Tuscany

July 22 - 27, 2017

So goodbye Azamara and hello to my new ride, a Ford something or other.

So another benefit of a small cruise ship is you can get off fairly quickly. Disembarkation started at 8:15 am and ended an hour later at 9:15 am. We then walked a short distance (well 1 1/2 Kms) to the local Hertz rental location. We originally rented a small SUV that was guaranteed to hold our two suit cases. I didn’t take a photo of the SUV but trust me it was small. That didn’t bother me as it would be easy getting around and parking with this vehicle. The issue we had was there was no GPS in the car and the cost to add one would be 118 Euros (would be cheaper to buy my own). But for an additional 60 Euros, we got a rather large Ford which had GPS in it and would most certainly test my driving abilities around curves and in the parking lots. But what the heck, I love a challenge.

2 1/2 hours later we arrived at our B&B, “The Siena House”. Now not to confuse anyone but The Siena House is not in Siena so thank god for the GPS which took us right to the front door of this quaint place just outside of Sinalunga (which is a half hour south of Siena and was not on any map I had).

After checking in and getting unpacked the first item on our list was to …

Relax by the pool with a glass of Tuscan wine.

Please turn me over when I hit medium well

Thank you

Our host Malvin formally greeted us after our poolside lounging was over. The next order of business was where to eat that evening. Malvin suggested the La Toraia, a restaurant attached to a historic beef ranch and organic farm just 1 km away. This is a place for carnivores for sure (although they do have one vegetarian dish on the menu). Their speciality is steak and hamburgers. I was in the mood for a steak and Sheryl for a hamburger. I almost ordered the steak until I was informed the smallest cut was 1.4 kilograms (I think that’s just over 3 pounds). These meals are definitely for sharing. Anyway, I settled for a 300 gram (that’s 2/3 of a pound) hamburger instead and could not finish it but it was great.

That’s one big burger

The next day we woke up to the first of several fantastic breakfasts. Malvin gets up early and bakes bread and makes pastries. He then goes to his garden and gets what he needs for a salad (salad, it’s not just for dinner anymore). Added to the salad is his home made mustard seed dressing. He then brings out a plate of cheese, cured ham, fresh fruit and homemade jam.

Today we decided to tour Montepulciano and Pienza, both of which are approximately 20 minutes away and are hilltop towns. Every town has 4 things, a square, a water well, a Cathedral (or Duomo, or both) and a fantastic view. Get ready for Montepulciano

The square was being readied for an outdoor concert that evening

 Well

Church

View (and yes this will be repeated)

For those of us techie enough to use the GPS on our phones, here is the longitude and latitude of the parking lot. If you type this into Google maps it will get you there in one piece.

43.09127 11.77967

From Montepulciano, we headed to Pienza which also has a square, a water well, a cathedral and a view (I won't be labelling these going forward).

Pienza also boasts two other things. Once it was the home to a Pope (Pope Pius II) and is also where you will find the best pasta in the area (at least that is what we were told).

Welcome to La Buca Delle Fate

And the wonderful food here

This place is busy so make reservations ahead of time. Melvin booked us for 2:00 pm and we were seated right away.

I had the local homemade Tuscany pasta dish, Pici which was phenomenal. Sheryl had the tagliatelle with truffles and she says she has now been so spoiled that no other restaurant will match this dish.

We found free parking at the following GPS point

43.07832 11.68041

From Pienza back to our B&B, a little relaxing by the pool and to bed early (no dinner required) after our fantastic lunch)

The next morning started again with a great breakfast and great coffee and then off to Siena, which is about 30 minutes away. The square in Siena is definitely something to see. Once a year this is home to a horse race which is famous throughout Italy. The day starts with a parade, lots of fanfare and more betting is made on this race than any other event in Italy. Everything leading up to the main event takes several hours but the horse race itself is over in about 90 seconds (1 1/2 times around the square). The winner is the horse to finish first. There is no requirement for the rider to be on the horse and the jockeys try and knock the other riders off in an effort to win. The race is in another two weeks but of course, we’ll miss it. I will google it though and watch the 90-second race

We found parking in Siena at the following GPS point

43.31386 11.33373

We didn’t eat lunch today as the meal yesterday and this morning breakfast was more than enough. For dinner, though we just picked up the best buffalo mozzarella ever at Caseifico Noon Benito just 7 minutes from our B&B. 

