Italy Chronicles Part 3

Let's go to Tuscany shall we? I may come back and add some details later. My memory is beginning to fail me in my old age.

So day three brought us Alessandro....the Carabineri/ tour guide. My sister came across Alessandro on Trip Advisor...she used it to plan our whole trip...well that and Rick Steves. Anyway, he came highly recommended as a tour guide of Tuscany and I would highly recommend him for anyone traveling there. As for the rest of you, you are stuck with me.

He picked us up from our hotel and took us along the Chianti Road to our first destination. The Castello Vicchiomaggio. This place was beautiful and the scenery was amazing. Alessandro told us that his sister got married in the gardens...she and her husband are designers at Calvin Klein in Milan....so you can imagine the type setting it was....unfortunately, I don't feel like I captured any pictures that really describe the place...so you might just want to check out their website...and then start planning your next vacation there. They have a pool that has the most incredible view of the Tuscan landscape....That's right I was scoping out the pool.

We toured two more wineries and the small town of Greve. We ate, we drank, and we were merry. At the family owned Montagliari winery I hadTHE best spaghetti I have ever eaten...seriously THE best. A little side note here about that. For those of you who really know me, you know that I like to sprinkle Sweet n' Low/Splenda on my spaghetti...for those of you who didn't know that....now we are BFF...anyway it's a weird thing my grandmother did once...I tried it and never looked back {it cuts down on the acidity} This spaghetti needed no such doctoring...it was sent straight from heaven to my plate. It was probably my mostest favoritist winery we visited...so much so I had to make up words to describe it.

After we were good and drunk finished our wine tours Alessandro took us to a couple small towns that shall remain nameless because I don't know their names. The drive was as beautiful as the towns, but since we were driving at 80 kmh I am not sure how good my grasp is on what the scenery looked like....a picture out the window was out of the question.

We visited San Gimignano home of Italy's best gelato...and had gelato...it was good but my mix of lemon and pistachio took away from the greatness a little bit....the lady misunderstood me....I am fully aware that that sounds disgusting...just imagine peanut butter on a lemon and that is what it tasted like...so no... in my opinion San Gimignano did not have the best gelato...and I would know because I got to be an expert on gelato.

We ended the day in Siena the town of the animals...each "section" has its own animal a fox, porcupine, etc... and you must marry someone from your own animal section or be banished outside the gates....I kid you not...they still live like that. It is also the place of the famous horse race in the town square...but it's not really a square more like a shell shaped bowl....where each animal section has its own horse and they race....yes it is the same one featured in the newish James Bond movie. We had a great dinner in a little cave restaurant and then drove home at the speed of light...

Did you notice I didn't talk about the wine in Tuscany? Well, its because I have decided red wine is not for me....I know I can hear you yelling blasphemy...but I just didn't like it...and dare I say the olive oil tasted weird to me...will Italy ban me from ever returning? However, give me some balsamic vinegar aged 28 years....aka liquid gold....and I will pour it on anything. Yes, I even had it poured over a little ice cream and apple pie {sorry no picture} it was unlike anything I have ever tasted....it is so sweet...not like the stuff you put on your salad..Divine...but at 48 Euro for a tiny bottle/vial Brandon wouldn't let me bring any home....I did bring the salad kind home....but I'll never use it because I won't want to run out...I am weird like that.

It was a long busy day and for your benefit I have left out lots of details....trust me...I am looking out for you....but you can look HERE to see my pictures from that day.... or just watch it below. I know that's all you care about anyway...