Friday, June 13, 2008

Country Days!

I must confess that I have never even pondered the idea of owning a second home in the country at any point in my life. I suppose that there are locations in Central California that would fall into the category of relaxing locations to escape the heat in summer time, but nothing seems to compare to having a country home in Tuscany.

There are many native Florentines who have earned the right to have a second home in the countryside and their choices of location are numerous. Tuscany seems to have an endless supply of small villages dispersed sporadically among its rolling hills and in between these villages lie some of the most beautiful country villas you have ever seen.

Our friends Jeanette and Piero Nardi invited us to their country home in mid May for an outdoor lunch party with some of their friends. There’s something utterly Italian about having a long lunch, with a glass of wine and good friends while looking out over the Tuscan Countryside. You find yourself so relaxed, that you are forced to ask yourself the question “Why the hell don’t we do this back home?”

It seems to me that the purpose of a country home is to not only have a place to retreat to when looking to commune with nature, but also to have a place to share time with friends. I love the idea of inviting friends to a place that cancels out the normal interruptions of life and returns all of us to a time where life wasn’t all about speed and technology. A day that is about friends, food, wine and natural beauty is a day that too man of us lack in our lives these days.

I’m still trying to figure out the answer to this question that I pose above. For now, I will have to settle for reflecting upon the memories of drinking a great glass of Brunello, while eating crostinis with garlic butter and porcini mushrooms.

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