Tom: I did a search on Yahoo under

"agriturismo il molino tuscany"

and came up with

"agriturismo il MULINO" which showed one picture of a round pool. The place has 8 rooms. Their rates, however, are double what you got as a walk-in.

Is this the right place? :)

"Is this the right place?"

I couldn't get that on Yahoo, but I googled what you put. The agriturismo that came up was in Southern Tuscany south of Radicofani and had one roundish pool. That is definitely not the place. What was exact website you found?
((H))

Hi, maitai!

On re-yahooing, three entries came up on the first page alone. Don't know if any of these fit your place.

http://www.agriturismo.net/il-mulino...ation_eng.html

http://www.agriturismo.net/montepulc...ulino_eng.html

http://www.initaly.com/~initaly/agri...om/mulinom.htm

Maybe one fits! Maybe none of these fit! :)

"il mulino" "il molino" seems to mean "mill" and there sure were lots of mills in Italy!

Intrepid leader of Tom's Tuscan Tours, I am truly enjoying your wonderful trip. I am planning a trip in December and am trying to narrow choices so that I can ensure we get to taste lots of vino and see as much as possible in too short a time. BTW, Wine Spectator recently had an article on Tuscan wines. I look forward to your report on Chianti. Because eating is a most important component, I particularly would like to trip Cane e Gatto. Did you make your reservation from here and if so, by phone or by fax? How much advance warning did you give your hosts?
Any suggestions would be most welcome. Keep up the postings!

"Did you make your reservation from here and if so, by phone or by fax? How much advance warning did you give your hosts?"

I called a few weeks in advance, but then called on that Sunday to change to that night since we had a change in travel plans. Fortunately, they had space for us. Have fun. You'll see later today about another great eating experience we had on the trip.
((H))

"You'll see later today about another great eating experience we had on the trip."


you tease...

<b> A LUNCH FOR THE AGES, THE GREAT DANES MEET TOM’S TUSCAN TOURS, THE “UNDISCOVERED” HILL TOWN AND CATCHING A FEW RAYS </b>

We said goodbye to Alexandra at Piccolo Oliveta. Tracy had started calling her “my new wife” since she believed I was trying to flirt with her (a shocking assumption). After receiving some parting gifts (olive oil) and flirting with her more (oops), we hit the road. From this point on, if (I guess that should be “when”)Tracy became annoyed with me, she’d say, “Well, maybe your new wife will like that.”

As we rounded a corner getting out of a Siena, a large tuck traveling at an excess speed went about halfway into our lane. We narrowly averted death by the nimble maneuvers of Tuscan Tom, and we were safely on our way. Alexandra never knew how close she came to being a pseudo-widow.

We drove along the Karen Valentine Highway past our new accommodation (where we would check in that afternoon) and drove toward Greve in Chianti. Before you reach Greve, there is a sign for Lamole, a town I had read about and its restaurant with a spectacular view.

We passed the Villa Vignamaggio vineyard (the winery where the girl who posed for the Last Supper lived back in Da Vinci’s day). Speaking of the last supper, Tracy and I were still full from the Cane &amp; Gatto experience of the previous evening, but by the time the short, uphill journey to Lamole had been successfully navigated, amazingly we were ready to eat again. Truthfully, I don’t know how the four of us fit in the car together with all the food we ate.

In Lamole, Mary jumped out of the car (after it had stopped) and ran into the local church. “Had you read about it?” I asked as she left the church.

“No,” she answered. “I was just giving thanks that the truck didn’t kill us.” Now I know why Mary stopped in so many churches during the trip. Her hand was getting wrinkled from all the holy water she dipped it in.

It was a little before noon, and the Ristoro di Lamole (with incredible views out onto the Tuscan countryside) was only open for drinks until 12:30, so while Kim played “Mark Focus, Professional Photographer”, we sat on the patio and talked to some Brits who were on a tour. When Kim came back, he told them that he and Mary were on Tom’s Tuscan Tour, and they should think about signing up. I think I had them, but their tour director showed up, and it was back on the road for them.

Our tour voted to stay for lunch (it’s a democratic tour, for the most part), which turned out to be one of our best decisions of the trip. In the U.S., if a place has a view, the food is usually mediocre, at best. Not here. The food was spectacular, and the waitress was very funny, although like Mary and my new wife, Alexandra, she had a nasty cold. “I’m doomed,” I thought. Even my current wife, Tracy, was starting to cough. So many wives, so little cough drops,
Every dish was fantastic: Ribollita toscano, gnocchi with roasted tomatoes and olives, a pecorino ravioli with the freshest pears ever and drizzled with Lamole Olio, a pasta with pork, zucchini and carrots and the lunch was topped off with a dessert of chocolate cake (more like a dense brownie) with whipped cream and wild berry sauce. This meal experience even topped Cane &amp; Gatto, and my wallet felt better because it was about 1/3 the price including Prosecco and vino.

