Smile #96 - Nice to Meet You, Tuscany & San Gimignano, Italy!

Nice to Meet You, Tuscany & San Gimignano, Italy!

Bubble and I aren't huge wine lovers, but what's a trip to Italy without at least one wine experience?

We booked the Grape Escape Winery Tour with Italy on a Budget.  A day trip to Tuscany and San Gimignano.  :)

Our first stop is Tenuta Torciano, a wine tasting school.  A generational winemaker family that produces no fewer than 1 million bottles of Chanti wine per year.  Wow!

Our host began by asking us to try the white wine at our table.  Everyone picked up the glass, swirled it a bit, and sipped the wine.  Horrified and amused, the host shook his head.  We were all wrong on how to taste wine.  Oops!  :)

The proper way of tasting wine:

1. With our thumb, index and middle finger of our dominant hand, hold the wine glass at the base of the stem.
2. With our other hand, cover the top of the glass and swirl the wine.
3. Immediately take a sniff of the aroma.
4. Take a sip of the wine and hold!  Let the wine roll around your mouth for 5 seconds with white wine and 2 seconds with red wine.
5. Finally swallow.  You can now make your conclusion about the wine.  :)

I can't wait to try this process at a dinner party and have everyone stare at me, the almost pretentious wine enthusiast.  What can I say, I learned how to properly taste wine in Italy.  :)

We enjoyed 7 different wines including the famous Chianti Classico, Brunello of Montalcino, and Super Tuscan wines.  P.S. I was totally redfaced by the end of this.  :)  We also sampled balsamic vinegar and truffle oil.

Sidestory:  A lady walked around pouring truffle oil.  She instructed us to lay out a cracker on our plate.  She then poured a pool of oil on my cracker.  My cracker was totally swimming in the oil.  I had to literally shake off most of the excess oil.  However, the cracker did taste amazing!

We were immediately sold on the truffle oil.  We also bought a bottle of white and 2 bottles of red.  :)

With our happy purchase, we headed back to the van for our next vineyard stop.  A local winery located in a stunning countryside.  :)

The winemaker's wife gave us a tour of the vineyard and the cellars.  She shared the science behind the wine making process.  To avoid rain and too much moisture, grapes are harvested in September.  To produce delicious white wine, it must fermented in cold temperature so density and bubbles goes down.  It is quite fascinating to learn about the impact of each small detail!  :)

We tried 3 wines here, the famous Vernaccia white wine, a rose wine and a Chianti colli senesi D.O.C.G.  Easy choice for me, Vernaccia white wine is my favorite. The freshest and purest grape flavor persuaded me to make another purchase. Bubble fell in love with Chianti colli.  We ended up purchasing four more bottles!  We are becoming wine lovers!  :)

Mid afternoon, we were dropped off at a small medieval town, San Gimignano.  It is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site!

We finally found a shop that sells authentic leather goods.  Unlike all the leather stalls in Florence, this shop actually had a leather scent.  Bubble was sold on a leather wallet immediately.  :)

The town is known for its many towers.  Apparently, towers are a symbol for power.  The patrician families who controlled the town built around 72 towers to symbolize their wealth and power but only 13 remain today.  We headed to one of the towers that overlooks the Tuscan fields.

Of course we had to stop at the world's best gelato shop.  The line extended out the shop.  With so many flavors to choose from, I couldn't make up my mind.  I was bold enough to ask the waitress what is the best flavor.  She recommended honey.  A scoops of that please!  She is so right!  I loved every lick of it!  :)

An hour and 30 mins was just not enough time!  There were so many beautiful spots in this town.  The narrow streets, local shops, beautiful Tuscan countryside and world's best geleto shop, can this place be any more perfect?!  :)

Thank you Italy on a Budget, we had the most amazing Tuscany experience!  :)

Smile #95 - Nice to Meet You, Florence, Italy! [Part I]

Nice to Meet You See You, Florence, Italy [Part I]!

It is believed if you drop a coin from the famous Fontana del Porcellino's mouth and it lands in the grid below, you will return back to Florence someday.   Well, that someday is today!  I am back in Florence!  :)

Photo Taken 2012

After a few days away from selfie sticks/ umbrella vendors, we walked right into all the tourists traps.  Good thing, we have mastered the art of RBF (resting bitch face).  :)

Tip to future self:  Decided on a hostel based on accessibility.  Ask which floor the hostel is located on BEFORE booking.  Our temporary home happened to be on the very top floor of a building with a non-working elevator.  Just peachy.  :)

This unexpected baggage-stairs challenge definitely used up my last bit of energy.  We headed to Mercato Centrale around the corner.  For an authentic lunch, Da Nerbone is a hidden gem!  :)   The delicious aroma filled the air.  :)  We joined the line with tourists and locals.  Our excitement for the food was suddenly exchanged with an Uh-Oh.  The entire menu is in Italian!  Lucky for us, the market was equipped with wifi!  We frantically searched for an English menu.  Scanning through sites after sites, we found it just in time.  :)

I had a bolito burger (boiled meat) and Bubble ordered risotto.  We stood elbow to elbow at the end of the counter chowing down our food.  :)  I will take another plate!

