Travel Recommendations for Toscana

A friend recently let me know that she would be traveling to Tuscany and was seeking recommendations both for tourist travel and wine travel. Having lived in Florence and spent much more time since then traveling around bella Toscana, I compiled the following recommendations for her:

Firenze

• Stay away from Florence during the summer! It's overrun by tourists and you will hear more English spoken than Italian. It can also get decently hot/humid so near the Arno and many buildings aren't equipped to handle that. Autumn is my favorite time to visit Toscana; there are harvest festivals for wine grapes and olives and the lush green hills begin turning into patchworks of autumnal colors.
• Pro tip: if you reserve a rental car for pickup in Florence, make sure that you specify Florence, ITALY, not Florence, Alabama. Not that that happened to me once . . .
• Florence is very walkable so use the opportunity to walk off all the amazing food you will have there!
• Visit the Duomo and, unless you are prohibitively claustrophobic or acrophobic, climb to the top for breathtaking views of the city. 
• Allocate an entire day for the Uffizi. Pro tip: reserve tickets for the opening time then head immediately to the top floor (which will be much less crowded) and work your way down.
• Spend time among the statues in the Piazza della Signoria; my favorite statue, Ercole e Caco, is there. 
  
• Visit the Accademia and prepare to be stunned when you turn the corner to see David for the first time.
• Make a pilgrimage to Vivoli for Florence's most famous gelato - but also eat gelato everywhere else too. :-)
• Generally avoid eating in restaurants near the main tourist spots. Wander a few blocks off the main path and find some unassuming trattoria. Order a carafe of the house wine and enjoy damn fine food at a fraction of the cost of tourist traps. If you're a carnivore, go for the Bistecca alla Fiorentina, which you order by the kilogram. Generally avoid any place that has laminated English menus with pictures of each dish.
• Spend time oltr'Arno (south of the river) as well to get away from tourists. While you're here, visit the Palazzo Pitti and the Giardino di Boboli.
• There are a million more things to do in Florence but these are my recommendations for a short stay.

San Gimignano

• San Gimignano is a nice day trip from pretty much anywhere in Tuscany. Climb the tours. Look out over the Tuscan countryside. Swoon. 
  
• Visit the Collegiata for some real fire and brimstone, wrath of God, dogs and cats living together frescos.
• The award-winning Gelateria Dondoli alone is worth the trip!

Siena

• Siena is another day trip-able city that is very walkable.
• The main religious attraction is the Duomo but make time also to visit San Domenico, where you can visit the most grotesque relic I've ever seen: the head of Santa Caterina!
• Spend time in the Piazza del Campo and, if you ignored my previous advice and traveled during the summer, see if you can witness Il Palio, the famous in-town horse race. 
  
• My strongest restaurant recommendation is Antica Osteria da Divo, where you should make sure to order the risotto that is served up from the inside of parmigiano cheese wheels!

Tuscan Countryside

• I strongly suggest getting off the beaten path a bit to enjoy the beautiful, blood-pressure-reducing life of Toscana outside of the cities.
• My greatest recommendation for this is Castello di Montalto, an entire hamlet about 20 minutes south of Siena.
• I can also recommend Hotel Borgo Casabianca as a countryside home base for Tuscan exploration
• Montefollonico is also a nice hilltop town for getting away from the hustle and bustle of city life. Others have recommended visiting Lucca and Pisa too but I haven't spent enough time in either to include them in this post.

Wine Touring

• Now for the most important part: the vino! Let's start with my favorite: Brunello di Montalcino!
• I love the little town of Montalcino itself but most can probably skip it.
• Visiting Italian wineries is much more laid back than visiting in Napa or Bordeaux. There usually is no fee but call/email ahead to secure a time slot and to ensure that there is someone there who speaks English (if you don't speak Italian).
• Valdicava is my favorite Brunello di Montalcino stop. It's a small, unassuming vineyard that has a very non-interventionist approach to its grape growing. They aren't really set up for tours and often don't have English-speakers on hand but, if you can get an appointment, barrel-tasting there is not to be missed.
• Castello Banfi is the polar opposite: a huge estate owned by Americans with a massive tasting room that is very much meant to host English-speaking tourists. If this is more your style, you can drop in without an appointment.
• Casanova di Neri has a nice, low-key tour.
• Fattoria Barbi has a nice, low-key tour.
• Livio Sassetti Pertimali has a nice, low-key tour (but may not have an English-speaker on hand).
• I can't recommend Boccon Di Vino highly enough as a place for lunch when touring around Montalcino - fine dining, a great wine selection, and fantastic views!
• Do NOT under any circumstances go to Castelgiocondo! My one time there not only did they screw up my appointment but they also lied to my face, claiming that all of their grapes were hand picked despite our having driven by their mechanized harvesters in their vineyards on our way in. Bad people!
• Also very near and dear to my heart: Chianti Classico
• Villa Calcinaia is my favorite destination by far. I confess bias as one of the members of the family that owns it was my professor when I was living in Florence. It's really fantastic, though; nice tastings, 300-year-old balsamic vinegar, beautiful views - Calcinaia has it all!
• Castello di Brolio is another large estate that is well equipped for tourism if that's your speed. Even if it isn't your speed, it's a worthwhile pilgrimage to the birthplace of Chianti.
• Dievole is a nice estate with a very charismatic proprietor and good wines.
• The town of Greve in Chianti is best visited during the fall harvest festival. Buy a glass and walk from booth to booth sampling all the local wines.
• Montepulciano is also a worthwhile stop, not just for its own charm but for the highly underrated Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. If you're there over the summer, see if you can time your visit with the Bravio delle Botti!
• One final note on wine touring in Toscana: GPS is easily confused by the windy, hilly roads, so allow plenty of time to get lost and consider using more traditional means of navigation.

