| A Visit with "the kids" in Chianti |
 The "kids" I'm referring to are a herd of Cashmere goats at Azienda Agricola La Penisola in Radda in Chianti. I am happy to say that Capra ( goat in Italian) Eugenia and her family are busy producing the milk and wool used to make a line of skin care products and hand woven shawls and scarves that will be available this Fall at CosituttiMarketPlace.
The luxuriously creamy skin care products are made from fresh, untreated Cashmere Goat's milk and are the only authentic Cashmere Goat's Milk skincare products on the international market. Italian weavers working on handlooms, some of them dating from as far back as the 18th century, create made-for-a-lifetime: scarves, shawls, blankets and throws from the wool of the goats that are as unique as they are beautiful.
In the late afternoon I had un caffe' with Nora, the owner, in the kitchen of her farmhouse in Radda as we discussed the craftsmen and artisan producers behind the label MADE IN ITALY. Read more . . .
As a Miei Amici you can experience these unique artisan products at A TASTE of COSITUTTI - Fall 2008. Stay in touch for more information and your personal invitation to this annual November event.
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| Shopping with the Medici at Santa Maria Novella Farmacia |
A tourist traveling to Florence often enters the city through the front door. That is to say they see Santa Maria del Fiore and Brunelleschi's Dome, Giotto's Tower and the Bronze Doors. They visit the Uffizi, Boboli Gardens and Pitti Palace. They go to San Lorenzo and look for Michelangelo's David, if not the real one than the copy in Pizza Signoria (the real David is well protected in the Galleria dell 'Accademia).
But those in the know walk past Florence's main train station, Santa Maria Novella (Firenze SMN), a short distance to the piazza by the same name then down a side street to look for Via della Scala 16. Here you will find the Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella with its historic, artistic and handicrafted legacy that goes back to the Dominican friars who in 1221 settled in Florence. The backstreet doors of Via dell Scala 16 open into a corridor that leads to ornate, frescoed salons full of fragant elixirs, perfumes, lotions, soaps and sachets made from flowers and herbs from the hills of Florence. Many according to formulas comissioned by Caterina d'Medici. I bought my usual bottle of Alkermes and several hand molded soaps, a jar of honey and Frutta di Bosco (fruits of the forest) jam and left filled with the fragrance of Tuscany.
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As promised, more about the Fall 2008 Cositutti Trip. If you missed the first part of the ride, click 
I have wanted to visit the Abbey of Sant' Antimo for a very long time.I wanted to see the site of legends where around the year 800 the Emperor Charlemagne on his return to Rome made camp. His army was suffering from the plague and an angel advised him to collect a particular kind of grass and infuse it with Brunello wine (not bad medicine). The army was cured and Charlemagne built an abbey on the site dedicated to the martyred Saint Antimo. But more importantly, I wanted to experience the solitary beauty and spiritual clarity of Sant'Antimo.
