Tuscany

After leaving Siena's city square for the last time, Jen and I walked down the hill to the Avis office to pick up our rental car. Automatics are not common in Europe, and they were quite a bit more expensive on the rental-booking websites, so I had booked a car with manual transmission, which meant that Jen would be driving (I never learned how to drive stick, which really came back to bite me when a friend offered to let me drive his F430 in Napa . . . another story). However, when we arrived, the agent offered us our original car or an automatic in the same class for no additional charge. I wanted to drive over here, and Jen likes it when I drive, so we switched our reservation. Soon after, we were skirting the outer ring of Siena, following the city walls, and then it was onto the freeway and south into the world of vineyards, castles, and hilltowns in one of the world's great wine regions, southern Tuscany.

Tuscany is beautiful. In contrast to many travel experiences, it was almost exactly how I'd imagined it from stories, pictures, and Tuscan wine labels. The weather was perfect and everything seemed idyllic. And to add to this, it was late August/early September, so there were large clumps of dark purple grapes, but it was too early for harvest and crush, so all of the vineyards were picture-perfect. It was also really neat for me to travel to Tuscany because it's my favorite wine region in the world right now. While France, California, Argentina, and Australia all produce great red wines, there is an inherent friendliness to Italian wine, which is a stark contrast to French austerity. Furthermore, Italian wine is made for Italian food, and that in itself goes a long way. But beyond all that, Italians really care about letting the fruit speak for itself, which is refreshing in contrast to California's annual "Who Can Make the Oakiest Wine?" competition. It was very fulfilling to see the places that give these wines their character and terroir.

A little over an hour after leaving Siena (with occasional stops because "We need a picture of that"), Montepulciano came into view. It was near sunset, and we were between the sun and the city, so the city of stone up on the hill took on an amazing orange glow. We neared the city, drove down a tunnel-like lane of towering trees, wound around the town's cathedral, and finally turned down a gravel road and arrived at our agriturismo.

Agriturismos are Italian farmhouses that have been converted into little B&Bs among the vineyards. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of these establishments in Tuscany, and they make for a wonderful experience. Fortunately, they are also relatively inexpensive. Our hostess was a very friendly Italian woman named Teresa, and our room was quite nice and comfortable. The property was well-manicured with flowers, vineyards, and olive trees, and our well-priced stay included breakfast and laundry (Teresa even dried and folded some of our clothes). We only stayed at our agriturismo for two nights, but I definitely could have handled a few more nights here. The area was so beautiful and peaceful, and Jen and I had a great time exploring the region's hilltowns.

Soon after our arrival, the sun faded away, and it was time to find some dinner. We drove up the hill to Montepulciano and began to look for two restaurants that good old Rick had recommended. It was about 8:30, and the first one we found, Osteria Acquacheta ("calm waters") was absolutely packed. We asked about getting in, but they said they could only seat us at 10:30, which was their closing time. We put our name in for 10:30 and tried to find another option. However, after venturing over to the town square and walking the streets around there, it became clear that the town was pretty dead at this hour and all the other restaurants were empty (save for a couple waiters just sitting around at tables). This made us think that Acquacheta was probably something special, so we opted to wait it out and eat at 10:30. This proved to be a wise decision.

First of all, Tuscany is not like Napa. It's much more rural than commercial, so prices are actually very low out there. At this restaurant, a half-liter of house wine was €4, pasta dishes were €5.50, and one of the best steaks I've ever had was about €13. The owner cuts all the meat himself, and a popular thing to do is for a family or a few friends to come in and split a 3-4 pound Porterhouse. If you order a steak here, the owner will walk to the back of the restaurant to one of the giant slabs of beef. In full view of everyone, he will take a huge knife and hack at the slab, through meat and bone, until he's cut off your piece. Then he'll walk through the restaurant, slab in hand, present it to you for your approval, and then toss it on the grill. Most of the Porterhouse steaks around the restaurant were seared a bit on the outside and literally raw almost all the way through, so I had my (smaller) steak cooked a bit more, but everything was delicious. They also had a great bruschetta dish with full slices of tomato on grilled bread that Jen and I loved. We finished with the house-made tiramisu, and walked out of our amazing meal having spent only €34.

As a side note--after taking a couple bites of my phenomenal steak, I *may* have summoned the owner to make a reservation for the next night, too . . . .

