Saturday, March 10, 2012

me and flora
well, i spent the day riding horses and playing with stray cats, but since the hot water is out again, i guess i'll write in my blog instead of showering.  i could not have picked a more perfect day to go to the horse farm/vineyard/winery in chianti.  it was beautiful and sunny and warm.  a few friends and i took a horseback riding tour through olive groves up in the hills.  i shouldn't have admitted that i was the only one with horse riding experience because they stuck me with flora, the 'crazy and stupid' horse, as the italian women at the farm called her.  she was young and spunky and all she wanted to do was run.  i secretly loved her.  we rode through the hills single-file on a one-lane path, but flora would purposely stop every few minutes and then gallop to catch up to the other horses.  she tried to veer off on her own paths, and when the group took pictures at the end of the tour, she suddenly became shy and would walk backwards and turn her head away from the cameras.

flora being camera shy
baby dog playing fetch with me

the farm was like heaven.  there were a bunch of silly little dogs that snuggled in our laps, played fetch every time we would pay attention to them, and ran alongside our horses during the entire tour.  afterwards, we took a tour of the winery where we were taught and shown how to make wine.  we even got to taste some of the wines produced in chianti with our three course lunch.  on the way home, we made a few stops to see the amazing views of the city and countryside, get gelato, and i even made a new cat friend.
so much wine
us in the winery

me and my new cat friend, we named her principessa (princess)

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