Trapped in a Tuscan Villa!

It was June 2011 and we were heading north from Rome with only our GPS. Hoping that the recently uploaded Italian maps would find our remote Villa, we were ecstatic when the Garmin guided us to the gated entry of Villa Insoglio, just as the sun was setting. Our good friends, Bob, Julie, Monte, Ann, Doug and Lisa had already arrived and they ran out to greet us in the driveway. We proceeded to run through the villa like a bunch of little kids; giddy with excitement at how exquisite the Villa was. It clearly exceeded our expectations. This was the first trip we planned together and I was the one in charge of finding and securing the Villa so I was more than relieved that 1) the Villa existed and 2) the place was immaculate and beautifully appointed.
We had dinner by the pool and stayed up late to discuss the next day’s plans. After much discussion it was agreed that two couples were going to wake up early to drive 2-1/2 hours to a Romanesque Abbey near Siena. They wanted to hear Gregorian chanting by the monks at a Sunday church service. Meanwhile my husband Jeff and friends Doug and Lisa and I were going to drive to Volterra, a Hill top town, for the Sunday flea market. We agreed to meet back at the Villa for dinner and share our Tuscan adventures over lots of wine and local cuisine.
The next morning jet lag had me up very early. I awoke to perfect weather…. warm, dry, no cloud in the sky….a perfect first day in Tuscany. I was up so early that I was able to see my four friends drive out the gated driveway on their way to Sunday service. I took an early morning swim in the pool, surrounded by nature. It was perfectly quite. “What a great start to the day”, I thought.
By mid morning the rest of my group was ready to drive to Volterra. We assembled our day packs and headed to the car. As we gathered by the car Doug asked my husband Jeff, “Hey, do you have the opener for the gate?” Jeff said, “No. It must be inside”. We all scrambled back inside in search of the driveway gate opener. Frantically looking for the opener, we dreaded the next and most obvious thought….our other friends took off with both gate openers in their possession. The gate was closed and we were trapped!! UGH!
A quick cell phone call to our friends confirmed our suspicion. Worse yet, they were too far away to come back and deliver the opener. It was clear we were not going to be able to go anywhere and we were disappointed we couldn’t make it to the Hill town. Our only consolation was knowing how badly our other friends felt for driving off with both sets of gate controls.
The four of us decided to walk the grounds of the Villa and cool off a bit. We walked down a gravel path; past olive trees and pencil pines. We chatted and grumbled and recanted the morning’s mishap. We plotted silly revenge scenarios for our friends when they returned home and gradually began to laugh at our situation. We strolled back to the villa and took a seat under a covered patio. Then my friend Lisa casually said “Hey guys, there are worse things in life than being trapped in a luxurious Tuscan Villa.” We all started to crack up with laughter. My ever resourceful husband reminded us of the stockpile of wine that the owners left for us to drink. He quickly scooted inside and came back out with four glasses and a bottle of red. We had cheese, olives, crackers and a pool. Hmmm. Things were looking up. This might not be so bad after all.
As it turned out we ended up spending the entire day poolside, imbibing on spirits and nibbling on Italian cheese and olives. Looking back we all agreed that being trapped in a Tuscan Villa was the best day of the entire trip.