After a full day in which we woke up in Florence, toured Siena, drove to Montepulciano, and ate an incredible dinner up in town, we were ready to sleep. Both of us slept very well (it is incredibly peaceful out there), and we woke up refreshed--and an hour before my alarm--with the sunrise in our open window. We had breakfast and cappuccinos outside on the property, and then we got in the car for the drive to Montalcino.

Italy produces many great wines, but the three that really stand with the top red wines in the world are Amarone, Barolo, and Brunello di Montalcino. Brunello is made from Sangiovese grapes grown around the hilltown of Montalcino, where the clones of Sangiovese create wines of exceptional power, complexity, and age-worthiness. It's the perfect pairing for rich Tuscan food such as steaks, sausages, and hearty pasta dishes. I was not about to go to the heart of Tuscany without visiting Montalcino.

Our morning drive was picturesque, and we arrived around 10:30 am, walked the small cobblestone streets a bit, and ate some local pastries. Then it was over to a shop to do a little tasting. 2004 was a benchmark vintage for Brunello, and since Brunello must be held back for five years before release, many 2004s are still on the market, so we were able to taste quite a few. In addition, 2007 and 2008 were also great years, and those bottlings of Rosso di Montalcino are also on the market now. (Rosso di Montalcino, or "Baby Brunello," is made from the juice that did not quite make the cut for Brunello and is aged for less time in a larger barrel, so it gets less oak treatment and is meant for consumption soon after release.) This was a lot of fun, and the 2008 Rossos are looking amazing, particularly the Rosso from Casanova di Neri, one of the premier Brunello producers, which we bought.

We decided to drive south from Montalcino because a famous hilltown, Sant'Antimo, as well as many of the premier Brunello producers, lie south of the city. Just outside of Sant'Antimo, we were able to explore the 12th-century Sant'Antimo Abbey and watch a few monks conclude a service. This area also had vistas that were the exact Tuscany you see when you picture it in your mind--hills topped with rows of Tuscan cypress trees.

After eating the best grilled pork chop we'd ever had, we headed back toward Montalcino and stopped in at Fattoria di Barbi (essentially translating to "Farm of Catfish," named after the local barbed fish), a Brunello producer that can trace its roots back to the 1300s. That is one of the amazing things about this region--there are wineries here that have been in the same family for over 1000 years (one in particular since 980 AD). To give some context, almost no wineries in California have been around for 100 years, and many have sold out long before that. We were able to tour their facilities and learn a bit about producing Rosso and Brunello, and then tasted the 2008 Rosso and the 2001, 2004, and 2004 Reserve Brunellos. The 2001 was amazing, and at €25 (insanely cheap compared to what you would find it for in the US), we decided to buy one for our time in Rome.

Next, it was on to the thermal springs at Bagno Vignoni, with views of the Rocca d'Orcia.

On our way back to our agriturismo, we stopped to check out San Biagio, the church nestled up against the base of Montepulciano's hill, and then we went back to clean up for dinner.

Our second night at Osteria Acquacheta was a bit different from the first, but I loved the experience. The amazing steak had pushed me over the edge in terms of deciding to eat there again on our second night, but the only cut available on our second night was the Porterhouse, and there was no way we could handle 3-4 lb steak, so I improvised and ordered the rabbit and a house-made pork sausage. Both of these were incredible, and the sausage was probably the best I've ever had. Jen ordered a delicious four-cheese pasta (and shared a bit with me), and then we had a very inventive dessert. We actually intended to order another dessert we had seen, but something was lost in translation, so what we got was a slice of dessert with an almond-based crust (texturally similar to graham-cracker crust) with a filling that was texturally similar to a mousse or very light cheesecake but was flavored with Vin Santo (literally, "Holy Wine"), which is Tuscany's delicious, but very expensive, dessert wine. The Vin Santo element added some culinary points for me, but regardless, this was delicious. Jen and I loved it, and this was another dish we need to figure out how to make for our friends and family back at home. After dessert, our waitress came up to me and yelled, "Grappa?!" Grappa is an Italian spirit made from distilling the leftover skins and juice after crushing grapes for wine. It's strong stuff, and I don't particularly enjoy it, so I declined, but Jen had fun saying, "Grappa?!" with an Italian accent for the remainder of the trip. Add on €4 for our jug of house wine, and we were out of there for only €31.

