Under The Tuscan Sun

Me by the well in Montepulciano, I'm so pale I blend right in :)

Wine Cellar that makes the Cantina del Redi Wine. Some of the barrels were huge, like the one above is about 15 ft. tall... at least. The bottoms ones are smaller, only about 3 ft.

These cellars are centuries old and apparentaly famous. Our guide mentioned that BBC had filmed here a few times. It very pretty but, in a creepy sort of way. I was happy to be above ground again after the tour.

An old church in Cortona

Sunset in Cortona

Old Church in Pienza

Sidewalk in Pienza

Vergelle's Vinyard

Arezzo

Candles in a church in Arezzo

On the Streets of Arezzo

A street in Cortona

This weekend I went on a Gastronomic Tour of Tuscany. It was very very good! I was enjoying the food so much I neglected to take any pictures of it but, the countryside was very beautiful so I have plenty of those. We started off Saturday morning in Arezzo, we walked the town and toured about 5 different churchs.

 After that we went to Cortona. I loved it there! We stayed in a really nice hotel and had a lot of free time to wander the town. In the evening we went on a small hike up the mountain side. When we came back we had aperitivi and then dinner. I was not so much a fan of the aperitivi as the only thing I could eat was similar to a french fry made out of zucchini. I tried another bread that was supposed to have cheese inside and instead it was fish. SO gross! The actual Dinner was by far the best, we started off with a Risotto, then Ravioli with a cream sauce. The main course was a steak but I had a Caprese salad instead, that was followed by a green salad and, then dessert was the best Chocolate Torte ever! It was so good I ate the whole thing even after such a huge dinner. 

The next morning we went to the small town of Pienza. It was so cute and quaint! They are known for their olive oil. Outside of the town we visited a farm that makes their own meat and cheese produces. They are known for their cheese made from Sheep's milk. We toured the farm (which was smelly) and then sat down to lunch. Again wayyy to much food but all of it so good you had to eat it! My favorite was this bean and grain soup that they put pieces of bread on top and sprinkle olive oil and cheese.

Our last stop was to Montepulciano to see the wine cellars. It was also up high on a hill and the views were amazing!!!

Next week I have finals and then I have a week off to travel! My friend Samantha and I decided to head up to Sweden and maybe make a stop or two on the way back down.