Day 19, our 6th day in Tuscany. After two days of doing nothing - well, sleeping, lazing by the pool, playing UNO, bananagrams and monopoly, eating, drinking and casual drives around the beautiful Tuscan hills - we went to medieval Siena.

Siena is quieter than Florence, we're told, so you'll have no problems parking. Wrong. After a car park hiccup (driving over enormous curb towards pedestrian exit) we then took a wrong turn and ending up driving down increasingly narrow medieval streets swiping pedestrians out of the way. Oh, and it was Il Palio - a day of huge pageants, a wild horse race and massive crowds. Returning to the same ill fated car park we somehow landed a space and went and joined in the fun!

Siena is a stunning city packing with amazing historical buildings and, when we visited, locals proudly displaying the flags of their town district and men parading in medieval costume (complete with wigs). And some horses. The whole thing was mad and wonderful and great fun to get caught up in although we escaped before the actual bareback horse race around the main square, which was ready packed hours before the event!

On Wednesday we got to see a different side of Tuscany - food (and lots of it!) We met our guide and chef for the day, Serenella, at 9.30 before a whistlestop tour of markets, farms and shops to buy ingredients to cook lunch and dinner. Serenella gave us free reign in shaping the menu. She did not know what she was letting herself in for...

In the afternoon, back in our villa we set about cooking:
Bruschetta
Goats cheese and basil wrapped in Bresaola
Cecina (chick pea pie)
Sweet onion focaccia
Handmade tagliatelle with a tomato and chilli sauce
Roast pork stuffed with pancetta, sage and rosemary
Cannellini beans with sage, garlic and celery
Aubergine with mint and garlic
Roasted figs with ricotta and honey

We also bought courgettes and courgette flowers but ran out of time and space in the fridge (and our stomachs) so planning on cooking those today... And maybe some more foccaccia...

Needless to say it was amazing - both the cooking and the eating! Thank you to Matt, Vera and Jenny B - you have made us both very fat (and happy!)

Today, more eating and lazing by the pool before a dinner with other people staying on our farm tonight. Florence tomorrow before heading to the Italian lakes for the last part of our adventure!

J&B xx