Under The Tuscan Sun

Today was a long day. mom and I had to wake up early this morning to be at the train station at 8:00 am for our "excursion" (as Expedia likes to call it).

This "excursion" included transportation to three Tuscan towns: San Gimignano, Monteriggioni, and Siena. Going to say right now that I loved, loved, loved Siena.

We were literally gone all day and got back around 9:00 pm and our feet were dead from all our walking. I do have to mention that these towns had the most beautiful views of Tuscany’s countryside.

In San Gimignano we shopped, saw, and sweated* lol. It was very hot. Mom ended up buying this designer bowl thing that's apparently popular but thought she got gypped(I know, again) on the price to ship it home.

But San Gimignano was a very cute town. It had many twists & turns and had a gorgeous overlook of the rolling Tuscan hills. I did see a cute stray cat and started walking towards it but my mom said no (this is an inside joke lol).

After San Gimignano, our transportation took us to Monterggiono. This town was very, very, very small. Mom and I climbed up a bunch of stairs to get to the top of the wall that enclosed the town and the views were spectacular. The wall actually seemed like a castle wall. It was as if I, a queen, was overlooking her kingdom lol.

We didn't have much time here, we actually didn't have much time in any of places before heading to the Casafrassi vineyard for a wine tasting and lunch so mom and I, unfortunately, couldn't do anything else here.

Once we got to the vineyard, we were shuffled into an area that overlooked Tuscany’s countryside. They had three wine barrels set up with a bottle of wine on each for us to try. I’d like to emphasize that I was able to participate in the wine tasting!!! (don't worry, it's legal in Italy so I was good)

There were three wines my mom and I were allowed to try: Chianti Classico, Chianti Reserve, and one last one but I didn't catch the name. I thought the wine was pretty disgusting tasting (although mom said it was good). The Chianti reserve wasn't too bad, but I ended up ordering prosecco for lunch (it's a sparkling wine).

Our meal consisted of an appetizer (meat, bruschetta, and goat cheese) and the main course (pasta with meat which reminded me of hamburger helper). The vineyard was actually very catering to my food allergies. They made sure I was able to eat my meal and even prepared me my own dessert.

I do have to bring up how weird the dessert looked though. They called it a "cake" but it kind of represented jello plopped on a plate lol. But it tasted like a vanilla custard, it was quite delicious.

After the wine and meal, we headed to Siena! this was probably one of my favorite places in Italy.

It kind of reminded me of St. Augustine, Florida. the architecture, the beauty, and just the overall feel of it.

Our "excursion" didn't provide much time in San Gimignano or Monterggiono but we had an hour-long tour in Siena and about an hour and a half after that to explore so I was able to fall in love with the city/town even more than I already had from just seeing it from afar.

Once mom and I were on our own, we ate at a pizzeria in Piazza Del Campo (which is the famous square in Siena). Due to my allergies (meaning I have a lot of allergies and basically any type of food will murder me), a lot of places wouldn't serve me pasta so eating pizza was usually simple. I can happily say that I have tried like five different types of pizza all over Italy lol.

It was peaceful sitting at the pizzeria, sipping my pina colada and talking with my mother while watching life pass by in the square of Siena. Needless to say, I was content.

We finally headed back to Florence. while not too late, mom and I were super exhausted from all of the walking.

"Tomorrow" we're going to the Boboli gardens and to the Galleria dell' Academia.

Buena sera!