Under the Tuscan Sun
As I've mentioned previously, Mary Frances and I split the May weekends in terms of destinations. Not even two minutes after she mentioned we should do this, we were booking our trip under the Tuscan sun. We had to ensure our activities were planned before the flight for this trip!
[divider class="" ]Planning:
Since Florence has a smaller airport than Rome or Pisa, there weren't as many flights. Moreover, our budget airlines don't really fly to these small towns at ideal times so we ventured to Heathrow. I have a love/hate relationship with Heathrow. It is typically really crowded and can be difficult to get to during the day. But, I love how nice it is and how it goes everywhere in the world. After much debate, we booked British Airways flights for Terminal 5 (intra-Europe). We are flying into Bologna on Friday night, arriving at 11pm, and departing from Pisa on Sunday at 8pm. Train travel is really cheap so it made a lot of sense to maximise our time and rather than fly home early!
For hotels, since we were flying in really late and training to Florence early, I booked a cheap hotel in Bologna next to the train station. In Florence, I booked a private room in a hostel since we had to cut our costs somewhere!
Obviously, the wine tour was the first thing planned for this trip. Mary Frances performed a lot of research on this tour and she selected it because there were 3 wine tastings, pasta lunch provided, olive oil tasting, and a visit to a small town to select some cheese. Call it love at first word…
Fixed Costs
- Flights: £100
- Hotel: £150
- Train: £30 + £70 (see below..)
- Wine Tour: £250
- Tuscan Sun: Priceless…
[divider class="" ]Heading to the Tuscan Sun
Since this was our first flight out of LHR Terminal 5, I thought we had to leave work really early in order to make it. We actually were sad about leaving early as our office was having the end of busy season party and they always seem to plan these events when we want to go to Italy… From MK, Terminal 5 is straight down the M1, anti-clockwise on the M25, and then you're there! From Central London, one could take the Piccadilly line or the Heathrow Express to the other terminals to catch a shuttle to Terminal 5. We were actually really surprised at the lack of traffic and general confusion at LHR Terminal 5! The drive was only an hour at Friday rush hour!
In addition to just being overall better than the budget airports of Luton and Stansted, Heathrow has great views for airplane geeks (slowly becoming one!) and better lounges! We easily walked into the massive lounge, thanks to the Priority Pass, and enjoyed the free food. The lounge had a nice assortment of bread, pasta, and drinks although they did not have any dessert!
For our boarding process, we even walked on a jetway to the plane! Such luxury after so many staircases! We did have to walk down a stairway after landing in Bologna, but it was quite easy
In Bologna, there appeared to be a few ways to get to the city center. There is no Uber, but they do have a quick taxi stand and a bus that are relatively cheap! We paid less than 20 euros for the taxi whereas the bus would have been 5 euros. At 11pm at night, I wanted to go to bed and preferably not walk around Bologna after midnight!
Our hotel, Millenhotel, appeared to be a 5 minute walk to the train station. It was a budget option so we were not expecting much in terms of comfort and amenities, but they did offer a breakfast. I just wish the bed was a bit more comfortable…
[divider class="" ]Our Day in the Tuscan Sun
The Train Debacle
Our morning began how most of our travel mornings begin - running slightly late. However, Mary Frances has a special knack or gift of always making it to the train even if it is with literally 45 seconds left. This would not be the case this morning. After running through the surprisingly big train station, we reached the platform with the train still there! We frantically pressed the open door button, but nothing happened… tried another door, and the message flashed: Departing - please stand back.
I was so depressed! Not so much we missed our train, but I was tired, hungry, and sweaty after sprinting to the train platform! I do believe God heard our prayers and felt our pain as the next train to Florence, in 30 minutes, was "only available" in first class… While both pleased we would still make our wine tour, we also were relieved we would at least be travelling in style for 30 minutes!
Wine Tour
Our tour picked us up from the Florence train station so we really did not have far to walk! We dropped our bags off at the station bag drop which is really convenient. As we waited for the rest of the group to join, we slowly realised this group was going to be larger than we had thought at around 15-20 people.