On our third day in lower Tuscany, we had several hours before we needed to return the rental car in Siena, so we took some time to explore Montepulciano during the day. I'm very glad we did this, because we saw a totally different side of the town from our first night there when the streets were dark, quiet, and empty (add in the wind and it was downright eery at times that night). The town has some very charming streets with neat little shops and local artists' galleries. We also took some pictures of the town square, which Jen liked because Summit filmed the "Volterre" scenes for New Moon on the Montepulciano town square. (Volterre is a real Tuscan town, but they opted to film in Montepulciano for logistical and financial reasons. Interestingly, neither town square actually has a fountain, so I guess the story was all made up.) Also, if you look at my album, the rather unsightly building on the town square is actually the town's cathedral. They ran out of money while building it, so it never received its fancy marble facade.

Montepulciano is home to another one of Tuscany's great wines, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano ("Noble Wine of Montepulciano"--not to be confused with Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, which is not from Montepulciano but is made from a grape varietal called Montepulciano), so we had fun visiting a couple of the town's tasting rooms. In particular, the Redi winery was very interesting because it was buried many feet (and centuries) underground in a cold, dark, damp, catacomb-like cellar. It was neat to see a cellar that was relatively unchanged since the time America became a nation.

Finally, on our way back to Siena, we opted to stop in a small, medieval hilltown called Montefollonico, which sits across the valley from Montepulciano (we could look up at both from our agriturismo). Most of the area within the walls in the hilltowns is off limits to cars of non-residents, but this town did not have any signs limiting access, so I decided to try my hand at driving through the cobblestone streets. We were in a little Fiat, and the streets were barely wider than the car. With a bit of care, nothing happened to our faithful rental car, but it was a fun driving experience. The coolest feature in this town was its church, which was built in the 1200s but is still the town's church today. The quality masonry has allowed the church to withstand the test of time.

And with that, we cruised back to Siena at 110 km/h and caught a train to Florence. The next day we had to get up early for our Eurostar train from Florence to Naples, so we had some more delicious wood-fired pizza, shared our Rosso di Montalcino from Casanova di Neri (which blew us both away), and called it a night.

Again, our Tuscany album is available here. I think the pictures are definitely worth your time!

- R

Siena

The next morning, Jen and I caught the train from Florence to Siena, and then we made our way to the old city center.

Siena is a Tuscan city about an hour south of Florence (by train or car), and during the Middle Ages, Siena and Florence had an ongoing rivalry into which they would often drag smaller, less powerful Tuscan cities. The city walls still wrap around the entire old city, and the old city has been well-preserved and retains its historic character.

First, we found the main square, Piazza del Campo, and sat down next to some fellow Californians (a UC graduate and a start-up founder, respectively) for cappuccinos. Siena's town square has changed little over the past 500 years, and many call it Italy's greatest city square. The entire square is bowl-shaped and slopes down toward the Palazzo Pubblico (Town Hall) and its Torre del Mangia (the bell tower), which creates somewhat of an amphitheater effect. Throughout the day, locals and visitors like to sit down on the sloped floor to people-watch and eat their lunch or gelato. Jen and I really enjoyed the feel of Siena, and throughout the day we found ourselves drawn back to this square for a quick break in-between sites.

It was about this time that, at Jen's prodding, we bought the Rick Steves book on Italy. If you have ever watched his show, you know that he tends to have helpful tips and information, but his intonation is quite distinct. Naturally, Jen and I made a rule: we could only read passages from Rick Steves to each other if we did so while mimicking the man himself. This was hilarious, and we had a great time both reading the book aloud (as Rick Steves) and making up what our hero might have said about other things we saw and experienced in Italy. (Watch this clip to understand.)

Siena's cathedral offers a multisite ticket that allows you to access its baptistry, crypt, and museum, so we opted to do that. Our first stop with this ticket was the cathedral itself, and I have to say that it might be my favorite cathedral in Europe so far (and I am writing this after Spain and Italy, so I have seen a lot). The pillars featured alternating slabs of white and black marble, there were large displays of lit votive candles, and the front of the church was lined with black angels. In addition, the outer facade featured some amazing sculptural work and the common Sienese theme of wolves (coming from the mythical founding of Rome by Romulus and Remus, who were abandoned to die in the wild but were fed and protected by a she-wolf). If you visit Siena, do not miss the cathedral--I found it to be quite stunning.

Next, we ventured down into the cathedral's crypt, which itself sits above a medieval church (cool picture here, entire Siena album here).

