Italy summer vacation part two, Tuscany

After our Umbria adventures our sights turned to Tuscany. There we met up with our friend Chris and his family to celebrate his 50th Birthday. We had a large group of fourteen people in all. Thankfully we also had a beautiful and large villa reserved, Villa Il Laghetto, near Castroncello. This location may seem in the middle of nowhere but it was the perfect base for our day trips. Upon arrival we were greeted by Chef Alessandro who cooked dinner for us all – no small feat for this many people. Getting everyone situated, including six children, would have made preparing dinner that same night nearly impossible. Chef Alessandro ended up making breakfast for most of our stay, which made getting out of the house fantastically easy.Villa Il LaghettoThe next day, after breakfast, we were off to Siena which was just over an hour away. We happened to stumble upon the celebrations for the winner of the historic Palio di Siena – a horse race which has been held in Siena for centuries, and now…