We left Houston on July 1 and Arrived in Rome (Roma) on July 2nd.  Got our car and headed for Chianti.  It was an event less drive with some very lovely scenery.  Many more hills and small mountains than are presently around Houston.  We did fine except I couldn't remember what the castle name was where we were supposed to meet our daughter and future son-in-law and the other guests.  I found on the map a Castillina de Chianti and we head there.  Found it just fine with only a couple of missed turns and back tracking.  My wife called our daughter and found out we were about 25 Km from where we were supposed to be at Giacole de Chianti and the Castelo Metelo de Chianti.   On a 5,000 mile trip, a 25 km miss of the target is still almost a bullseye...  We were supposed to be at
Metelo (which is in the center of the word Chianti) but ended up at Castillino which is north of Siena and west of Radda.  Looks a lot further on the map than it actually is, the map is a blowup (Mural) of the Chianti area of Italy.



Robin and Lynn asked us to stay put and they would come get us and lead us back to the castle.  We waited in the parking lot outside of town and they arrived in about 20 or 25 minutes.  We followed them back and got to start enjoying the Castle.
We don't have a lot of 13th or 14th century castles in Houston.  If we do, they are most likely called Indian burial mounds, since there were no Europeans in Texas at that time.  The tower on the left was our stairwell to our bedroom.  You can see the slits going up the tower.  They were for the crossbow  users that defended the castle.   They were about 8 inches wide and 24 or so inches tall and the bottom ledge of the opening (inside) was sloped downward.  You can see that it would be hard to see if anyone was at any of these windows from the outside.  One defended could go up and down the stairs and utilize all three windows as needed, or three defenders could handle the windows that are showing and also the ones on the left side of the tower out of view.

They certainly knew how to decorate the walls and ceilings and doors and windows in their homes...


















Not just stained doors and semi gloss trim.  .   .   .    Nor basic ceiling white paint either.



This is the kind of scenery that would be nice to have every morning out of my bedroom window in Houston.....I fear this is not to be, but one can dream.


Even the Bar-b-que pits are stone and have a middle age look about them.














Their version of the standard backyard pool is also not likely to be too prevalent in the Houston area as you can see below.


From the evening of July 2 through the morning of July 5, we had to suffer through this kind of environment.  We did the best we could under the circumstances.




After the brunch on the morning of the 5th, we drove back to Rome (Roma).  The drive back was not without another bout with being lost....Yes, I was driving this time also.....and I did stop to ask directions several times and was at the mercy of some Italianos that had my kind of sense of humor....I think...........