An update from Aunt Cindy …

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We had a tour to Tuscany planned for today and had to meet our group at 7:30 AM. We had to get up by 5:00 AM because we had planned to walk the three miles to our meeting point. We left right on time, but shortly after leaving, we asked if anyone turned off the gas to the stove. Of course, no one remembered doing it; we sent Linda, the runner in the family, to check on it. After a while, Emily and I went to see where she was and spotted a taxi station right across the street. We decided we would definitely take a taxi to our meeting point so we wouldn’t be late. We finally found Linda – she was unable to open the door from our apartment building to the street! She’s the one carrying the key so she is always locking up the apartment while we open the building door to the street. She didn’t know how it worked – we were certainly glad we went back! The gas was off, by the way.

We met our group and were expecting at least 20 but were very excited to find only two other couples with us in the group.

Our tour group with Hugo and Maria and Julia, our guide

Julia, our guide, was fantastic, and we continued on our journey to Montepuliciano, a quaint little Tuscan town of 15,000 and nicknamed the “Pearl of the Renaissance”. The town is set up on a hill so we had some wonderful views of the Tuscan countryside – it is exactly what you picture in your mind but even more beautiful! We then continued to Sant ‘Antimo Abbey where we were able to witness the monks say their Gregorian chants. After this, it was time for lunch at Poggio il Castellare winery.

The authentic Tuscan fare was delicious, and we were able to sample five different wines, three of which are locally produced. One was Brunello di Montalcino, and it must remain in the barrels more than five years and there are only 35 families that have permits to produce this wine. With our first course, we were served cured meats and cheese as well as a “poor man’s dish” known as pappa pomodoro, which is Italian bread and tomato soup. This is a dish we want definitely to try to make at home. They also produce an olive oil which tasted like butter; we each purchased a bottle to bring home. After lunch we continued to the next town of Pienza, well known for Pecorino Tuscano cheese (that’s Tuscano, not Romano, because we are in Tuscany and not Rome) which is made from sheeps’ milk. In this town, we purchased some of the cheese, fig marmalade and balsamic vinegar to bring back to the states.

One of the couples on the tour with us was Hugo and Maria, a wonderful couple from California. They were here to celebrate their 30th anniversary, even though it was not until August. (Maria is a Headstart teacher). After the third glass at the wine tasting, she confessed she was not supposed to be drinking wine!

Tuscany

We arrived back to Rome around 7:30 pm and said our goodbyes to our tour group. We all agreed that it was wonderful to have a day where we didn’t have to navigate the streets and be glued to a map! We took some side streets back to our apartment and found some wonderful restaurants to try along the way. We dropped off our purchases and set out to find dinner. Linda and Emily spotted a sidewalk café. It caught their eye because of the good wine glasses, and we decided this is where we should eat. After being seated and ordering our wine, Emily realized the wine glasses were being used by the café next to the one we had chosen. Oh well, we decided to stay and even though the wine glasses were not the nice ones we wanted. The food was delicious!

Tomorrow, we plan a visit to explore the catacombs and then take picnic lunch down the Appian Way to the Aquaduct Park. Julia, our tour guide, was excited to know we wanted to visit the Aquaduct Park. This is one of her favorite places to visit and is a place not many tourists visit.

This has been a fantastic vacation, and it is hard to believe we only have two days left before going home. So glad I came and am looking forward to our next adventure!

Cynthia

Fire entertainment in the piazza

Notice the really good wine glass in the background – yep, not our restaurant!

Dinner in Trastevere

Grilled veggies with gorgonzola sauce

Sign outside our restaurant

Our tour group with Hugo and Maria and Julia, our guide

Tuscan countryside

View from Pienza

Mom buying her Pecorino Tuscano cheese – all cheese is made by the woman’s father

Prunning the olive trees

outside of winery

You dip the biscotti into the dessert wine – delicious!

Dessert wine dunking!

Homemade pasta – very different noodle that’s unique to Tuscany region

First course at winery – the delicious papa pomodoro is in the middle

Our lunch table!

Getting ready for lunch

Abbey

Twilight (New Moon) was filmed in this town – store is proud!

Aunt Cindy and the Fiat that was discontinued in 1973 – her graduation year!

Church in Montepulciano – facade was never applied to building

Montepulciano

View from Montepulciano

Montepulciano

Meeting our group and getting ready to head to Tuscany!