Tuscany Road Trip!

So we decided to finally start using this thing and attempt to keep all of you wonderful friends and family updated on our travel adventures and life in Europe! I've been here for a year and a half now and am often sad that I don't get to keep in touch with everyone all the time.  So here is a blog in efforts to get you all more informed and coerce you to come visit!


The clouds in Northern Tuscany

So since Germany is a magical place with fun accents, white sausage and beer for work lunches; they give you many holidays! Last week we had 5 days off for Easter, rented a car and headed towards our friendly neighbors to the south!  It's only a 3 hour drive to Lake Garda in the Northern region which was our first stop for a mandatory Italian pizza and glass of wine upon entering the country! I'm fairly certain that we had pizza for lunch every day in 5 different cities.

View from Il Ciocco hotel

Our first day was the most adventurous but unfortunately the weather was really crappy and we ended up driving through rain and fog for half the day.  The first hotel was on the Southern edge of the Italian alps therefore we were literally driving in the clouds on tiny winding mountain roads for almost 2 hours with about 12 feet visibility ahead. Aka, I was terrified and pestering Sergei the entire time to slow down. But once we finally made it through the clouds it was amazing to see the views from the top of the mountains! 


Sergei drinking in Lucca

Half of the reason that we wanted to go to Italy was to enjoy all the lovely Italian food. We're a bit obsessed with Italian Burrata cheese. (If you have no idea what that is: go find some-it's AMAZING! http://www.thenibble.com/reviews/main/cheese/cheese2/burrata.asp  Therefore, on our adventure into Lucca when we found some it kicked off a massive Italian good buying spree. We got tons of lovely Olive Oil since I bathe in it, Limoncello from tiny little produces and even found some Amarone wine for cheap! Heaven.

Is that the Leaning Tower of Pisa?!

The Ruins in front of Volterra, beautiful town in a mountain top

Day 2 was a blur complete with the entire Southwest of Tuscany covered. We stopped in Lucca for delicious food and to explore the tower walls, visited Pisa for the obligatory 'Leaning Tower falling on me' photo, went to a farm in the middle of nowhere and found fresh Italian cheese and played with Italian farm animals, stopped in Volterra to see the ancient ruins and clock tower and finally arrived in Montalcino (the Brunello wine region) around 10pm. Thankfully the Italians eat dinner late so we managed to score dinner in a lovely Fiaschetteria (wine and tapas bar) and had dinner in the wine cellar. One of the coolest moments was while we were having dinner. All of a sudden our waitress comes and turns off the music because the town is doing it's Good Friday processional.  We went outside to watch and in this tiny little city, there were hundreds of Catholic people walking and chanting through the streets for Good Friday at 11pm. The Priest was officiating in Italian obviously and there was a band too. It was just really cool to see.

Montalcino Good Friday Processional

With Signore Spina, the wine maker in his home

The next morning we had a private tour and wine tasting on the charming Sesta Di Sopra vineyard.  And wow, they make the most wonderful Brunello wine. All that stuff about earthy aromas with a hint of fresh grapes and old oak etc is really true!! We're wine snobs now. Needless to say after lots of tasting... we got tipsy and bought 12 bottles to bring back to Germany. It's a good thing we drove instead of fly :)  But the vineyard is so tiny, they only produce 4000 bottles of wine a year, how can they make a profit? I think they need some wine consulting!

The David

Florence was our last destination for 2 days and of course we did tons of the touristy stuff.  We started with the Duomo for Easter Sunday services, which were packed. We went to the Accademia which is where Michelangelo's: "The David" is housed. And it really was magnificent, HUGE and just breathtaking. They don't allow pictures to be taken, but I'm a rebel. So enjoy :)

Pont Vecchio Bridge in Firenze

We also went to the Galileo Museum which was really fun and Sergei was like a child playing with all the science exhibits.  We ate tons of Gelato, although to be fair, the best Gelato we had was in Modena on our way home.  We went to the Uffizi gallery and shopped and wandered around Pont Vecchio bridge.  We sat in Piazza della Repubblica and people watched and had cappuccino. And just ate a ton of great Italian food! The weather even improved and we had some sunny days in Florence!

Yummy Gelato!!!

Italy is just amazing with so much to see and do. And the people there are so friendly and welcoming. Obviously, I know firsthand about awesome Italians, but I think that they're definitely the best in Western Europe! We will definitely go back, especially to Montalcino.

Hmm, now where to find really good Gelato without driving 3 hours?!

~Lesley & Sergei