Heaven is a place called...Tuscany!

We just returned from the most amazing trip ever! We spent the past weekend in the Chianti region of Tuscany. It could not have been more beautiful! We stayed at a gorgeous farmhouse called Romitorio Di Serelle. Everything was like in a movie....the vineyards, the olive trees, old stone buildings, and the delicious smells as a wonderful 4 course meal was prepared for us each night in the cozy dining room below our apartment!

We visited some of the surrounding hill towns and had a fabulous time with the kids. The first day we visited a medieval town named San Gimignano (our favorite!). The town is famous for its towers- at one time there were over 60 but today only 14 remain, yet they still make for a spectacular skyline. The town is surrounded by a stone wall with gates to get in. No cars are allowed into the town so it is very relaxing to walk around (no worries that you will be run over!). San Gimignano also has a native wine called Vernaccia di San Gimignano, a white wine that is very good.

That afternoon we visited the small town near our farmhouse, Castellina in Chianti. We went to a museum that had many Etruscan artifacts and was housed in an extremely well-preserved castle. We walked all the way up to the top of the tower with the kids!

The next morning we drove an hour to Siena. Siena was a rival of Florence at one time and is quite a big city compared to the small hill towns in the area. There are many museums to see and the main piazza is huge. The piazza is Rick Steve's favorite piazza in Italy and is famous for its yearly horse race called the "Palio". Unfortunately, despite the rave reviews, Siena (for us at least) was not as charming as some of the small towns. Guess we prefer the old-world charm of the smaller towns.

That afternoon we visited Greve in Chianti which happened to be having a huge antique market in the center of town which was neat to walk through. We found a big playground and let the kids play for a while as well. Castellina in Chianti, along with Greve and another town (Radda in Chianti) were the original "Chianti" towns. In all these areas there are many wine shops (called enotecas) where you can taste wines as well as some of the local meats (salamis, prosciuttoes, and cinghale- wild boar!). Driving around the area as well, there are tons of little farms/vineyards that sell their own homemade wines and oils and offer tastings of both.

On our last day, we left extra early and drove part of the way home and stopped in Orvieto. Orvieto is a hill town in the region south of Tuscany called Umbria. It is another medieval town and is famous for a white wine called "Orvieto Classico" as well as ceramics which are sold all over the city. The town covers the top of a large hill making for a steep, but very scenic drive to the top!

Seriously, we cannot wait to return to Tuscany and cannot recommend the farmhouse where we stayed enough. This weekend we saw the true meaning to the Italian saying "la dolce vita"...the sweet life! This is where the sweet life is... in Tuscany!

Here are pictures from our trip:

Day 1: San Gimignano and Castellini in Chianti: click here

Day 2: Siena and Greve in Chianti: click here

Day 3: Orvieto and the farmhouse Romitorio Di Serelle: click here