luna di miele part III

Tuscany is as beautiful as you could imagine. The terrain and architecture is quintessential Italian/Tuscan/Mediterranean and I must admit I only care for it actually in Italy. The food in the Tuscan region is slightly different as well - much more hearty and rustic. After all, the Medieval towns are what make up this region and their specialties include cannelloni beans, wild boar, pecorino cheese, truffles, unsalted flaky bread, red wines, etc. Basically, I was in love.

this was our first and only meal inside the city walls of siena and it was recommended by christian the other owner of our agriturismo

we started with the medieval sampler platter - fried pecorino cheese balls, chicken pastry, and an assortment of hearty pies

I had a delicious pasta of pappardelle pasta and porcini mushrooms - I loved this thick, imperfectly cut, pasta

pici pasta with wild boar for man in the family

after dinner we went to sit and enjoy the view of the infamous piazza del campo.
all of our male italian waiters loved my blonde hair!

siena cathedral at night

we traveled to montalcino, home of the exquisite brunello di montalcino wine

I enjoyed all the vibrantly colored hydrangeas in italy - felt like home!

picture no. 2 of the mr. and mrs.

we had mid-morning snack at caffe fiaschetteria italiana - the restaurant founded by the creator of the famous wine

some of the best bruschetta ever!

and why not a shot of espresso...

...from their classic 1961 espresso machine!

then we were headed to montepulciano...which rick said "delights visitors with vino and views"

osteria dell'acquacheta for lunch - one of the best meals we had!

that's guilio the friendly owner...chopping garlic cloves the size of your head

the meat is served to order in an open kitchen viewed from the dining room

then we visited contucci cantina where they make montepulciano's famous wine vino nobile...which so happened to be the red wine of choice at our wedding reception. I had no idea we would actually be going to montepulciano!

we had an impromptu wine tasting with adamo who's been making wine here since 1953

would love to own these door knobs we spotted some day

we took a day trip to florence - just an hour drive and a bus into the city. we started out at the mercato centrale
we could've spent all day in this food market eyeing fresh homeade pasta...

we were fortunately able to walk by and wave hello to the duomo

we did howver explore the leather school...the first shop of this famous leather district

I have always wanted to go to the uffizi gallery and david had not been there either. so we heeded steves's advice and booked a reservation (with no line waiting!).

a rare, but beautiful, picture of the micas in florence

after our enjoyable day in florence we had one of the best meals during our stay in italy. the guests of the agriturismo are welcome to a family style dinner. we enjoyed an abundance of both olive oil and wine grown and prepared on their farm.

antipasti - panzanella and prosciutto

primi - fresh pesto pasta...I had seconds :)

secondi - sauteed zucchini, cannelloni beans, roasted cold peppers and eggplant and sliced grass-fed beef (all from the farm!)

then they brought out a special treat for the newlyweds! they toasted us with a "blend" of two of their house wines signifying our marriage as well as pecorino cheeses with honey.

dolce - peach cobbler :) and...

biscotti and a 2000 vin santo (fortified raisin wine)

the next day we drove west to two small hill towns and drove past these beauties

first stop of the day was san gimignano...where they greeted us and all the other hundreds of tourists with a medieval parade through town (not our favorite stop, but beautiful nonetheless)

cheers to europe 2002!

tuscan towns are known for their gorgeous ceramics...we brought home our family pasta bowl

that evening we continued through the windy hills to volterra. it was by far one of our favorite towns we visited - so beautiful and quiet. unfortunately, you may have heard of this town with its connection to the twilight movies. the second one was filmed here.

one of our best meals in italy was at don beta - this was my bean soup with olive oil and a thick piece of tuscan bread

m: spinach tortellini with a walnut and radicchio cream sauce that was to die for (we recreated this meal at home just last week - delish! and thanks husband!)

d: spinach tortellini with walnut and sage butter...also delish, but mine was better-I won!

street of volterra

it was a perfect end to our stay in tuscany

{thanks self-timer}

rooftops of volterra

the next morning we were headed to the mediterranean coast...

I loved the disposable gloves at the gas station

we drove through pisa and took a quick pic of the tower...which is still leaning
(we both had not been there before)

but then we headed up the mountain to lucca - worlds away from tourist and kiosk filled pisa. it is one of italy's most impressive fortress cities with its complete wall intact...and inside those walls is really good shopping!

piazza

unfortunately, despite its charm lucca was home to our one and only bad meal in italy. perhaps it was because we ate toward the end of the lunch, but I would not go back to try.

Next stop...the Cinque Terre!