ON TO ARMENA

ONE MORE CAR STORY

When we first started coming to Armena there was an established routine for all guests. Rentals were on a weekly Saturday-to-Saturday basis with check-in after four on arrival Saturdays and check-out before ten on the Saturday you were to leave. In those first few years the Coop grocery store in Bonconvento closed early on Saturdays and was closed all day on Sundays. You had to get there early on your Saturday arrival to buy food supplies or you were out of luck until the following Monday. Since we had a toddler in tow going for forty hours without any provisions wasn't a situation we wanted to have to face. We made sure we got to the COOP  and at least purchased what would keep our daughter fed and well hydrated for the first part of our stay. Old habits die hard. Even though the COOP is now open for a full day on Saturday minus those hours between one and four when the entire town closes down and in addition it is now open in the morning on Sundays but we still race to the Coop the minute we arrive to do our initial food and beverage shopping. This trip was no exception. We sped, well actually we crawled up the dirt road to the frattoria, dropped off our luggage and then dodged potholes and ruts the size of a New York manhole cover to get to the COOP and spend our money on prosciutto, magnum bars and wine. By the time we reached the COOP, after having navigated our way both up and back down the obstacle course of a road our rental Peugeot was covered in a layer of dust and grime making it fit in with the rest of cars in the COOP parking lot. All three of us raced around the aisles of the store pushing our carts with the precision of Indy race car drivers until Rick decided it was too much for his delicate constitution and begged for the car keys so he could wait in the air-condition. Rick's abandonment left JoHannah and me to bag and pay for all our digestible and drinkable loot. After we had paid and bagged our groceries we loaded our bags back into our carts and headed back out to the parking lot to find Rick, load up the car and head back to Armena.

We pushed the carts down the lane we thought our car was in, found a Peugeot, opened the boot and began loading in the two bags of food, one bag of cleaning supplies and a half-a-dozen bags of various wines and liquors. It did seem strange that the car air-conditioning wasn't running and Rick wasn't sitting in the front seat but the smell of the dust we had accumulated on the drives up and down the road to the frattoria seemed to be right. While we were loading up we notice another car one lane over seemed to be having problems. They kept flashing their lights and honking their horn in a way that got us worried  and a bit concerned that something was going awfully wrong. It never dawned on us the figure sitting in the front seat of that car waving his arms and mouthing something we couldn't understand but looked something like "You Idiots!" might actually be Rick.
We had only bought the wine at the COOP and in between purchasing and packing we hadn't found the time to drink any of it. So that excuse wasn't going to hold much water. By now we'd almost completely loaded the bags into the car before it dawned on us that the Peugeot we were loading wasn't our car. Ours was the one with the crazy screaming person flailing his arms and honking his horn. We quickly pulled everything out the trunk of the Peugeot that wasn't ours hoping we hadn't pulled out anything that didn't belong to us, slammed the hatch shut, pushed our cart over the dividing median and loaded all our food, supplies and libations into the right Peugeot. Thankfully we didn't get caught but Rick's slowly shaking head and eye roll was punishment enough and was going to require a lot of the purchased alcohol to heal our wounded pride.
ARMENA

Paradise found. Your first of almost anything is always amazing no matter what it is. This was JoHannah's first glimpse into our heaven on Earth and it was as awe striking to her as it initially was to us.

The grounds of the fattoria are lush and fragrant with shaded areas dotted by hydrangeas and roses and hanging gardens of rosemary.

The vista from the top of the hill looking out over the infinity pool stretches almost to the sea and captures the lilac and violet hills of the Tuscan landscape

Even if you go no farther than the pool during a week long stay at the farm you won't have felt cheated or disappointed.

Built in the fifteen hundreds and attributed to the architect Baldasssare Peruzzi the warmth of the terracotta brick structures doesn't come off as pretentious or grand but instead homey and comfortable.

After all the compound still remains a working farm where like Noah's ark animals seem to live two by two among the vineyards and olive groves of the farm.

But even if the farm were dilapidated and barren it's the Saracini's and their genuine incorporation of their guests into their family that make this fattoria a home to whomever comes to stay.

One week is never enough for us. No matter what other destinations we've plotted out into our itinerary by the end of our week we're ready to cancel everything and stay put content to do nothing more than soak up the sun, the fresh air with its heady earthy fragrances, as well as the peace and the wonderful warmth of Fattoria Armena.