The History
Our lovely guide Liz, short for a very Italian name I cannot remember, began the bus ride to the Chianti area by describing the general history and fun facts. Although the area of Chianti has always been producing wine for generations, in the 1800s, a certain fellow recommended the Chianti reciepe to be at least 70% Chianti grape, 15% Canaiolo, and 15% Malvasia bianca. This was then certified by the DOC as the official recipe in order for wines to be classified as Chianti Classico. Nowadays, they have started to make 100% Chianti and famed Super Tuscans which blend French grapes with Chianti grapes.
Chianti is also grown in a specified area of Italy between Florence and Sienna. There are 7-ish main "towns" (villages) that produce Chianti and will usually have the name attached to the type of Chianti produced. Our guide is from a small village in the Chianti area so she would have different wine versus to her neighbors.
The Chianti tour would include two wineries and then a special lunch with a wine tasting. Our first winery would be in a luxurious castella owned by one of the remaining ruling famalies of Florence. The lunch spot is frequented by celebrities and is very popular for the organic and tasty food and wine and the outstanding views. Finally, the last winery stop is one that has been operating since the 1300s. For an added bonus, at the end, we visited the village of Greve, central to the Chianti region.
Principe Corsini
Our first stop was the Castella de Principe Corsini. We explored the wine cellars and the wine making process and loved every second of it. They even age their wine in American oak barrels! Our group then went upstairs for the wine tasting and sat a table full of cheeses, bread, and meats in addition to three wine glasses! It was lovely!!
We had three types of wine produced at Principe Corsini. Our guide told us to properly wine taste, we had to follow four key steps: smell, swirl, smell, and taste. Our first taste was the rose - a mix of red and white grapes for the perfect summertime blend! We then tried the Chianti Classico. It was really good - it wasn’t as heavy as I thought. I could pretend I know what other tastes and smells from the wines, but after the trip, they all blend together! Our final drink was the reserve Chianti which is aged for 10 years.
From the three wines, I think I liked the reserve the most, followed by the classico. I like rose, but I just wasn't feeling it. Mary Frances really enjoyed the rose, which she usually does not like, followed by the classico. She felt the reserve was too bold. We also both enjoyed the charcertie board! I don't really like the bread though and I later learned it is because they do not put salt in the bread…
La Cantinette Di Rignana
Our second stop was to the famous La Catinette Di Rignana restaurant, often visited by celebrities such as George Clooney and ourselves. The restaurant and vineyard sit atop a hill overlooking fields of vines and farmland. It is truly beautiful. I think Mary Frances would have stayed there if we didn’t have another winery to visit!
Olive Oil
Our first stop was an olive oil tasting. The guide poured two cups of olive oil - one that is "fake" and the other organic "fresh" Tuscan olive oil. We were told to taste them both and see if we could tell the differences between them. Sadly, I could smell and taste the store bought olive oil as it smelled very familiar whereas the fresh olive oil was rough, smoky, and just very different. Mary Frances informed me the Tuscan olive oil is much more "rough" than its southern cousins so she said not to judge so harshly.
Wine and Food Tasting
Our group then had a large table waiting for us at La Cantinette filled with wine, water, and saltless bread. This was an informal wine tasting where we tasted the wine in combination with yummy pasta! Our first course was the Tuscan appetisers. It was bread, olive oil, and various toppings including chicken liver (interesting), Proschiutto (yummy), beans (yummy), fresh tomatoes (very yummy), and mushrooms (okay).
We sat next to a couple from Huntsville, Alabama, so Mary Frances felt right at home! She was reminiscing with the couple and telling them all about our wedding locations. It felt very strange to hear y'all mentioned a lot in Italy!
We were finally served our lunch - a cheese and mushroom ravoli and wild boar ragu! The food was incredible!! Everything tasted very fresh and crisp and we could have eaten both dishes without any help. The boar was surprisingly not as gamey as we expected so it was a nice Tuscan twist on a meal! Not to mention, the wine also helped! Rather than a small wine tasting pour, we had a lunch pour so we had more to enjoy. Similar to the first winery, we had a rose and two Chiantis. Both apparently were selected with our food in mind.
Lamole di Lamole
Built in the early 1300s, Lamole di Lamole has been producing wines to enjoy for centuries. We immediately knew we were in safe hands! Rather than drive and walk to the winery, we walked through the vineyard and it smelled amazing as the lavender and other flowers were blooming.
