Today was my favorite day of the trip so far. I knew it was bound to be a good day when we were served fresh-baked croissants for breakfast. Immediately after breakfast we went in to the center of town to see the Duomo and cathedral. The cathedral looked like a smaller version of the Duomo in Florence, but inside it was even more impressive. The church was filled with ornate statues, paintings, stained glass and incredible architecture.
Next we hiked the stairs to the top of the tower in Piazza del Campo. The tower is the tallest point in the city and we could see for miles around. Siena is a medieval town, surrounded by castle walls. From this vantage point we could see the fortress or castle walls, the Duomo and all of the red rooftops of the city below.
When we climbed down the tower, we decided to send some postcards. The cashier at the souvenir shop told us we’d have to go to the Post Office to buy stamps. For anyone who thinks the US Postal Service is a mess, you need to hear this story… When we walked in the Post Office, we saw that we needed to pull a number based on the type of transaction. Since we only needed postage, the postal worker gave us number P108. When we arrived, they were servicing number P98—10 numbers won’t be so bad, we thought. Were we ever mistaken! After about 15-20 minutes, they had literally taken 2 more people and were on P100. At this rate it would be an hour until our number was called! I told Kyle we should just go and we could figure this out later. So we left and went shopping to find a gift for Gwen. We found a cute children’s clothing store and picked out a dress for her. Then we went and got a few slices of pizza to take with us for lunch on the bus as we were going on a wine tour in about an hour. Once we got our pizza to go, we walked back to the bus stop where the wine tour bus would pick us up. The bus stop was just a few blocks past the Post Office, so I told Kyle we should just stop back in and see if our number had been called yet (at this point it had been almost 45 minutes). Sure enough our number, P108, was up! We walked right up to the counter with our pizza and shopping bags in tow and bought our postcard stamps. This experience has given us newfound appreciation for the automated systems at the USPS!
The second half of our day began with a wine tour to Montalcino. A bus took us through the scenic rolling hills of Tuscany. The green fields were full of giant sunflower patches. We arrived at Brunello di Montalcino winery, where we had our first wine tasting in the gardens. The scenery was stunning and the white wine was light and smooth.
Then the wine maker himself, an 83-year-old Italian man named Mario, came out to welcome us to his vineyard and show us his wine cellar and barrels. Mario spoke only Italian and our tour guide served as translator. Mario shared the family history of the vineyard with us. As we walked from the garden to the cellar, he grabbed my arm and asked me if I spoke Italian. I managed to say “piccola,” or little, and I understood enough to respond when he asked my name and where I was from.
Inside the cellar, we were awed by the giant oak barrels where Mario and his team made and stored the wine. In his personal collection, Mario had bottles of wine dating as far back as 1945!
We moved from the cellar into the wine tasting room, where Mario walked us through a wine tasting experience unlike any we’ve had before. Mario poured us three red wines, explaining the differences in the vintages, the grapes and the soil. Then the 83-year-old man climbed on top of one of the tables and announced that he wanted to take a shot of Grappa with us. He poured us his special Grappa and then led us in a toast, “Uno! Due! Tre! Salute!” and we all drank the liquid that burned on the way down. At this point Mario said “Mangia!” and brought out plates of salami, prusciotto, bread, pecorino cheese and pistachio biscotti.
Once we’d had our fill, Mario went back to pouring more tastings of wine. At one point he announced that we were such a nice group that he wanted to share his 2004 vintage with us, opened two bottles and began pouring tastes of incredible, and undoubtedly expensive, wine. As the tasting went on, everyone became more and more talkative, and soon enough we had bonded with the other travelers at our table from Brazil, Australia and Canada. When the wine tasting came to a close, we took a picture with Mario and climbed back on the bus.
Before going back to Siena, the wine tour bus stopped at a medieval church in Tuscany that was stunning in its simplism. We all took pictures here in the Tuscan countryside. Then the bus stopped in Montalcino, and we had 20 minutes to get out and explore the small town. I, of course, bee lined for the nearest gelato shop and was blown away. This was the cheapest gelato we’d had so far (2 euro for 2 scoops), and it was by far the most original. We had a tasty blend of blood orange and strawberry gelato.