Tracy thought it was the best olive oil we had tasted, so we bought some, and we all thought the wine divine, so we bought some of that, too. As a matter of fact, I am going to e-mail Lamole soon to send me a case of olive oil, and Kim has seen the Lamole di Lamole wine at a Beverages &amp; More (see, I told we still talk to each other), so we’re going to pick some of that up, as well.

Near the end of the meal, we started chatting with a couple from Denmark, who come to Chianti for a month each year. They have a place in Panzano in Chianti. They were very friendly and talkative.

Just a little digression for a moment. One of the reasons Kim called it Tom’s Tuscan Tours is that I prepare for a trip longer and more detailed than most people. I had sent them descriptions of virtually every hill town in Tuscany and Umbria, complete with attractions, history and digressions. It’s even color coded (what, me anal?). I had also done the same for Florence, Venice and Rome. All in all, I had prepared about 250 total pages for our trip full of useful, and I hoped, and humorous information, not to mention pictures.

Anyway, the Danes started telling us about an enoteca in Greve where you pay money at the counter and are then given a plastic card, which you stick in the vino machines to wine taste. Before they could give the name, I whipped my papers from my back pocket and said, “Oh, do you mean Le Cantine?”

“Why yes,” they said. “How did you hear of that? By the way, there is a famous butcher shop in Greve.”

“Is that Macelleria Falorni?” I said. “Doesn’t it have a bunch of hanging prosciutto inside?”

Now the Danes were semi-impressed. Kim just said, “This is why we book Tom’s Tuscan Tours.”

A little later they said, “We have a favorite restaurant in town,” and shot me a glance.

“I’ll bet it is Bottego del Moro,” I said. They nodded and laughed and said on their next visit to California they’d call me for Tom’s Tuscan Tours of Southern California (I stole that name from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim).

The great Danes were drinking a bottle of wine from Volpaia. This was not in Tom’s Tuscan Tour guidebook, so we listened attentively as they talked about this little place. “Just up the road,” they said, “was the charming town of Volpaia. Not too many people know about it.” That was enough for us, we had to go take a look. I gave the Danes my business card, and told them to call me for a tour when they come to Southern California. I promised lots of wine.

We started toward Volpaia. A narrow road became narrower and the cement turned to dirt, and we are all thinking that we’re going to “discover” this town. Unfortunately, when we hit the center of town, it seemed a couple of tour busses had “discovered” it, too, and the place was crawling with Americans (the most we had seen on the trip). Outside of the tour busses, the town was very cute. We did buy a couple of bottles of wine from the store in Volpaia and left, feeling much like Columbus would have felt had someone told him Leif Erickson discovered America centuries before he did.

We made a quick stop in Panzano to see our friends’ adopted Chianti town and to look for Dario, the famed butcher, but his shop was closed, so we rushed back to Il Mulino for a late afternoon around the pool. For a couple of hours, we sat out in this great setting, the only four people using this huge area. We had cocktails, but even better, one of the pools was a “beach low-level water” pool”, meaning we could walk out and the water only came up a little over the knee. All our aching feet would become rejuvenated in the next two days, with the soothing water and surface providing much needed therapeutic relief. Well, that and the Campari.

Since we had the balcony, Kim and Mary joined us for some Volpaia wine in the early evening and a view of a gorgeous sunset in Chiantiland. Our room was located right over the hotel restaurant, so as people walked in the front, we wondered if they would ask how they get the wonderful outdoor tables.

We all went down to our restaurant for dinner, and sure enough, some Canadians sitting next to us overheard our conversation about our balcony and said, “We saw you guys when we came in and wondered if they had outdoor dining, eh?” OK, they didn’t really say eh.

The restaurant was mostly good, with a couple of slight misses. It is relatively new, and we chatted with one of the owners who had previously owned a restaurant in Napoli and in a nearby town before starting this one. The pork in a balsamic sauce was the night’s big winner and so was the ravioli stuffed with spinach and ricotta in my beloved Pecorino sauce. The two house wines cost 6 Euro and 12 Euro respectively…and they were pretty tasty.

The bed was fine, and we slept well. Tomorrow would be our relaxing day in Chianti as we would refresh our bodies before hitting the big three of Florence, Venice and Rome before heading home.

