Actually no one is whining - we survived "Art Day" and our grueling (albeit very fun too) Roman ruins AND Catholic holy land day, so heading to Siena and drinking wine along the way sounds pretty good. We are up (after a late night having fun catching up with Kriss) and getting ready to go again!
Challenges of the trip are keeping all of our devices charged - cell phones, camera battery, laptop, ipad etc. Then inevitably someone (ok, me) needs an adapter to use the blow dryer, and voila - there goes that charge. Again, as written last night, rough, I know...
No more posts for the day - Happy Wednesday!
UPDATE: Fabulous! True Tuscany - amazing...
We were picked up around 10AM and whisked off to San Gimignano by our adorable Italian guide, Iliana. The scenery was incredibly beautiful, and no photo can possibly do it justice - sunflowers, vineyards, rolling hills, clean, warm air - amazing.
We walked through the streets, shopped and gazed and had a gelato:
Then we drove to the Tenuta Torciano winery. It's located in the most beautiful area with sunflowers all around that are as tall as most adults. It was so quaint and picturesque...
We were greated in the courtyard by the owner, Pierluigi Giachi, who was adorable and charming, and he served as our educator and host for the luncheon and wine tasting. It was a delectable experience to say the least. We were led to a lower wine cellar, where a table was waiting. Then the fun began. We sampled Vernaccia (their white wine) along with 6-8 other wines, including their 98 point creme de la creme gem, a Super Tuscan called Terrestre - delicioso!
As you can see by the purple teeth - we enjoyed ourselved immensely! I was too engrossed in the day, so I forgot to take pictures of the lunch. But trust me, it was fantastic - from the prosciutto, cheese and braesola platter to start (with the white wine) to the lasagna bolognese with truffle oil (OMG!) to the (Momma's special) vegetable stew dish that was delectable.
Then, it was on to Siena for a brief stop to look around. We walked and shopped and then plopped down at a cafe to talk and take in the day before heading back to Florence. Iliana took the scenic route to head back into Florence, and we couldn't believe our eyes - the view from atop the Piazzo de Michelangelo was astounding. It gave us a whole new perspective of Florence, and we were eager to hike up there the next day.
We then rested a bit, changed, and we walked to Harry's Bar down the road for a light dinner al fresco. It was another beautiful evening in Italy - low in the low 60s with very little humidity - heavenly! Great drinks and simple food (albeit very very expensive) was what we wanted.
Tomorrow is a low-key day. We're meeting up with Kriss at 9AM and walking UP UP UP to the Piazza de Michelangelo to get a panoramic view of the city. Then we'll lunch up there before heading back down to go to shop a bit and go to the Ferragamo store and museum (Doug's wishlist of course). Ciao!
Looks like a postcard. Hard to believe that places as beautiful as this exist in real life.
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