That’s one of my favourite movies. Yesterday I discovered that, in addition to being an organic farm with 300 hectares of land and 20,000 olive trees (!), the former convent where we took my parents for lunch yesterday has been the set for many films, including Room with a View ! Fancy that. This huge complex is located on a hill above Florence, only a 10-minute drive from our house, yet we have never been or even eaten there. Yes, we have passed it a number of times on our way to Fiesole, but never stopped to check it out. Then, just a few days ago, we read a write-up about it in an Italian gourmet magazine and thought it would be a good place to have a birthday celebration. And it was! Well, well. I still have a lot to discover about my own city, it would seem!

The food was quite decent, but the best parts were:

1. the view of the hills from the loggia where we ate, and

2. the sight of two pairs of swallows busily and oh so quickly! feeding their hungry offspring in two different nests. One nest (the one in the photos) had been built under the rafters, the other was sitting right on the alarm system box over in a corner of the loggia. (I hope that alarm never has cause to go off!) These photos give an idea of what the little birds looked like right before and after a feeding. I just love the facial expressions! I was totally mesmerized, and almost didn’t eat my lunch!

After lunch, my Mom and I took a look at the 15th century cloister, and came upon a fresco, the Madonna della Misericordia, by Spinello Aretino. The icing on the cake! Okay, I have some research to do, so, ciao a tutti!