Pontassieve.

We arrived by train to Pontassieve which we thought was going to be like a suburb of Florence and maybe it is in a way, but its more like its own little town on the edges of the hills where our hosts have a cask of freshly pressed olive oil in their entrance way. Coming in on the train the town is just 6 stops from the center of Florence and is bustling with its own life. The large supermarket called Coop is right outside the station, a Benetton, a cafe, pharmacy and whatever else you might need are next to some pretty old apartments houses stacked together against the roads. Samuel came in his little yellow car and brought us in two trips home.

Agnes and Samuel are only 28 and 31, beautiful in a Italian J Crew sort of way, and living an enviable life dressed with Italian architecture and accented with the best of Ikea.. Samuel is a mechanical engineer and Agnes is a Pilates instructor on a year-long leave from teaching part-time and nursing and cloth diapering new baby Vera (meaning 'truth') and baking cheese cake for our arrival, and cooking dinner (Eggplant and mozzarella and mortadella quiche made with Buitoni Pasta Sfoglia crust (can I get that brand of puff pastry at home, somebody?)

Agnes and Josh are putting children to bed while Samuel is being deep and thoughtful and is right now making yogurt for our breakfast tomorrow and discussing what goes into his garden compost, slow food, global warming, tipping points and nature verses nurture, and now something important called the Triz theory with my Mom in the heavily accented and melodic English that Italians speak.

I guess its the Tuscan way of life but something makes these people so lovely and cheerful and their house reflects everything about that, down to the felt flowers on the painted clothes pins that hold the grainy photos of their love unfolding over the past years.

God, I may never leave.