Then it was back on the bus and back to Siena. Kyle had a great idea to get take out from a restaurant in town, catch the last direct bus back (so we wouldn’t have to deal with the bus debacle from the night before), open a bottle of wine that we bought from Brunello and watch the sunset from the terrace of our hotel. What a perfect way to end a memorable day in Tuscany. Bellisima!
Next we hiked the stairs to the top of the tower in Piazza del Campo. The tower is the tallest point in the city and we could see for miles around. Siena is a medieval town, surrounded by castle walls. From this vantage point we could see the fortress or castle walls, the Duomo and all of the red rooftops of the city below.
When we climbed down the tower, we decided to send some postcards. The cashier at the souvenir shop told us we’d have to go to the Post Office to buy stamps. For anyone who thinks the US Postal Service is a mess, you need to hear this story… When we walked in the Post Office, we saw that we needed to pull a number based on the type of transaction. Since we only needed postage, the postal worker gave us number P108. When we arrived, they were servicing number P98—10 numbers won’t be so bad, we thought. Were we ever mistaken! After about 15-20 minutes, they had literally taken 2 more people and were on P100. At this rate it would be an hour until our number was called! I told Kyle we should just go and we could figure this out later. So we left and went shopping to find a gift for Gwen. We found a cute children’s clothing store and picked out a dress for her. Then we went and got a few slices of pizza to take with us for lunch on the bus as we were going on a wine tour in about an hour. Once we got our pizza to go, we walked back to the bus stop where the wine tour bus would pick us up. The bus stop was just a few blocks past the Post Office, so I told Kyle we should just stop back in and see if our number had been called yet (at this point it had been almost 45 minutes). Sure enough our number, P108, was up! We walked right up to the counter with our pizza and shopping bags in tow and bought our postcard stamps. This experience has given us newfound appreciation for the automated systems at the USPS!
The second half of our day began with a wine tour to Montalcino. A bus took us through the scenic rolling hills of Tuscany. The green fields were full of giant sunflower patches. We arrived at Brunello di Montalcino winery, where we had our first wine tasting in the gardens. The scenery was stunning and the white wine was light and smooth.
Then the wine maker himself, an 83-year-old Italian man named Mario, came out to welcome us to his vineyard and show us his wine cellar and barrels. Mario spoke only Italian and our tour guide served as translator. Mario shared the family history of the vineyard with us. As we walked from the garden to the cellar, he grabbed my arm and asked me if I spoke Italian. I managed to say “piccola,” or little, and I understood enough to respond when he asked my name and where I was from.
Inside the cellar, we were awed by the giant oak barrels where Mario and his team made and stored the wine. In his personal collection, Mario had bottles of wine dating as far back as 1945!
We moved from the cellar into the wine tasting room, where Mario walked us through a wine tasting experience unlike any we’ve had before. Mario poured us three red wines, explaining the differences in the vintages, the grapes and the soil. Then the 83-year-old man climbed on top of one of the tables and announced that he wanted to take a shot of Grappa with us. He poured us his special Grappa and then led us in a toast, “Uno! Due! Tre! Salute!” and we all drank the liquid that burned on the way down. At this point Mario said “Mangia!” and brought out plates of salami, prusciotto, bread, pecorino cheese and pistachio biscotti.
Once we’d had our fill, Mario went back to pouring more tastings of wine. At one point he announced that we were such a nice group that he wanted to share his 2004 vintage with us, opened two bottles and began pouring tastes of incredible, and undoubtedly expensive, wine. As the tasting went on, everyone became more and more talkative, and soon enough we had bonded with the other travelers at our table from Brazil, Australia and Canada. When the wine tasting came to a close, we took a picture with Mario and climbed back on the bus.
Before going back to Siena, the wine tour bus stopped at a medieval church in Tuscany that was stunning in its simplism. We all took pictures here in the Tuscan countryside. Then the bus stopped in Montalcino, and we had 20 minutes to get out and explore the small town. I, of course, bee lined for the nearest gelato shop and was blown away. This was the cheapest gelato we’d had so far (2 euro for 2 scoops), and it was by far the most original. We had a tasty blend of blood orange and strawberry gelato.
Then it was back on the bus and back to Siena. Kyle had a great idea to get take out from a restaurant in town, catch the last direct bus back (so we wouldn’t have to deal with the bus debacle from the night before), open a bottle of wine that we bought from Brunello and watch the sunset from the terrace of our hotel. What a perfect way to end a memorable day in Tuscany. Bellisima!
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