It is wonderful to live in "Chiantishire"

April 25th is Liberation Day in Italy and is a public holiday. This Friday since we were all free from our obligations of work and school we decided to go out and do something different. We went to Panzano in Chianti, a fraction of Greve in Chianti, on the scenic road from Florence to Siena. It was the day of Festa Della Stagion Bona, the beginning of the "good season" with a procession in historical costumes of the Renaissance, a medieval play and plenty of stands with ready-cooked food. The weather was beautiful. We drove slowly on the road enjoying the magnificent green of Chianti stained by the blue/violet of the irises (one of the most beautiful examples can be seen in the middle of the second collection of photos below) and the red of the poppies, and the soothing music of Loreena McKennitt on our stereo.


In Panzano all the houses were ornamented with red and white flags on their windows, some with stripes, some with Florentine fleurs-de-lis. The narrow streets were full of people waiting for the procession. There were stands of the local artisans and many tables and benches placed in front of the food stands. The main road of the village was going slightly uphill and ending at the Church of Santa Maria (Santa Maria Assunta) (in the picture below). Before the procession the medieval play took place in front of this church and was broadcast through the loudspeakers placed in different places of the village (it was quite loud, actually). Then the procession of people in historical dresses followed by a band started in front of the church, went down to the village piazza and then up the road again to the church. We watched the show that took not more than 15-20 minutes, and after eating some panini and taking some photos, went back to our car.


On the way back to our house we decided to discover where the lake of Castel Ruggero was. It turned out that right behind our house we have an undiscovered (for us, at least) jewel. Walking between the trees you come down to a nice little lake. If we were alone, only me and my husband, we could easily walk down there from our house and pass several hours by the clear water just lying down and reading, or only dreaming...
Today we went for a long walk with our little ones. We went all the way through the forest, then the open fields down to the narrow road that leads to the lake, but had to turn back. Maybe another time we can go until the lake, too....