The title of my post today refers to part of a dithyrambic ode to wine known as "Bacchus in Tuscany" and written by the famous 17th century scientist and poet Francesco Redi. The ode celebrates the wine of Artimino, among others, and a translation of the verses I quoted is more or less: "but of that wine so pure/ that they harvest in Artimino/I want to guzzle more than a vat." Hehe. I couldn’t resist quoting these verses today, even though my post is mainly about a wedding reception that we attended…at Villa Artimino. This will all make sense in a second.

Yep, I know, a wedding the day after Xmas. It sounds rather odd. But it turned out to be lovely. The reception hall was decked out with cheerful Xmas lights, and the wedding photos were taken in front of a huge sparkling Xmas tree. I thought it was brilliant! This photo, by the way, shows the detail of a frescoed ceiling. I liked this depiction of "Diligence."

But the most important part about today, for Stefano and yours truly!, is that the wedding reception was held in the EXACT same place, i.e., a four-story Medici villa built in the 16^th century, where we had our own reception almost nine years ago. Ahhh yes. So Stefano and I took a little trip back in time, remembering our own wedding and so on. And the food, service and wine were just as good as we recalled.

This elegant Renaissance villa is also known as Villa “La Ferdinanda.” It was originally designed as a hunting lodge for the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Ferdinand I de’ Medici, and is now part convention center, part archaeological museum.

Another name (!) of Villa “La Ferdinanda” is the "villa with one hundred chimneys" (villa dai cento camini), even though there are only actually 40 of these differently-shaped and sized chimneys. This photo shows a few.

The view from the back terrace/lawn over the Tuscan hills covered with vineyards and olive groves is absolutely magnificent. In the background you can make out the small fortified Medieval village of Artimino.

Well, I can’t say that I enjoy attending weddings. I am a casual dresser and like comfortable clothes, so getting all dressed up and wearing heels is not my cup of tea. Not at all! But I did enjoy being out and about with my dashing Stefano on such a beautiful sunny winter day.