May 29

farmer Owen

zucchini
Etruscan ossuary with battle scene on front and an image of the deceased on top in a reclining pose (like they used for eating) - These are typical motifs for ossuaries. This one has painting still visible.

ritual dishes and brassier - Owen really like the "play kitchen"Tomba della Pellegrina as it was found after grave robbers had visited it
griglia mista - mixed grilled meats - here, sausage, pork rib, and lamb chop

view from Chiusi parkRabarbaro Ristorante

gluten-free gnocchi with raguoutiside dining at Rabarbaro


After we enjoyed a gluten free breakfast prepared by the farm owner's mother, we explored the farm a bit. They have lots of olive trees, two large fields with grapes, and bee hives. They also have a personal garden with leeks, onions, tomatoes, herbs of all sorts, potatoes, cabbages, greens, cucumbers, watermelons, musk melons, egg plants, and peppers. Owen got to see the chickens, ducks, and rabbits while the farm owner's mother did chores. He sang "Old MacDonald" to the chickens.
Later, we went into Chiusi and visited the Etruscan Museum where they have a very nice collection of Etruscan artifacts including lots of funerary urns and ossuaries as well as everyday items. It is a small museum, but it is by far the nicest one we've visited; everything was well labeled with it's purpose, date, and location. The labels were all translated into English also which made it easier for us to read. We followed a docent a couple of kilometers out of town to see some Etruscan tombs which are caves dug in the sides of hills where they places the urns and ossuaries.
After lunch at a one man restaurant (smoked octopus, salmon, and tuna, salad, pasta, and mixed grilled meats), we walked Owen to sleep in a park overlooking the countryside then we toured part of and Etruscan underground water system which had been used in the nineteenth century as a wine cellar and is now a storage place for a large collection of Etruscan artifacts - what Abram guessed to be largest collection of Etruscan writing anywhere.
Owen enjoyed exploring the farm some more in the afternoon. We enjoyed a second dinner at the restaurant from last night, and turned in tired people.

ETA (6/1)
We had reserved tickets at the Uffizi for this day but decided we were big citied-out and museumed-out. We were very glad to have a much more relaxing day than I think going into Florence would have proved.