<b> NEXT – WHY DO MEN HAVE NIPPLES, LUNCH IN YET ANOTHER HILL TOWN AND HOW MUCH IS THIS PLACE GOING TO COST IF WE COME BACK IN TWO YEARS? </b>
((H))

Hi Tom
Am really enjoying this report on Tuscany! Trouble is we leave in 2 weeks and only have about three days there.... Luckily (or unluckily) my husband is a big driver and wants to show the kids lots of Tuscany. So...if you had 3 days...where would you try most to stay for a home base and what would you try most to show your family? (3 teens and 2 parents) We love architecture, food, views and wine!!!???
I know it is impossible to choose so if you can't I understand...btw we are going for the first time since our honeymoon 20 yrs ago and the kids are newbies.
Thanks if you can!

&quot;where would you try most to stay for a home base&quot;

Not knowing what your kids like makes it tougher to say. If you base near Siena, you can see Siena, San Gimignano, Volterra (that's a great drive from SG) and go down to Montalcino, Pienza and Montepulciano.

I personally love St.Quirico d'Orcia (we all did), but don't know if your kids would. It's a pretty quiet town, but has lots of Italian flavor (not just the gelato). From there, you could do a daytrip to Siena &amp; SG (Volterra would be too long a day, I think), and then on the other two days visit the nearby towns of Montalcino, Montepulciano and Pienza, and perhaps hit a couple of the lesser visited towns which we also loved to visit. You might want to base in Pienza, Montepulciano or Montalcino.

No matter what you do, you'll see a lot of neat places, eat a lot of good food and drink lots of great wine. Have fun.
((H))

While I have been quietly reading (with great delight and amusement) the saga of Tom's Tuscan Tours, I need to tell you all that he really does prepare an amazing packet of information. We were the grateful recipients of said packet when making our plans for our recent summer trip ( this is because, lucky me, I'm related to the kind person who drove on Saturday mornings to check on Tom's and Tracy's cats in their cat hotel).
Tom, we went to Volpaia, had a tour of the winery, no tour buses in sight that day, only the 4 of us on the tour. There's a bottle of their olive oil on my counter, but while we were there someone whispered to us about the restaurant in Lamole; alas we had other plans but perhaps when we return in the spring. . .
Thanks for the report, looking forward to the rest,
Marcia

Hi Marcia,

You are designated as the leader of the Volpaia Wine Tour as part of Tom's Tuscan Tours.

Thanks for the nice words, and yes, Marcia's sister, Susan, was kind enough to go visit our cats each weekend to tell them we were really going to come home some day.
((H))

The need for all things Tuscan is flowing strong here... I know I have to go back there soon, but since we just finished a big trip to Hawaii it will have to wait till the budget recovers: the sad realities of life, &lt;sigh&gt;.

But I found a local fix! We have a new Sur la Table store in our area, and they offer a big array of cooking classes. I've signed up for the Tuscan Dinner class next month because I really, really want to be able to make good Ribollita. I've tried a few times with different recipe variations, but nothing stellar so far. Haven't so far found what I understand is the key ingredient, cavolo nero (use Savoy cabbage as a substitute) -- but we have a new Whole Foods opening nearby, so I'm hopeful for more exotic veggies. :-) CT is definitely not CA! Maybe it's just distance and enchantment that clouds the taste memory?

Tom, thanks so much for the inspiration. I'm planning to print and save all the info, but that will likely be easier from your blog...

SB, try your local farmer's market for cavolo nero. I live in the Bay area and planted cavalo nero last fall. It has naturalized, so I have lots in the garden. If you can't find it anywhere, try substituting kale instead of savoy cabbage. I think you'd like the result better.

This has been so much fun, keep it up :)

easytraveler, none of the places you mention are the Il Molino where we stayed. I have scoured the internet, and it is nowhere to be found. I asked Tracy, Kim and Mary whether staying there was a dream I had, and they all assured me we did stay there two nights. I guess when I post my blog with photos, it will be the Il Molino's internet coming out party.
((H))

Hey Tom :-)
A Friday tidbit to hold us through the weekend?

I'm hoping to actually finish this baby over the weekend. It's too long already, and I really want to get my pictures online. Also, after reading the other long trip report, I am very happy that the four people on Tom's Tuscan Tours (and the two people who we meet later in Florence and Rome) can read this trip report with no fear of slings and arrows (a few jokes, maybe). We all enjoyed the journey and if you do that, any problems that arise are minimal at worst (even puting in the wrong gas).
((H))

As a wise man once said, &quot;attitude is everything!&quot; Now, if only he'd explain why men have nipples...

It's not too long! I love your writing style...please continue with vivid descriptions &amp; details!

Hey Tom !

I've only just joined reading your thread (after 200 posts; some of us have to work !) and I'm really enjoying it. Its funny, interesting and easy to read, and your story telling humour is perfectly balanced between caustic and self deprecation.

Keep up the great work; I'm looking forward to reading more. This thread is easily one of the best Italian trip reports than any other current ones on the board.