We spent a lovely afternoon with Lavinia Biagiotti and Katherine Kelly Lang, who gave me the most beautiful kaftan, literally off her back!

Love those girls so much and am grateful to have such friends. Lori was in awe of all the shopping available in the center of Rome, so the whole day was great, although quite hot. Last night we arrived by train from Rome to Florence, which was cooler and rainy and then drove by car to stay with our friends Isabella and Francesco at his bed and breakfast farm. We are in our own spacious apartment surrounded by what seems to be vivid green vineyards. So peaceful and relaxing, it’s just what Ronn needs right now.

We had dinner at the “Rosso Antico Osteria Moderna” restaurant, which was our best meal so far. I was so impressed with the white truffle sauce that I had to see the kitchen and get the recipe from the chef Claudio Buglioni. Apparently, the rare white truffle is only found in this area and they must be found by special trained dogs because they are deep in the ground. The rare white truffle is very expensive and only in season between September and November. If you haven’t tasted white truffle, it’s delicious and has a distinct taste and smell. This region supplies all the white truffles to exclusive areas of the world from this tiny area and the competition to find white truffle can be fierce because it can make the person who finds it very wealthy.

I find Tuscan food to be some of the very best food in the world and have always adored this part of Italy because of it. Last time Ronn and I were here, we brought the kids and stayed with Ronn’s dance partner on “Ballando Con Le Stelle” Sara DiViara, so we hope to see her today. In the meantime, the quest to find a giant white truffle may be on our agenda.  They have offered to have Ronn as the guest star for the annual, “White Truffle Fair” in November, so we may be back then.

Can’t believe we have only a couple more days left of our trip before heading home. Tomorrow we head back to Rome to visit the castle of Laura and Lavinia Biagiotti. I always look forward to the wonderful talks I have with Laura. I can listen to her all day talk about history, art and her rare finds at flea markets, which she is taking us to on Sunday before we attend a wedding. So our trip is nice and relaxing now and the memories are truly special because everyone makes us feel so at home. It’s funny because every time we come to visit, I have to bring more spices to give to friends that are addicted to it like we are, especially Laura’s cooks. I’m looking forward to perhaps doing a Ronn’s Garage segment from the castle with Lavinia!