Tuscany is what you see in the movies...

 

Grape vineyards

 

Olive trees

 

Beautiful landscape around each corner

 

View of San Gimignano.  A hilltop town with 14 medieval towers still standing. 

 

Fortress around each city

 

A marching band in the middle of town??  Just happened to be Italian day today, Rob and I marched to the music w/ the town people as we explored

 

Wisteria in full bloom

 

Pizza, yumm!

 

 Farinata (chickpea pizza), had to give it a try.  It could have used some hummus but I was in the wrong country for that

 

Of course our daily gilato fix

 

 

Siena's I1Campo

 

Siena's Duomo 

 

Stopped at a local bakery for Panforte.  It was a recommended treat to purchase in Tuscany.  Little did we realize when we order a huge hunk that what we would be enjoying for the next five days of our journey would be fruitcake.  Mmm, I enjoyed some that day and felt obliged to eat a little hunk each day until it was gone.  Once was enough for me

 

Love the bright orange sign that we saw on all the roads.  Run for you life people!

 

Hard to see but I had to include this picture so Rob and I can remember that laughs and memories.  A little to the left of the center is a man playing an accordion.  Standing above him was a large man that kept "singing" into the accordion as the music was going along.  It was horrible singing but such a fun Italian memory.

A day in Florence

Walking into the city, rain and cloudy.  A beautiful view

When Rob and I were planning the trip I struggled about planning for a day in Florence.

By days end I was so happy we took some time to explore this beautiful city. 

 

A mid-morning gelato stop :)  I managed to spill on my shirt, it became a growing trend. 

 

A view of the chapel

 

Ready for lunch?  A fun trip through the market

 

Mushrooms anyone?

 

Our picnic lunch; sandwitches, olives, pesto and artichokes.

 

A classic pic in Italy, mopeds and McDonalds

A delicious finish to the end of our evening, Floretine steak and gnocchi in a cream sauce

Food at Le Tre Stelle

Food, how I love thee

A major highlight of our Italian getaway was the food.  Some of the best meals of our trip were eaten at the Tuscan farmhouse that we spent three nights at.  When I was looking at places to stay during our vacation I was hoping to take a cooking class in the Tuscany region.  Donatella, the owner of Le Tre Stelle let me prepare dinner with her and Mama each night that we were there.  It was a true Italian kitchen.  Mama in the corner shucking artichokes, daughter running the menu.

One night I was taught by Donatella how to make pasta.  She ran me through all the steps including the use of a pasta machine.  I went about my work, rolling the pasta.  Mama walks by speaking in Italian and shaking her hands.  I guess the pasta was not meeting her expectations.  I then was walked through the pasta making process (in Italian) by Mama.  She then sat next to me for the remainder of the pasta rolling to make sure I was doing it to her expectations.

 

Of course the hosts at each B&B were shocked when we declined coffee, cappuccino and alcohol

A victory in my mind was my willingness to try everything that I was served.  There were a lot of first for me.  I came home so happy that I tried new things and even happier that realizing that I liked some things that I didn't think I would enjoy.  Some firsts:

 

*Pate (didn't like)

*Fresh tomatoes (like)

*Salami (LOVE)

*Homemade pasta (Yummy)

*Stewed Rabbit (Love), of course it was stewed in wine and thankfully Rob told me what I had eaten after I licked my plate clean

*Fennel (love)

*Mussels (hate)

*Fried zucchini flower stuffed with fish (hate).  I took the first bite excited, and then quickly realized it was not stuffed with cheese

*Swordfish (like)

*Special toast (loved), a really fancy and expensive bruchetta we had in Venice.  It was so delicious!  Crunchy baguette type bread topped with roasted veggies, herbs and olive oil.

 

L to R: pot of animal parts to turn into pate :), meat sauce for the fresh noodles, bruchetta topping

 

Dining room table set for dinner, nothing fancy but it sure was fun.  Two nights we sat next to a couple from Norway.  They are both cyclists so we had a great time talking to them about all the awesome adventures they have been on throughout the world.  The last night we sat next to an American couple from California.  They were celebrating their 1 year wedding anniversary.  I suddenly felt really old when Rob and I told them we have been married 13 years and have 4 kids :) and really were not much older than they were. 

