30 April - 2 May 2017
Farms, mountaintop villages, vineyards, wines/cheeses/cured meats, hospitality, scenic drives, clean air, and country culture. Tuscany gives Italy a whole other dimension - quite unlike the craziness of Rome.
Farms, mountaintop villages, vineyards, wines/cheeses/cured meats, hospitality, scenic drives, clean air, and country culture. Tuscany gives Italy a whole other dimension - quite unlike the craziness of Rome.
A visit to a wine cellar - free tastes, good wine - we bought a couple bottles.
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We did our thing and found an agriturismo (a farm with rooms for rent) just days before arriving - it was probably not the most Tuscan-representative place. We didn't meet any family/owners there, and the service was mostly hands-off (they gave us great privacy), with the food (breakfast) really low-key. The quarters were spacious and upscale rustic though - with a fantastic fireplace, and as much wood as we wanted to burn. Rick Steves has better connections, or at least our style of last minute planning maybe wasn't the most ideal here. It all worked out as we experienced full-on Tuscany around the countryside with our Fiat 500X.
 Great pastas in town. |  |
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On the left (below) is an interesting meal - we ran across a community theater that made meals during holiday weekends as a fund raiser. It was like good down-home country cooking, also with red wines.
To the right, we dropped into a family winery (Capitoni), no other customers, but the owner gave us the whole run-down of his winery operation. This was real Tuscany, with the family vineyards all around, and also grain crops on the rest of the property. He spoke English well enough to provide us a great experience.
To the right, we dropped into a family winery (Capitoni), no other customers, but the owner gave us the whole run-down of his winery operation. This was real Tuscany, with the family vineyards all around, and also grain crops on the rest of the property. He spoke English well enough to provide us a great experience.
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 | Our bag of cheeses, bread, and meats from a country market.  |
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Our own Tuscan meal table.
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| Tuscany Church.  |  Tuscany Cat |
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A surprise discovery - craft breweries, except here in Tuscany they can grow their own hops and barley (the barley is malted off-site however). There are over seventy of them - we visited two.
  They have a very respectible craft beer operation here - only two years along, so they're keeping the recipes basic. But doing some experimental stuff on the side - like wine barrel aging (they have access to any wine barrel they need - go figure). |  Husband-wife team, also a brother and father in the operation.  Computerized equipment - fabricated in Italy. |
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Laid back Tuscan country living. The natives are very friendly, although we think they wanted treats.
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