The address and coordinates for this place are

Caseificio Noon Benito

Via Nazario Sauro 22/a, 53048 Bisciano (Bettolle) SI, Italy

43.219014 11.808429

The cost for one very large piece of mozzarella was 6 Euros and went very well with our bottle of Brunello (which was a little more than 6 Euros) and the two tomatoes we picked from Malvin’s garden.  We also found (well Malvin gave us directions) to a little coffee house. For 1 Euro I had an espresso made with a blend of 4 different type of coffee beans which was again WOW! 

For those interested, the coordinates for the coffee place is

LoScuro

Via P. P, Pasolini 8, 53048 Sinalunga, SI, Italy

43.216412 11.753021

That evening we had a bit of a thunder storm and although it didn’t rain it made for a beautiful sunset.

Day four had us heading to Arezzo. Although this town is not in most of the travel books “must see” places we took a chance. Initially, we were a bit disappointed as the first thing we saw as we entered the town was a Burger King. But we very happy when our Google maps voice got us into the old town.

 Another courtyard

We also did a little shopping and came across this purse maker who used to work for Hermes. Sheryl purchased a lovely purse of a true Italian quality for a very good price. The lady who owned the store and made the purses could not speak English but she went out and dragged in some poor soul to do the translating and soon enough was the proud owner of this new purse.

That same evening we headed to Cortona to meet up with our good friends Andy and Eleanor Molloy. They are spending the next 5 weeks in Cortona and had scoped out the best places to eat and drink. The streets are narrow here (well they are everywhere in Italy) but we managed to find street parking (sorry, forgot to write down the GPS coordinates, but just keep heading up the hill till you find a parking spot).

Am I proud of myself or what!

 Good friends, good food and good wine

 One of our waiters and our photographer for the evening

 Where else can you bring your lap dog and smoke a cigarette with dinner

And another great day comes to an end

Day five we mixed it up a little. We, of course, started with our great breakfast

Then headed out on a local winery for a tasting of some Super Tuscan's and some Chiantis.

 Line them up

 And I like that one

 Heading to the cellars

 Question, how many Sheryl's can you fit in a barrel of wine?

 Barrels as far as the eye can see

And We left with our regulation 2 bottles of wine (damn you Canada Customs)

That evening we went to town to a where we were told the local residents eat. The restaurant is called Da Forcillo and is family owned (the men cook and the women serve) We were advised that no one spoke English and we were somewhat challenged with the menu. Even the Google Translate app had problems. In the end, though we did have a fantastic meal and wine.

 Only 25 Euros and great wine

 Some of the best bruschetta we've ever had

 And the Tiramisu, wow

Finally, our last full day in Tuscany had us saying goodbye to our B&B, loading up the car and heading north to Florence. 

So long Malvin

But not before visiting one last hill town, San Gimignano. We loved this town with it's 14 surviving medieval towers

 And one last church

 One last courtyard

And one last well.

I threw this bell tower in to mix it up a little

One thing that Sheryl noticed in all the towns and cities we visited, is that it is indeed rare to find two entrance doors that are the same. Everywhere we went, Sheryl would mention the differences in all the doors. It actually became an obsession with her and she may need some therapy when we get back. We actually took a lot of photos of doors.

Coming soon to a bookstore near you, "Doors of Italy" by Sheryl Ullrich. That must have coffee table book

From here the story gets rather sad, as we left San Gimignano and headed to the Hilton Hotel by the airport in Florence. Our last night had us having an early dinner at the hotel (8 PM) and then to bed as we have an early flight in the morning.

We loved our time in Italy and will definitely come back. There is so much to see and do here and we only scratched the surface on this visit. The history, the food and the people make this a dream destination.

Till next time, Arrivederci