Italy Day 7 – Villa La Ripa and Osteria Il Toscano

We stayed near the villa again today.  The adults ventured to a local winery, Villa La Ripa, during the day.  In the evening, everyone went to a nearby village for an authentic Tuscan meal.

The main building at the winery was constructed during the Renaissance but the central tower is over 800 years old.
Although the farm has changed ownership many times over the years, it first was used as vineyard back in 200 AD.
We sampled the vineyard’s wines paired with various cheeses, as well some bruschetta with their line of olive oil.
The current vineyard owner is a psychologist and found it amusing to name his first wine Psyco. Cheers!
After the wine tasting we toured some of the main villa, including this private chapel. This fresco was an amusing contrast to the masterpieces we viewed in the Florence earlier in the week.
In the evening we traveled a few kilometers north of the villa to the small town of Rassina for dinner at a restaurant Steve and Susie’s family found earlier in the week. It was located off this alleyway and would be easily missed if you weren’t specifically looking for it.
The restaurant, Osteria Il Toscano (The Tuscan Tavern), was owned by an affable chef named Lorenzo who prepared several delicious meat and pasta dishes served family style for the adults.
Lorenzo prepared a large pizza for each of the kids. Everyone finished their pizza and still managed to have room for desert!
After dinner we discovered the town of Rassina was hosting a music festival in the town square.
We lingered for a while to listen to the music and the kids spontaneously began dancing in the street.