Florence

|Wednesday, October 10|

Our morning began with a departure from Venice by train to Florence. Our first destination was Piazzale Michelangelo, a square known for its impressive panoramic view of Florence.






From this view point we spotted the Ponte Vecchio brige {Italian for Old Bridge}.  A few months before we ever booked our European holiday, I purchased a puzzle with the image of the bridge.  I was quite excited to see it "in real life" after staring at the details for a month.

We took some time to walk through the city before our visit to see Michelangelo's David.


We made our way to the Accademia Gallery where David is housed.  Matt and I were immediately impressed with the sculpture. Both the size and the detail of the statue were incredible. No pictures are allowed of David, but they had a modern interpretation in the garden.

After marveling at the 'perfect man' our walking tour continued including stops at The Duomo {Basillica of Saint Mary of the Flower} and Piazza Signoria.



A copy of Michealangelo's David is located in the Piazza Signoria as well as a gallery of other statues.




Our walk continued on to the Ponte Vecchio bridge.

After our walking tour of the city, we had the opportunity to explore for ourselves.



Matt and I checked out several leather shops and both came away with a find.
After checking in to the the hotel, we prepared for the evenings scheduled group dinner in a Florentine trattoria.  Unfortunately, we were not impressed with the menu. As a lover of Italian food, I didn't want to waste a meal on substandard food. So Matt and I enjoyed some wine and visited with others at the table. After the dinner was over we made our way to a restaurant and shared a proper Italian meal, bruschetta and ravioli.

| Thursday, October 11|

We were quite excited as we started the morning... this was the day we had a scheduled Chianti wine tour. Our morning began early, with a walk around the city before we had to meet for our tour at the library.
We made our way back to the Ponte Vecchio Bridge...




...followed by another visit to Piazza Signoria.





At 9:00 am we met for our tour. We were with one other couple from Wisconsin and a beautiful Italian tour guide named Hillary.  We made a quick stop at Piazzale Michealangelo for another glance at that view.




As we made our way into the Tuscan hills, Hillary informed us of our agenda for the day.  We would be visiting two wineries, both focusing on Chianti wine and we would also have the opportunity to do an olive oil tasting.  She was very excited about the first winery. It is a small winery, specializing in Chianti, that is located in a castle.  There is a villa on the winery that is rented out so it is only available to tour when the villa is vacant. Lucky for us it was.
We arrived at Torre Alberghieri and met Rodolfo, wine maker and artist. We toured his winery, learning about Chianti wine {must be 80% Sangiovese grapes} while we ate fresh figs from the trees.


After our tour of the grounds it was time for a tasting. Rodolfo welcomed us inside his gorgoeus home, full of all of his personal artwork, to taste his wines. When we walked in there was a full spread of cheeses and meats set out for us to enjoy with our wine. We were in heaven.


After our tasting of delcious wines, including Chianti Classico, Chianti Classico Reserve, and a blend called Sorbentino, Rodolfo invited us on a tour of his home, stopping to share with us stories about his artwork.

This piece was recently finished after four years. Rodolfo carved the wood by hand and created his own paint with eggs. I was in awe of this man.

Then we went up to the top of the tower to catch a glimpse of his amazing view over the vineyard.




We left Rodolfo with an order for six bottles of wine to be shipped to the US and hopes to see him the next time we are in Florence {when we stay in his villa, of course}.
We stopped for a delicious lunch, ziti and gnocchi, and made our way to the second stop, San Michele A Torri.
We took a tour through the winery and saw both the wine making process and learned a bit about olive oil, including that an olive tree never dies.


Our tour concluded with a tasting of wines and olive oils. We left San Michele A Torri with an order for wine and an olive oil made exclusively by 25 Italian olive oil makers.
Our tour finished after 4 pm, so we spent a few hours walking around Florence, wishing we had one more day to try to see a bit more. Our wine tour guide recommended a restaurant for dinner that had a tasting option of five different pastas, selected by the chef. Paired with a bottle of Chianti we had a lovely final dinner in Florence. Our evening ended with a walk home in the rain, which was the perfect way to end a romantic Italian day.

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