At Lamole, I felt we gained more knowledge on how they produce their wine as they have several different techniques to ferment the wine. In conjunction with a local university, they experiment in methods and various grapes. We toured the 1350s winery, a hole in the ground, versus today's production of the stainless steel tanks for the young wines, oak barrels for the reserves, and really huge oak barrels for the special reserves!
Our last wine tasting had three Chiantis - a light, medium, and reserve. Unlike the other stop where the reserve was my favourite, I enjoyed the medium bodied wine over the reserve. Mary Frances enjoyed the light bodied wine as she could drink it all day without any problems!
Wine Tour Summary
Overall, I definitely enjoyed our wine tour with Walkabout Florence. Although a little too big of a group for us, it was great exploring the Tuscan countryside combined with lovely wine. Out of the three stops, I think La Cantinette had the best views while Lamole was my favourite winery. Lamole won because I learned a ton about the winery and the wine I was drinking!
Gheve
Our surprise stop to Gheve was an unique treat. Located in the center of Chianti and the defacto Chianti capital, it is a charming town that one can walk through in ten minutes. Our guide pointed out several tasty food and gelato stops and then gave us 45 minutes to explore. In classic fashion, once we heard there was a meat and cheese board that was to die for from a local butcher, we went straight there and ordered a Tuscan chacuterie board.
As we ate our meat and cheese board, we people watched in the Gheve town square. There was a local farmer's market and we could tell the tent owners and patrons all knew each other and they were completely oblvious to any tourists. In fact, I went to an artwork tent to attempt to buy one and the guy ignored me and chatted with his neighbour until I wouldn't leave! Oh Italy…
Firenze Nights
Somehow, after eating and drinking all day, we had dinner reservations at La Giostra. Nick recommended the restaurant so we knew it was highly rated for both its pizza and pasta. The only issue was we definitely did not have any room in our stomachs…
Walking from our hostel, we past the famous Duomo and it was my first chance to see the magnificent building. At night, the cathedral and tower are lit and it just is beautiful. The tiles and the various colours really make it special! I also realised how empty our winter travels had been as we were surrounded by hundreds of tourists…
La Giostra
As we walked into L Giostra, we realised the beauty of the restaurant as soon as we walked into the place. There was mood lighting and little tiny lights dotting the ceiling to create stars. Then, as we looked at the walls, we saw loads of bottles of wine and pictures of famous celebreities. We knew we were in for a treat!
We ordered a Chianti classico and the waiter did a fun little "show" of swirling, mixing in our glasses, and finally into a decanter. It felt very posh! Since we had been eating and drinking all day, we were not that hungry. We were struggling to order food..
I ordered the gorgonzola pesto penne while Mary Frances ordered the cheese and truffle ravioli. I hadnt realised mine would heavily consist of "moldy" cheese so Mary Frances definitely picked the better dish! I'll let her win this time… For dessert, yes, somehow we were hungry enough for dessert, we ordered a hot chocolate cake with vanilla gelato. It was terrific! All in all, I think La Giostra was good. I don't think it was my favourite but certainly hard to go wrong in Firenze!
[divider class="" ]Firenze versus Pisa
Since we were still in a food coma from yesterday, we struggled to get going in the morning. Fortunately, the allure of Italy in summer is just too much! We did not have any real plans other than get a train to Pisa for our flight. We decided to just stroll Firenze, enjoy the sights, and obviously eat our weight in either pasta, pizza, or gelato.
Because it was Sunday, the Duomo was closed so we were able to walk around it without having to dodge the iPad tourists. The building is magnificent with the tiles and architecture! I wish we had booked tickets to go to the top, but with Sundays, you never know!
Our next stop on the Mary Frances' tour of Florence was the popular shopping bridge called Ponte Vecchio. Safe to say our trip to the bridge did not last that long. However, the good news was we found a "TripAdvisor" bakery!
As I may have mentioned in previous posts, our favourite restaurants have the famous trip advisor sign on the window. This bakery, the Salotto
Neri, had so many delicious baked goods, café, and breakfast! We ate our weight in croissants, fruit tartes, and cannoli! We grabbed our goods and sat on church steps and ate blissfully.
