Wine, wine, and more wine! That’s what I remember most. It wasn’t all the same wine though. We had a white wine, 2 types of red wine (something simliar to merlot and cabernet sauvignon), and a dessert wine. As we finished a glass, we were offered more. If it wasn’t such a warm day there, I could have had more.
Our first stop in the morning was Volterra. The place looked and felt like a smaller scale Sienna (we were there in March 2004). Narrow streets, old buildings (with the very common red flower in a pot on the window sill), and a wide open plaza. It did have a nice view, and on a clear day we could have seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Most interesting was on our way there, we drove past the home Andrea Bocelli grew up in. I don’t know if he still lives there…maybe he visits there once in a while. I do know that he still holds benefit concerts in the area, which I heard can command big money from attendees.
Lunch was at a farmhouse on a vineyard. We were given a brief tour of the place, and shown how wine was made. We didn’t expect much of the food, but surprisingly the food was excellent! We had pasta, assorted meats and cheese, what appeared to be sourdough with a mixture of olive oil and something else, and of course, wine. I have to say it was the best overall lunch we had on the trip.
San Gimignano was next. This place was a little bigger than Volterra, and it was home to a gelato store that is a team member of the gelato world champions for 2006-2007. There sure were a lot of people outside with a gelato in their hand. We didn’t get to try the gelato there, but we’ll make a note of it to try it if we ever go back there again.
The weather was good, the food and wine were great…what’s not to like about this trip!