I hope this is helpful for those planning to visit Tuscany! Let me know how if I've missed something obvious and/or how my recommendations work out for you! Buon viaggio!

Wedding Part 1 - Arrival

The best week of my life - including the best day of my life - has just ended. I have had some really tremendous previous best weeks and days of my life, but this wedding really blew them all away. Everything was just so . . . so . . . perfect.

Katie and I departed for Italy Tuesday, May 3, arriving Wednesday morning. I had contacted Continental customer service months ago to see if they would do anything special for a couple on its way to be married, hoping to surprise Katie with a shout-out or something similar. The generic "no" response I received was disappointing but wasn't a big deal. However, when the flight attendant saw Katie's hanging bag, she guessed at our impending nuptials and did make an announcement, which was a surprise and a lot of fun. She even called us Mr. and Mrs. Barrett, which may be closer to the mark than she intended! As always, Continental's good people came through, even when their systems and processes didn't.

We arrived in Rome, picked up Chris, Kelly, and Mike (Katie's father, sister, and sister's boyfriend - I usually try to anonymize other people in my blog entries but it just won't be possible in the ones about the wedding!), and set off for Castello di Montalto. Instead of heading straight to Castelnuovo Berardenga, though, we detoured through Montepulciano for some sightseeing and a late lunch. The weather was overcast but it already felt great to be re-immersed in the rolling green hills of bella Toscana!

Katie - now my co-author-for-life - insists that I elaborate a bit more on the food. At lunch many of us had Pici, the local handmade pasta (kind of like very fat spaghetti noodles) in various forms (mine with extra garlic naturally). To cleanse our palettes afterward, we walked back to our car with some fig and ricotta gelato that was out of this world!

When we arrived at the Castello late Wednesday afternoon, some of our guests had already checked in and the weather was already clearing up. For the rest of our stay, the weather remained perfect for castle life: sunny with highs in the low 20s C (low 70s F) and lows around 10 C (~50 F). We were greeted upon arrival by the Count and Countess (who reside in the main building of the castle) and by Leo, their noble German Shepherd, who demanded tummy rubs as hommage.

One of the villas in the hamlet - the one with a large balcony and a gorgeous view, naturally - quickly emerged as the "party suite." Most of our guests arrived Wednesday evening so we picked up 30 pizzas from a local pizzeria and served them up (along with plenty of vino!) in the party suite. This was a fantastic event as people from our various worlds began connecting. Family met coworkers, coworkers met friends, friends of one side met friends of the other side, etc. We only had ~40 guests all-in-all but all of the chapters of both of our lives were represented. We made merry until pretty late and then called it a night to deal with jet lag.

The energy brought by all of our guests was palpable and Katie and I knew that this was the beginning of a very special experience!

Victory Lap

What a truly wonderful week it has been! Katie and I arrived in Florence early Monday morning, just in time to catch the sunrise over the Arno. We found our hotel, which turned out to be a medieval tower in the center of the city, close to the Duomo--awesome! We dropped off our bags, got some breakfast, and then climbed to the top of the Duomo for spectacular views of the city. Wow, did I miss living there--it really is beautiful.

After spending the whole morning just walking around, we rested our legs at an outdoor cafe, where we had excellent fresh pasta and two Tuscan specialties: ribollita and fava beans. A full day of walking around after a not-so-restful night train with not-so-comfortable sleeping quarters meant that an afternoon nap was in order too!

Recharged, we struck out for the evening. First things first, we stopped by Art Bar for caprioska alla fragola (strawberry). We were informed, however, that peaches were in season, so we ordered caprioska alla pesca instead. Then we were informed that it was happy hour and drinks were half price--so we ordered the caprioska alla fragola as well! After all that fresh fruit, it was natural for us to want more so we headed to Salamanca for sangria and tapas. We then called it a night after a long, wonderful day in bella firenze.

