Weekend in Tuscany

Chianti classico is one of our favorite wines, so when we found out the region of Tuscany is only a 3 to 4 hour drive from Naples, it was a no-brainer to make it our first weekend trip...even with me being pregnant! We ventured out the last weekend in July to beat vacationing Italians, who generally go away in August.

We stayed at a quaint inn in rural Arezzo, in the eastern part of Tuscany. Fields of iconic sunflowers and rolling hills full of vineyards were EVERYWHERE! And right outside the door to our "family room" were also fragrant lavender bushes; I was pleased to find a sachet in the room for the taking.

We spent Friday afternoon swimming in the pool at the inn. With plenty of snacks, we held out until 8pm to enjoy a gourmet Italian meal at the inn's restaurant. We told the waiter we wanted to try a chianti classico, and he returned with a half bottle (since I'd just be having a taste) of what he described as "a VERY good Chianti classico." We were slightly worried about what the price might be, since we hadn't even looked at the wine menu. Come to find out we could more than afford the 4 euro (about $6) price! Gotta love Italy! We also tried some regional cheeses and cured meats, a pasta dish with buttery white truffles and a delicious but huge portion of regional steak. Even after 10pm, the girls were most excited to finally get to the gelato dessert.

We eased into our Saturday morning with cappuccinos and an amazing, typical European breakfast spread including muesli topped with fresh nectarine (okay, only I ate that), cured meats and cheeses (and only Brian ate that), yogurt, breakfast cakes, and a variety of cornettos (croissants) filled with Nutello, marmalade, or cream (my personal favorite). Yum!

After breakfast, we drove about an hour to Greve in Chianti (the main city center of Tuscany). We enjoyed walking around the Saturday market, where you could find everything from fruits, vegetables, cheeses and meats, to rugs, shoes, and clothing, etc.

Then we ducked out of the main piazza (square) into an enoteca (wine store) to explore the possibilities. We moved on to a tasting center, where you could pay anywhere from a Euro to several for a taste of hundreds of different types of wine. We were happy to find our favorite (special occasion) super tuscan wine Antinori Tignanello Tuscano--you could buy a TASTE for about $8...the whole bottle for about $80. But we already know it is good, so we passed.

I snapped a photo (for my New York-born Mom) of a statue of Giovanni da Verrazzano, an Italian explorer who was the first European explorer of North America, and in particular New York Harbor (1524), since the vikings (around 1000 AD). I just knew he must be important since there's a bridge in NYC named after him.

For lunch, we had one of my favorite Italian dishes yet, ribollita, which is a "reboiled" white bean-based stew with cooked greens and day-old bread used as a thickener. It was wonderfully rustic and wholesome, but more importantly, delicious. (And the only reason I even knew what it was is because of my foodie friend, Darlene!)

On our way back to the inn, we stopped at a Chianti winery, Villa Vignamaggio. Although we missed out on the tour since it was booked, we really came for the free tastings, so it was all good! We bought two bottles of Chianti classico and two bottles of their Super Tuscan blend. Four bottles down, 496 more to go to reach our total wine shipment allowance!

Sunday we drove to Cortona, the city where Under the Tuscan Sun was partially filmed, to spend the day before driving home. The movie is loosely based on a book with the same title, which was written by a woman (Frances Mayes) who moved to and still lives in Cortona. We happened on the first day of the Tuscan Sun Festival, but most of those activities were either off the beaten path or taking place in the evening. So we walked around the town taking in the beautiful sights, enjoyed a nice lunch al fresco, and ate the obligatory gelato-reward-for-good-behavior before reluctantly heading home. But we will be back...preferably when I can drink more wine.