By this point, we were quite hungry, so we took Rick's recommendation and found a restaurant in the square behind city hall. I had a delicious plate of pasta with duck sauce, and the square offered beautiful views of the countryside outside of Siena.

After lunch, we saw the cathedral museum and then climbed to the museum's rooftop for views of the cathedral and the city square. Then we relaxed on the square with some gelato and went to pick up our rental car for our adventure in the Tuscan countryside.

- R

Florence

*I know that I am a bit behind with the blog. This is mainly because Jen was here with me for two weeks, and I wanted to make the most of my time with her. In addition, it can be difficult to get an Internet connection that is good enough to let me upload photo albums and edit blog posts. I am going to do my best to make up the gap in the next few days.

After a full-night's rest and a great breakfast at our hotel in Bologna, Jen and I walked to the train station to catch our train to Florence. This was a very short ride, and we were able to drop off our bags and start on the tourist track by about 10:30 am.

Florence lies in northern Tuscany, and it is a very important city in the world of art history. Its museums, galleries, and palaces hold some of the most valuable masterpieces in the world. Our first stop was the Accademia Galleria, the home of Michelangelo's David, which is held by many to be the greatest sculptural work in the world. We waited in line for about an hour before entering the museum, and after admission, we went straight to see David. Often, pieces of art like this do not capture my attention as I feel they should, but David really impressed me. Everything about the sculpture is perfect, and it is quite large--about 2.5 times scale. It was also interesting to learn that the sculpture was worked from a giant piece of marble that the Catholic church decided it did not need in building the large Duomo nearby. Good thing they could afford to donate that giant marble block to the arts! Furthermore, an amazing thing about Michelangelo is that no plaster mock-ups (used for practice, visualization, and scale) of his works have been found for his works, meaning he may have had such remarkable skill that he could create his works without plaster trial runs and reference points. In addition to David, the gallery also holds a few marble blocks that contain half-finished works by Michelangelo.

After the gallery, we went to get lunch. I had read about Fratellini, a sandwich shop in Venice, so we went to get little sandwiches with roast pork and a variety of cheeses. Delicious.

We spent the afternoon walking by the river, eating gelato, visiting Florence's famous Duomo, peeking into a Pinocchio store (the author of the original tale was born in Florence), and embracing the custom of siesta (i.e., napping). Florence did have more museums to see, particularly the Uffizi Gallery, but we opted not to visit more for two reasons. First, after seeing so many museums in Spain, I was experiencing a bit of "museum fatigue." Second, Florence was an absolute zoo of tourists. There were massive lines and crowds for every site. Exacerbating the problem was every European traveler's favorite social phenomenon--cruise ship groups!

Cruise ship groups are quite amazing. Scholars are not quite sure when this custom first appeared in Western society, but if you are trying to spot a cruise ship group in a major European city in our modern era, simply look for someone walking backwards while carrying a small microphone and something ridiculous like a flag, an umbrella (on a sunny day), a folding fan, a giant fake flower, etc. This person will be trailed scores of other human beings, and they will be wearing fanny packs, large hats, and walking shoes. One thing Jen and I learned about these incredible miracles of tourism is that they tend to be about as large and unwieldy as a cruise ship itself. And these groups always like to stop in the most ideal places, as in, "Hey, this sidewalk is exceptionally wide, so let's take up the entire thing," or, "Hey, this hallway or gallery in the museum is quite large, so, again, let's occupy the entire thing so that no one can get around us." But be careful. Only get close to the pack if you are prepared to hear middle-aged Americans complain about walking, the heat, or the culture in the country they decided to cross an ocean to visit. But you may learn something interesting by overhearing the guide . . . or you might cringe by hearing one of your fellow countrymen asking an exceptionally ignorant question.

But I digress. Less important than the phenomenon itself was our suspicion that on that day, every cruise ship in the Mediterranean had come into port on the coast of Tuscany and sent every single occupant on coach buses to the historic area of Florence, to the celebration of €6 gelato places everywhere (it should be about €2-3). We opted to end our day with a walk by the river at sunset, delicious wood-fired pizza, and some Rosso di Montalcino. Then, with Siena awaiting us, it was time for bed. Florence is a pretty city (it's the one I chose for my blog's banner), and its art museums are very notable, but I would recommend visiting in the off-season if you can. It really did feel a bit like having the same number of tourists you see in Rome or London, only spread over fewer sites in a much smaller city center. You can view the pictures here, and I'll post Siena right away.

- R