We stuffed ourselves and now it is time to walk it off.  :)  Right outside is the Leather Market.  Stalls after stalls set up selling everything leather.  Leather bags, leather jackets, leather belts, leather wallets.  I was surprised to see the pursue I purchased two years ago was still around!  Guess the style hasn't evolved yet and I am still 'fashionable'.  :)

I wanted to bring those pursues as souvenirs.  So we walked around practicing our negotiation skills.  Athough no one took our bid, we did figured out the typical price range (15-20 euros).  Don't be fooled!

If we didn't know better, we would have been tricked.  A vendor dared to offer the same replicate purse for 250 euros!  We played along.  10 euros?  He rejected the offer and insisted it is authentic. No way would it be worth 10 euros.  He lowered his price to 220 euros, 200 euros... then 30 euros.  We insisted on 10 euros and he tripped himself.  He said no way it can be 10 euros, he paid 15 euros for the purse.  LOL!  Basically he just exposed his ridiculous markup!  :)

Sidestory:  We were passing through Ponte Vecchio when we overheard a  selfie stick vendor desperately trying to convince two girls to make a purchase.  It was hilarious.

Girls:  We already have one.

Vendor:  You have this one?  What about this one? 

Me:  Haha!  How many selfie sticks does one need?!

We walked through the Gold Market.  So bright and shinny!  Who wants to be my best friend and buy me this ring?

Side Story:  We were sitting on the steps outside of the Duomo figuring out dinner plans when a lady came up to us asking if we spoke English.  Bubble responded yes.  She then handed her camera to him and asked for a photo of her and the Duomo.  This angle, that angle, this pose, that pose, he ended up giving her a full photoshoot!  :)

We decided to wine down early for our winery tour tomorrow.  :)

Smile #94 - Nice to Meet You, Cinque Terre, Italy! [Part II]

Nice to Meet You, Cinque Terre, Italy [Part II]!

The comfort of the bed diminished my plan to see the sunrise. There is always tomorrow. :)

Instead we woke up to Giovanni's delicious breakfast!  He spoiled us with eggs, meats, frothiest cappuccinos, local favorite - focaccia, and very tasty banana smoothies.  Let me repeat that, banana smoothies!  Bananas and I have avoided each other for ages and here I am exclaiming how tasty it was.  :)

Breakfast paired with this gorgeous view.  Just perfetto!  :)

Today's schedule is quite eventful.  We planned on visiting Riomaggiore, Manarola and Corniglia...all before it started rains.  :)

We made our way on the next train. Within minutes we arrived at Riomaggiore.  (So remind me again why did we hike all that way yesterday.... right, for the view.  :) )

Riomaggiore is very charming and colorful.  :)  We toured the village and stopped at several local shops.

We stumbled across Art'in Banchi, a small artisan shop that sells Italian pottery and unique gifts.  A beautiful intricate ring caught my attention immediately.  I couldn't resist.  :)

We headed up to the highest point in town.  It offered the most gorgeous overlook of the town.  We also found a Castello!

The view at the top of the castle is even better!

La Via dell'Amore, also known as the Lover's Walk, connects Riomaggiore to Manarola.

Hiking the Lover's Walk with my lover

The trail started off gentle, but don't be fool!  After a nice paved section, the trail progressed into a very long and steep staircase.  Stairs that never ends.

We felt pretty accomplished when we finally reached the top. :)  It also helps with views like this.

And thanks to whoever left this mark behind, it made us smile despite all the sweat.  :)

Beside the coastal scenery, I found these gorgeous wildflowers.  What a beautiful pop of color next to the endless blue ocean.  :)

This hike reminded us just how out of shape we are.  We can safely say we have done our fair share of hiking for this trip.  We will be taking advantage of the train from now on.

We thought the going down part should be easy...WRONG!  The trail transitioned to muddy uneven pavement and shaky rocks.  It took all my concentration and steadiness not to fall flat on my face or slide down the hill.  Looking back, I wonder just how many steps we walked!  :)

Manarola tugged away in the cliffside  :)

Nothing is more welcoming than gulps of cool, fresh water!  Bubble literally sweated through every inch of his shirt from the hike.  (It is quite talented..) This called for shopping time!  :)  He got a new fancy Cinque Terre tee.

Manarola is so vibrant and full of life.  Tourists mingled with the locals at every corner.  There were kids running around the courtyard.

We joined others at the harbor. Ahh, the sea breeze.  :)

 

Comiglia has its own character.  Unlike its four neighbors, Comiglia is perched high above the sea.   I originally thought we could manage the hike up to Corniglia, but after our previous hike, we opted for the train/bus to take us to the central plaza instead.  :)

 

Those gathered in the plaza were all enjoying a nice cone of gelato.  We got jealous and headed on a search.  We found a place that served Miele di Corniglia, which is a honey based gelato.  Yum!!

Tucked behind the shop is this little nook.  It is so adorable!  :)

We strolled along windy narrow streets until we reached the scenic terrace of Santa Maria.  It offered uninterrupted views of the entire coast of Cinque Terre.  Absolutely breathtaking!  :)

We attempted to find a perfect Corniglia postcard.  But as the humble child of the lands, glorious shots of Corniglia are not available here.  Do not fret, I picked up one in Monterosso instead.  :)

Aside from the path to our guesthouse, we really haven't seen much of Monterosso.  Shame on us!  We decided to explore the other side of town.  We were surprised to see how lively it was.  :)

    

I can't believe our time here gone by so quick and it is time to say goodbye.  I never want to leave this place!  It is absolutely magical and forever it will hold a special place in our hearts.  :)