rich single woman to marry her son, in an almost parody of a typical Italian mamma. Of course, what we fell in love with was her sweet dog.

For dinner we went with our friends to the Trattoria Borgo Antico in Florence, which was crammed with people enjoying the weekend, and then had ice cream at one of best (if not the top) gelateria in Florence: Sbrino Gelatificio Contadino.

Sadly, the end of our Italia tour had come to an end, even though we had one more typical thing to experience before returning back home: Florence airport’s flight cancellations. Due to the short length of the landing pad, when there’s strong winds, flights get canceled, which happens very often. Iberia had us rescheduled in an impossible option, so fortunately my wife was able, while standing in the cue, with her laptop and my cellphone hot spot, to reschedule us into a flight to a different airport, where we arrived just before they closed the rental car counter. We rented a car, and tired but happy drove home.

Some photos here.