The Tuscan Countryside

At 900 this morning we met Francesco, our driver from Tours in Tuscany, for a guided tour through the Tuscan countryside.  The city of Firenze (Florence for us Americans) is in the region of Tuscany which also includes Siena and Pisa - many people make the mistake of thinking that Tuscany is only the countryside but also includes these major cities - kind of like thinking the Midwest doesn't include Chicago, Kansas City, or St. Louis.  He picked us up in an 8 passenger Mercedes van (the kids have decided that we need to get one to drive the carpool to choir) and we set off.  He was very entertaining with good English and spent time explaining Chianti Classico, olive oi, and trying to engage the children who were mostly shy in the backseat until the end of the day when they got pazzi (crazy) and played a series of rough games that ended with Drew crying.  This is the dynamic of our children - they were playing a rough game where they wrestle and you go until someone "double taps" to give up.  Well, Drew didn't want to "give up" or "lose" so she refused to double tap and let it go until Trevor hurt her "I couldn't breathe and you were hurting me" so she is crying and blaming Trevor.  Normally we parents would not have observed the entire interaction and would have come down hard on Trevor for hurting his sister so this was a good learning experience for us.  What?  You purposely didn't double tap because you didn't want to lose - then you get what you get and don't throw a fit!!!  We Morgans/Adams are so competitive it really isn't good.

Our first stop was to the American Cemetery from  WWII.  I thought it strange that we have a cemetery in a country that was our enemy during the war but then Francesco pointed out that we were the victors/conquerors so we basically just took the land to bury our dead.  We had a little discussion about the war and how little the everyday people were involved or had anything to do with it.  The Italian take on it (Francesco's version from his grandparents) is that Mussolini started out doing lots of great things for the country, infrastructure projects and so forth, that benefited the people.  Then he became an asshole and aligned himself with Hitler while the average Italian person had no idea what was happening.  Then he ruled with such brutality (like Hitler) that if you did not tow the party line, you were arrested, tortured, killed, etc.

Our next stop was the hamlet of Montefioralle which is this little quaint village at the top of the hill.  These towns were settled during the time of the Etruscans (90-70 BC).  Just lots of photos without much commentary.

Then we went to the village of Greve in Chianti.  There was a small square that we walked around.  There was a lovely store with pottery (think spoon rests, plates, olive oil bottles) but nothing really went with our decor.  There were also some lovely hand drawn prints that, regretfully, I did not purchase.  The kids got to see many legs of piggies hanging from the windows that were delicious prosciutto.

If you see a stuffed wild boar, you must pose with it.

We then went to the pretty town of Panzano.  There were some wild cherry trees that the kids picked some fruit off of with a little lifting help from Dad.

The beautiful Tuscan countryside.

Drew gets very excited about random cats...

Then we stopped at Raddia in Chianti for a winery tour and a lunch with wine tasting of Rosetto, Chianti Classico, Chianti Classico Reserva, and Vin Sante (dessert wine).  Ryan was happy there was no grappa to taste.  The balsamic was divine but 27 euros per bottle.  Just like in France, wine is very regulated.  The DGOC has all the control over who can be designated Chianti Classico and how much wine they can produce each year.  It has to be at least 80% Sangiovese grapes and all the grapes in the wine must be estate grown.  An IGT wine has less rules and these are the "Super Tuscans" that are blends that are produced to appeal to a wider market.

These giant barrels are now used as storage rooms.

Chianti Classico (at least 80% Sangiovese) is aged in French Oak for 1 year.

This manual wine press is a museum piece

This is a barn.  The tiny holes at the top are for pigeons.

After the tour we settled in for lunch.  First course was bruschetta, prosciutto, pecorino, parmiagiano, salame, and bread paired with Rosetto (rose).  We learned from Francesco that Tuscan bread with made without salt.  They usually add olive oil and salt at the table.  Trevor picked up on this last night when he commented that the dinner bread tasted like raw dough - that boy is perceptive.  Next course was taglietelle with ragu paired with Chianti Classico.  Next was roast beef with onions served with Chianti Classico Reserva (aged for 2 years in French Oak).  Finally apricot tart served with Vin Santo which is a dessert wine which is made from grapes harvested late (high in sugar) and then put in a barrel and sealed with concrete for 8 years.  You do not taste or disturb that whole time and have no idea if what you get at the end is crap or heaven.  Drew tried a little of the Rosetto watered down with water during her meal.

Then we went to Casa Emma (not sure what town we were in) for another tour and tasting.  We were led around by Paolo, who did not smell very good, but did a good job of explaining the wine making process.

Finally Francesco took us to Piazzale Michelangelo for an overlook of the city.  There were lots of people selling tourist trinkets, as there have been everywhere we have been.  Lots of them are obviously North African ( I say that but they are just really dark Africans I assume) and I think about the humanitarian crisis in the Mediterranean now and all the boats with immigrants that are coming over (and about those that aren't making it).  I tried to explain to the kids tonight how being poor and without hope will make you do crazy things (like get on a tiny boat with 200 other people or join a violent group like ISIS).  They wanted to get Ryan an apron that looked like the front of David.  Drew keeps seeing that penis and saying "oh that is disgusting".  I  keep telling her that is is the beautiful human body but that it is normal that she should feel weird because she is not used to seeing naked men. 

Drew wanted to know why I took a picture of his butt.  I asked her if she would have preferred a picture of his penis...

This is Ponte Vecchio over the River Arno.  In the Middle Ages the butchers were there so the offal and blood could just run into the river.  Apparently now it has jewelry shops.

The Duomo

 After we got back to the apartments the parents took a nap.  Trevor watched a movie on his Itouch and Drew made a list for her half birthday party that is coming up.  Afterwards we walked around the neighborhood.  About 2 blocks away we happened upon the Duomo (cathedral).  It is very pretty from the outside.

We found a lovely restaurant close to our apartment for dinner.  Kids had the Italian specialty of buttered noodles (not a specialty at all but the are very nice to make it) and Ryan and I split a pizza because we were still so full from lunch.  Then we stopped on the way home for some gelato.  This was very good gelato.  Trevor and I enjoyed with dark chocolate which was almost black it was so dark.

Tonight was an early night to bed for the kiddos (although it was still almost 945 before they were in bed) because we have to meet our tour guide at 830 tomorrow because of the extreme heat.  Have I mentioned how much I love the air conditioning in our apartment (and in our van today)?  Today is the only day I haven't had sweat running down my legs like at Six Flags in July.  Let the kiddos skip a shower tonight and I didn't wash my hair - hallelujah! 

More adventures to come.  Today the kiddos told Francesco that they preferred Venezia to Firenze - we will try to change their mind tomorrow....