Montalcino and Firenze

Brunello, Nobile, Rosso, and Grappa.  These are a few of the wines (made from the Sangiovese Grape) we have learned about and tasted in the last week. 

 

Tuscany has been a wonderful relaxing atmosphere after the hustle and bustle of Rome.  These italians are a bunch of shisters.  We stayed at a wonderful little winery with a great swimming pool for the hot afternoons.  Our days went like this.  Wake up (usually around 10am), have some breakfast, drive into little town and have a cappuccino, then we would have some lunch, go back to the winery, relax by the pool, read, take a nap, then off to a winery to taste some wines, and back into the little town for dinner.  What a life!  The owners of the winery (agriturismo), Barbara and Roberto, gave us a personal tour of their winery -- it was very special and informative -- an amazing process and fun to hear it from two very passionate italians!

 

Now we are back in the touristy parts of Italy, first in Florence and then off to Venice.  We've discovered that italians make the most amazing gelato, pasta, pizza, and coffee.  But we were surprised to find they bake horrible bread in my opinion and the american in us wants to have a to-go latte of their really good coffee to savour as we walk through the streets!

 

This morning we saw Michaelangelo's David in the Accedemia Museum.  No wonder it is called a masterpiece! 

 

so long.