Day 13:Leaving the farm in Vinci and travelling to Poggio Pertuso

This morning, the farmer of our property showed us around his winery

 and explained about how he was farming his grapes.  We had been given a bottle of his very good wine on our arrival, and it was very interesting learning the process of producing this wine from scratch.  In this region, he mainly uses Sangiovese grapes

 and tries to keep the management of the vines as organic as possible.  He travels regularly to his main market countries : Russia and China.  What a small world we are becoming.

Reluctantly leaving the farm, we travelled through the plains and hills, villages and towns, rural and urban areas of Italy towards the west coast.  Our new home for a night is  a little villa in Poggio Pertuso, overlooking the marina and the sea, and the Forte Stella, which was built by the Spanish.

 We discovered that we are surrounded by the wealthy:  apparently Vladimir Putin holidays near us!We walked down to explore the beach.  What a difference to an Australian beach!  Some private sections, complete with umbrellas and lay back seats, some with bars and restaurants, clothes stalls, slides and rafts and playgrounds for the children, others for the public, others with dog walking areas.  And the water never seemed to get above chest level.  Perfect for the many children we found playing there.

Hopefully tomorrow we will have time for another quick swim and an explore before we head to Rome.