Morning Coffee...

Without much language skill, it’s difficult to discern what your neighbors really do. Today, I was in for a grand surprise! Some neighbors, father, and daughter along with my next-door neighbor came by and invited me to join in what I understood to be a Sunday morning cup of coffee at the nearby coffee shop. While there, my neighbor mentioned he needed to make a little stop at his house which caused me a bit of confusion as we were just in front of our homes.  Chalking this up to my poor understanding of the local dialect, I nodded it would be fine.  It ended up being quite an adventure!

I knew this person worked outdoors but I never imagined this. After coffee and up a nearby dirt road, perched on a narrow path, we approached 2 ancient buildings. Evidently this was his family farm where he plies his trade making wine and pressing oil.

The villa cantina and apartments...

Looking back to the apartments from the pool

Upon first glance, there stood the buildings very close together, with what seems like a path between at such an angle as one could not see what was behind but it was apparent it was a private space. With just enough room for our small truck to squeeze through, we entered into a tree filled patio/parking where the panorama opened onto the countryside.  In the distance is an elegant, ancient church upon the hilltop overlooking Montespertoli, our nearest town. Flowers carefully placed in clay pots delicately graced walkways to an upper terrace complete with a small pool, tucked behind low bay bushes. Turning around, the terracotta terrace was large and umbrellas sheltered visitors from the sun.

From there, the view overlooked miles of open Tuscan countryside, dotted with olives and lined with grapes. This textured land scape would be recognizable to Dante if he were to reappear, not changed over the last 1000 years. The church at Montespertoli with its bell tower and a nearby castle on the far hill completed this scene. Here aside this glorious terrace is a single-story apartment that rents by the week. The other apartment is carefully tucked behind fruit trees so each has privacy from one another.

Continuing our exploration (while finishing his task), we went back below, where under the terrace was tucked a dark, cool cantina where they made and stored their wine. It smelled of the wine skins and pressings that for years had been stored there.  In an adjacent room was the ‘frantoio’, an oil facility with 4 modern stainless tanks. Such a dichotomy of spaces. Aside that was a sort of shop and one could see a deep opening in the wall in the back of the shop, clearly an entrance to an ever-lower area. Upon entry and while our eyes were adjusting to the dark, I realized we were entering into what may have been once an Etruscan tomb. Curved cutouts in the walls reminded me of the tombs that I saw with my sister when visiting Agrigento years ago or those in nearby Castellina.

Walking farther into the pitch-black cave, I was shown the wall carving ‘Refugio 1944’ marking where the local folk sheltered from the bombs which flew overhead from one hillside to another that year. Evidently, this cave was middle ground and safe haven, hiding locals during the war. Farther into the cave, there was an exit to the other side of the villa that was dug to allow for an escape if the one entrance had become blocked by debris. On another wall, the date of 1109 was carved. On the floor to one side of the cave, was a long mound of new olive cutting. Evidently, this cool dark space is ideal for storing olive cuttings until next season where they will be used for root stock.

Clearly this cave has had many uses in the past, and evidently will continue to be a resource for many years to come. All this on our way to a morning coffee.