Nella
My favourite manager in the US did a rotation in Florence (or Firenze) and loved this one restaurant called Trattoria Nella. In the days leading up to our trip, we tried to get a reservation, but our tour ran late so we were very disappointed we couldn't go. To rub it in his face, I decided to make a quick stop in front of the restaurant. Low and behold, it would be opening for the afternoon!!
Like any good stalker, I made Mary Frances and I wait outside the restaurant for a solid thirty minutes. I saw the owner set the tables, music, clean the bar, take a smoke break, and finally wave us in to eat! We sat down in a corner and I was giddy with excitement! I think I slightly annoyed Mary Frances as I acted like a kid in a candy store for the first time.
The Order
To begin our fabulous meal, as a starter, we ordered the bruschetta. We saw the owner pour the fresh olive oil on top! The bread was salt-less and delicious with fresh tomatoes on top.
For our entrees, I ordered the pesto nella while Mary Frances ordered the fresh spaghetti. Unlike the previous evening, I "won" the food battle although we did split the courses. Our mains quite lived up to the reputation!
For dessert, we ordered a lovely chocolate panna cotta. It combined two of our favouvite things - chocolate and panna cotta! I have to say I defintely do prefer Mary Frances' homemade panna cotta over almost everyone else's dish but the warm chocolate melted the panna cotta in our mouths!
The Entertainment
Like any good ol' Italian Family, the Nellas (since I don't know their actual name!) were certainly a treat! It began with the son ordering and interacting with the sister. The sister came for a free meal and we received free entertainment! Next, the father came into the restaurant. I saw on some old photos on the wall that he use to run the place so he was eating his free food and talking with this children.
Next, the mother came into the restaurant. With it being Mother's Day, she obviously also received a free meal. Then, entered the mysterious brother. We only saw him for about two minutes. The first minute was saying hello and goodbye to his parents. The next minute was walking into the restaurant, grabbing a bottle of wine, and walking straight out without saying anything to anyone!
Throughout the meal, Mary Frances and I were very entertained. We loved being apart of their day as they would occasionally try to "shush" each other in front of us. It was very nice!!
To Pisa!
After some shopping and burning off the meal's calories, we proceeded to the train to Pisa. Because of our odd flight schedule, we decided to make a quick trip to the main Pisa attractions. Unlike our Saturday train, we were very early for this one!
The train is only an hour long so we relaxed and read along the journey. Similar to Florence, the train station has a baggage claim right next to it. For only five euros, we could place our bags there for the entire day! In addition, the train station is conveniently located as it is five minutes from the airport and about a 30 minute walk to the city center.
We briskly walked to city center in only 20 minutes as we wanted to beat the rain and use the McDonald’s restroom. I had never seen Mary Frances walk so fast! However, I am glad we did because we were not impressed with the Pisa views…
The Leaning Tower
Once we reached the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa, it started raining. I checked the weather in Florence and it was still sunny and warm… We were very sad! To make the best of it, we decided to take glamour shots. Despite my initial reservations of seeing this tower, I was actually impressed with the tower and the surrounding buildings. Seeing the tower lean is really remarkable and I was amazed that it continues to stay upright.
After I finished holiding up the tower, see below!, we decided to explore Pisa. That lasted all of 25 minutes on our walk back to the train station. We really were not pleased with Pisa. Compared to Florence, it felt very dirty, a little rundown, and even the “nice” parts felt too touristy. In the end, we were very happy to see the famous leaning tower AND only spend two hours in Pisa!
The Trek Home
As I mentioned before, the Pisa airport is located right next to the train station and is very easy to get to. We paid about 5 euros to take a monorail to the airport. Thankfully, we left enough time as the airport is very small and busy. Since I think it is the main airport in the Tuscany region, everyone flies out of it apparently!
There is a really decent lounge in Pisa located right next to the London gate. We relaxed there with our final glasses of Italian wine and then hopped on our flight back to Heathrow!
[divider class="" ]The UnChartered Summary:
While under the Tuscan sun, we explored, ate, and drank ourselves through the beautiful Italian countryside. Mary Frances’ overall goal was to “force” me to love Tuscany, but the food spoke for itself! We cannot wait to return!
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