 

L to R: sauté greens, chicken of course cooked in wine, mushroom and pea gravy that was placed onto a puff pastry

 

Sous chef for the night, chopping potatoes

 

Pate and bruchetta

 

Mama and I, rolling noodles

 

Breakfast; salami, rolls filled with cream cheese, foccocia, cheese and a shortbread cookie.  What a great way to start the day :)  Mama always started it with a cup of coffee, three packets of sugar and a cup of bran cereal in the coffee

Tuscany 4/29/13

Our final morning in Rome, I was happy to hit the road.  A walk to the train station, asking for directions to the rental car station and then attempted to be on our way.  The rental company pointed to the street and said we would find our car out there.  What service!  Loaded our bags into a two door Fiat, plugged in the GPS to find it was not working, I ran back into the station to try and find a map (my Dad would be disappointed we didn't already have one), the line was huge so I run back out to Rob who had figured out the GPS and we were on our way.  A few horn honks, missed turns and we found the freeway and headed towards the country. 

Rob & our Fiat Francesca

 

No trip for Rob and I would be complete without a visit from the local law enforcement.  We (Rob) were minding our business, sticking to the speed limit, watching all the signs.  Mrs. GPS had us taking the scenic route to our destination which meant driving through country roads.  It was a beautiful drive with our little two door car zipping through olive groves and grapevines.  We come upon a intersection, made the stop and then pull up next to a police car.  The officers are standing outside of the car, one holding a large stop sign.  He holds it up to us.  I look at Rob and feel like we are on our honeymoon again.  Yes, Rob got pulled over on our honeymoon.  The office asks to see I.D., Rob hands over the international driver's license.  The office flips through the first couple of pages which are in Japanese, Russian and a few other languages other than Italian and we are sent on our way.  A drive never to be forgotten.

About the halfway point on our driving adventure from Rome to San Gimignano we made a stop at Civita di Bagnoregio.  Perched on a pinnacle in a grand canyon, the traffic-free village of Civita di Bagnoregio is Italy's ultimate hill town.  The town on the hill used to be connected by an old donkey path, it was bombed in World War II and replaced in 1966 with a new footbridge. 

 The view from the parking lot

 

 I love Wisteria!  It was in bloom everywhere we went

Our snack stop, Antico Frantoio Bruschetteria.  Bruschetta toasted over hot coals.  While we waited for our bread to toast we walked around the olive mill.  This olive press is about 1,500 years old.  Until the 1960's blindfolded donkeys would trudge in the circle, crushing olives and creating a paste that would then filter down for the second press. 
One of the shops we stopped in at was selling goodies from his farm.  Yummy cheese, honey and olive oil were brought back to enjoy when we got home.

 Views from the top of the city

 

Our next stop was Orvieto.  We parked at the train station, purchased tickets to ride the funicular to the top and then made a mad dash to see the sights.  Major regret of the trip...not spending more time here.  I was in a rush to arrive at our farmhouse and receive the cooking lesson I had been promised.  We got to the farmhouse so quickly that the owner greeted us and then let us know we had two hours before dinner prep.  To think I could have had that time in Orvieto.  Next time Orvieto is getting a 1/2 day of our trip!

 

 A quick peek into the Duomo

 

One of the man Pinocchio shops we came across in our hill town shopping

The view from our Agriturismo, Le Tre Stelle, http://www.letrestelle.com/index_e.html
What a wonderful gem, Donatella asked that they next time we visit we need to bring our girls along.  What fun that would be

The future prosciutto

 Our evening detour; Certaldo via the funicular.  A small sleepy hill town full of locals sitting on the street talking about the gossip for the day. 

 

Things that made us laugh today:



Van full of nuns

Cats all of Civita

Our run in w/ the police