| A Trip To Tuscany |
My wife, Leslie, had not even been with her new
company a year when they started this sales
promotion called “A Tuscan Treasure”. In a
nutshell, the top regional sales people in their
respective markets were eligible for this weeklong
trip with their spouses in tow. Leslie’s boss, who
knows me pretty well and is keenly aware of my
obsession with wine, joked with Leslie stating, “If you
don’t win this trip, you’re going to wind up divorced”.
Of course he was only joking, but who wouldn’t want
to take a trip to Italy and what wine geek, such as
myself, would pass up an opportunity to go the most
famous Italian wine region of them all, Tuscany?
There were some tense moments throughout Leslie’s
sales year, but she finished strong and won the trip.
There were probably a total of 140 of us that would
be making the trip and all staying at the Westin
Excelsior in Florence, right on the Arno river. Leslie’
s company spared no expense and did everything
from start to finish first class. Tours were provided,
day trips to medieval castles, towns and of course
wineries were all part of the week long excursion. In
our hotel, they even had a hospitality suite where at
any time of the day, we could stop in and pick up a
tasty beverage or a glass of Chianti. The wine in
Italy, never stopped flowing from early morning to
late morning, these people in Italy, love their wines
and their wines were all Tuscan.
This and the pages that follow will be a daily pictorial
of the sites and experiences of our trip. It was truly a
once in a lifetime experience and one that I would
gladly embark upon again anytime. I took over 740
pictures while we were there and I thought I would
post some of the best ones on these pages. I am
arranging them by the day.
Our first day was really spent entirely on a plane, but
by Tuesday, we had arrived in Florence by noon or so
local time. We checked in to the hotel and got our
rooms. We were pleasantly surprised to find that we
had a room that was facing the Arno River, which
afforded us with spectacular views of the city and the
riverfront. We then were able to wander around the
city of Florence for a while until we all had to meet up
at the hotel across the plaza from ours for a reception
welcome dinner. Most of the pictures on this page
were taken while we were wandering the streets of
Florence.
company a year when they started this sales
promotion called “A Tuscan Treasure”. In a
nutshell, the top regional sales people in their
respective markets were eligible for this weeklong
trip with their spouses in tow. Leslie’s boss, who
knows me pretty well and is keenly aware of my
obsession with wine, joked with Leslie stating, “If you
don’t win this trip, you’re going to wind up divorced”.
Of course he was only joking, but who wouldn’t want
to take a trip to Italy and what wine geek, such as
myself, would pass up an opportunity to go the most
famous Italian wine region of them all, Tuscany?
There were some tense moments throughout Leslie’s
sales year, but she finished strong and won the trip.
There were probably a total of 140 of us that would
be making the trip and all staying at the Westin
Excelsior in Florence, right on the Arno river. Leslie’
s company spared no expense and did everything
from start to finish first class. Tours were provided,
day trips to medieval castles, towns and of course
wineries were all part of the week long excursion. In
our hotel, they even had a hospitality suite where at
any time of the day, we could stop in and pick up a
tasty beverage or a glass of Chianti. The wine in
Italy, never stopped flowing from early morning to
late morning, these people in Italy, love their wines
and their wines were all Tuscan.
This and the pages that follow will be a daily pictorial
of the sites and experiences of our trip. It was truly a
once in a lifetime experience and one that I would
gladly embark upon again anytime. I took over 740
pictures while we were there and I thought I would
post some of the best ones on these pages. I am
arranging them by the day.
Our first day was really spent entirely on a plane, but
by Tuesday, we had arrived in Florence by noon or so
local time. We checked in to the hotel and got our
rooms. We were pleasantly surprised to find that we
had a room that was facing the Arno River, which
afforded us with spectacular views of the city and the
riverfront. We then were able to wander around the
city of Florence for a while until we all had to meet up
at the hotel across the plaza from ours for a reception
welcome dinner. Most of the pictures on this page
were taken while we were wandering the streets of
Florence.
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