Da Vinci, Tuscany

In 2017, a painting of Jesus Christ by Leonardo da Vinci, named "Salvatore Mundi" was sold in an auction for $450 million (RM1.8 billion). There was intense speculation on the buyer's identity after it was known that an anonymous buyer has bought the painting. It is now known that the painting is kept in the newly opened Louvre Abu Dhabi. It was after all the Arabs who are prepared to pay such a mind-boggling and colossal price!

Salvatore Mundi sold for a whopping 
RM1.8 Billion.
Courtesy from web site.

On 16 May 2018, I had a chance to visit Da Vinci's birthplace, Casa Natale di Leonardo in Vinci, Tuscany. Our farm stay is less than 5Km away from Casa Natale di Leonardo (the birthplace of Leonardo). The trip to Tuscany would have been incomplete if we had not made Da Vinci's birthplace one of our destinations. 

Vinci in Tuscany would have been just an obscure little town had Leonardo not been born there. Anyone can be named Leonardo. But there is just this one and only Leonardo from Vinci that everyone is familiar with. Leonardo and da Vinci are so intertwined that it is "da Vinci" rather than Leonardo that would unmistakably lead you to think of this iconic individual. 

As I discover later, Vinci is now named after so many things - streets, squares, parks, airport, schools, colleges etc. There is even a crater in the moon named "da Vinci". 

Da Vinci, a genius, born and  raised in a typical 
modest environment. 

Painting of The Last Super

Coat-of-Arms of the Da Vinci family.

We caught a glimpse of the little town of Vinci which is just 2Km southwest of the birthplace of Leonardo.

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Late afternoon of the next day on 17 May 2018, on the way back to our farm stay after visiting Pisa and San Miniato, we made a detour to Museo Leonardo da Vinci (Leonardo da Vinci Museum) in Vinci town itself. This is a place where replicas of Leonardo da Vinci's many inventions are displayed - machines for war, hoists, mechanical devices etc. 

To me, the paintings of "The Last Supper" and "Mona Lisa" somehow almost always lead us to think of Da Vinci. To me, he is remembered more as an artist than an inventor all along. I was surprised to see in the museum such large collection of exhibits all attributed to him! Leonardo da Vinci is undoubtedly a genius, he was indeed a man with a mind way ahead of his time.

Vinci town viewed from museum roof top.

Farmstay at Tuscany - Podere Jana, Vinci

Our first stop upon reaching Florence was to spend a couple of days in a farm stay at Podere Jana in Vinci. Podere Jana in Italian means Jana Farm

Unlike what we are used to see in a farm stay, there was no animal, no vegetable patch or garden and no wheat field in Podere Jana. The only sign of rural farm setting is the huge expanse of olive tree orchards that extend as far as the eyes could see. 

Olives growing is an important agricultural activity in Italy. It ranks second after grain and followed by vineyards in third place. Italy is the second largest olive oil producer in EU generating 0.2 million metric tons in 2017. Nearly 60% of olive oil is extra virgin. Italy is also the largest olive oil consumer with a consumption of approx. 11 litres per capita per year. More than 80% of the consumption is extra virgin

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On 18 May 2018, the day before we left the farm stay, we had a simple lunch at a nearby road side store. The views of the surrounding landscape is simply awesome and breathtaking.

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The dinner we had at the farm stay restaurant on 16 May 2018 was on record the heaviest I ever had in my life. By the time the second dish was brought in, I was almost done with by the massive starter! That was a meal I would never forget.

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The final night at the farm stay, Sam and Rachel donned the chef's hats and prepared a sumptuous meal for the whole gang.

It was around that time the ice between Livvie and her Sabahan grandparents finally melted!

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In recent years, Italy has become a popular destination for bike trips or cycling challenge. Cyclists are common sight practically in all parts of Italy. We were therefore not surprised to see cyclists doing steep climbs and charging downhill around Vinci.

Italy riders are said to have taken over the roads in such numbers that drivers have become accustomed to sharing roads with them. At weekends, it is not uncommon to see droves of cyclists crowding both sides of the roads or even the entire road itself!

First Hiccup in Italy

The trip to Italy was mooted after my DIL was scheduled to attend a conference in Florence, Italy. Taking advantage of this break, a tour to Italy themed "Italy with Oliva" came into being. Besides sightseeing, the trip aimed to be another "ice breaker" between Oliva and her Sabahan grandparents. Initially, we were hesitant whether to go or not to go. But the key destinations, Tuscany and Sicily made it just impossible to resist. After all, both places have been known for a long time through two movies, "Under the Tuscan Sun" and "The Godfather".

Our first experience with Swiss Air was a pleasant one. The flight was incident-free all the way from Singapore to Florence with just under one hour stopover transit in Zurich.

Tuscany is much greener than I had imagined.

For the first time, we experienced hiccup in the rented car. After picking up our Ford Transit Custom 9-seater van at Zurich Airport from Hertz, it stalled after moving barely half a kilometer from the airport. Stuck at the upward slope of a curved flyover ramp, the car's gears simply refused to engage and move forward. Fortunately, it was just half a kilometer away. I and my wife walked back to the car rental company to report the problem. The staff came and took over the driver seat. To our surprise, the van worked normally with no sign of any problem. Back to the car rental office, they could not offer a replacement because that was the last one available, they claimed. We had no choice but to look for another 9-seater from other car rental companies. By divine intervention, we managed to find another from Europcar. We had to pay more since it was not pre-booked.

This Fiat Ducato performed perfectly throughout the five-day rental period. Until today, I still could not figure out what exactly was the problem of the first 9-seater!

Fiat Ducato 9-seater.