After hopping from town to town, tons of sightseeing, and lots of gelato, we knew it was time to slow down for a little bit. That’s why we spent twelve days staying at two farms in Tuscany and Umbria.
But, let’s be real.
We continued to have lots of gelato.
A Tuscan Farmhouse Outside Monteriggioni, Italy
Our first farm stay was incredible. We were greeted by the charming host, Allesandro, who was the epitome of a friendly Italian. He showed us around the family-owned property, where we were staying in the remodeled hayloft. After we were settled, he even brought us fresh eggs from the chickens and a bottle of wine his friend had made! Italian hospitality is alive and well at the Il Poderino agriturismo.
Three donkeys lived down the hill behind the house, and the kids loved feeding them through the fence. One of the donkeys was only three months old and very cute!
The pool was the main attraction of the stay, as temperatures were rising and steadily hovering around 100 degrees each day.
Huge lavender plants were covered in hundreds of honey bees that never bothered us while we swam. Even Annie was able to enjoy herself and learned to accept the constant buzzing — until a giant hornet showed up one evening. Fortunately, Allesandro was there to smack it with a flip flop even as he said, “I’m not a violent man, but we have to kill it, right Max?”
And we don’t have hornets in Bend, Oregon!
The kids instantly befriended Allesandro’s adorable dog, Tula, who apparently follows him everywhere he goes.
Hilltop Towns in Tuscany
We were less than an hour from several popular Tuscan hill towns, so we took a few day trips.
Moneriggioni, Italy
San Gimignano, Italy
Siena, Italy
Volterra, Italy
Morning Walks in Tuscany
In case you haven’t figured it out by now, I’m a morning person. 😆
And it seems on the days when I want to sleep in most, my eyes pop open at weird times like 4:40 am. (Not my usual time!)
Our first morning in Tuscany was one of those days, so I made my coffee, grabbed my book, and sat outside to enjoy the sunrise from the porch.
For REALZ.
This wasn’t a moment from a movie, or a book — it was MY life. So weird.
Everyone in the Winters Family Hayloft (and the entire farm, for that matter) was still asleep so I put on my shoes and went for an early morning walk down the dirt roads.
I even came back to do some yoga and a meditation on the porch afterward.
Which was good, because I was starting to go a little nutty in the cities. 😆
We all loved the family feel of this agriturismo and were sad to leave. But, onward to the next stop!
Tuscan Farmhouse Video
Here’s an amateur tour of our hayloft turned farm stay in Tuscany:
Sunrise in Tuscany Video
Here’s a snippet of what the sunrise was like at our farmstay:
This is part of a series about our family travels this summer through Italy — and beyond. You can start from the beginning of the blog series here or follow along on Instagram.