Tuesday morning began with a visit to the Accademia to pay our respects to David. We then trekked up to Villa La Pietra, where I lived nine (Yikes!) years ago. The villa grounds were largely unchanged (as they had been for six or seven centuries!) and brought back a flood of memories. The villas from the 1500s, where I ate, slept, and took classes . . . the fig trees, olive groves, and vineyards, where I took long walks and contemplated what I wanted to do with my life . . . the rolling hills where I ran incline sprint workouts . . . :-) What a sublime place to spend several months of my life!

Tuesday afternoon we rented a car and drove to San Gimignano, which was as charming as I remember. We arrived there late enough that most of the bussed-in tourists were gone so we just walked around the entire town, analyzing menus to see what spoke to us. We finally settled on a little cafe in the square of the duomo, where we enjoyed some great pasta dishes and lots of Baroque violin from a street musician.

We then moved to a wine bar near our hotel. I remember San Gimignano's local wine, Vernaccia, as a simple, crisp, delightful white wine and, yes, it still is. However, at the wine bar we tasted several oak-aged riservas which were downright stupendous! Kudos to the local vintners for experimenting with some modern vinification techniques; these riservas could go toe-to-toe with some of California's best chardonnays--and for a fraction of the cost.

A description of our evening would be incomplete without mentioning the amazing gelato at Gelateria della Piazza. During our stay of less than 24 hours we visited the place thrice (It was maybe 20 meters from our hotel.) and savored its award-winning awesomeness. I wish I could remember all of the flavors we tried but here are a few: Vernaccia, violet, lavender, saffron, black cherry, raspberry & rosemary. So good!

Wednesday morning we beat the crowds to climb the Torre Grossa and take in the breathtaking views of Tuscan countryside. It was at this location that, nine years prior--almost to the day, I first looked out over Tuscany. I had seen pictures and paintings before but nothing could ever do justice to the beautiful patchwork tapestry of rolling green hills. There must be one hundred different shades of green in any given Tuscan landscape, each more beautiful than the next. I love Paris in the springtime but oh how I love Tuscany in September!

Wednesday afternoon we spent in Siena, walking around and sampling the local cuisine. The highlight was definitely the risotto at lunch. It was prepared tableside inside a huge wheel of Parmigiano-Reggiano. The heat from the rice melts the inner layer of cheese as it's being mixed up and creates flavorful, gooey goodness.

For the next two days we resided at Villa Casabianca, another great find by Katie. In the middle of the Tuscan countryside, this complex of villas and suites was peaceful, serene, and absolutely beautiful. We were shown to our suite, "Suite della Musica," where sparkling white wine awaited us. We sipped it while strolling the grounds and listening to Mozart's Requiem in D. Dinner followed and we were very, very happy campers.

Thursday was dedicated to tasting Brunello di Montalcino. We began at Livio Sassetti's Pertimali estate. Livio's son showed us around the vineyards, explained their winemaking philosophy, and then showed us how they carried it out in their viticulture and vinification. Generations of passion for great wine came through in his explanations--and in the tasting that followed! This family loves its wine and I strongly recommend it.

We then visited Valdicava and dined at Boccondivino, both of which I covered in my post about my June visit. As in June we visited Castello Banfi, but this time Katie and I toured the winemaking operations. Banfi was the first winery in the world to be certified "green," which is a pretty cool distinction. They also use funky oak/steel hybrid fermenters, which I don't really get. However, there's no arguing with the end result; they make a damn fine Brunello.

After days and days of rich restaurant food, we stopped by a supermarket and assembled a picnic dinner of cheese, bread, and grilled vegetables. Of course we supplemented it with Castello Banfi 1998 Brunello di Montalcino Poggio al'Oro Riserva, which was gorgeous: rich and complex with undulating layers of taste and texture. First you were hit by the black cherry then along came the vanilla. After that the tannins were very smooth and the finish lasted forever. I like!

Friday we departed the villa after a lazy morning and wound our way through Chianti. We stopped for lunch at Castello di Brolio, where Barone Ricasoli "invented" Chianti centuries ago. We walked around the castle grounds and then stopped at the cantina for lunch.

Although our flight back to Switzerland was later that night, we managed to squeeze in some additional Chianti time. First we stopped by Greve in Chianti, where the annual Chianti Harvest Festival was just beginning. Scores of vintners were present in booths waiting to show you their wines and olive oils. The cost of admission bought you a Chianti glass, which you could then use to walk around the booths and taste. The glass came with a convenient necklace attached to it so that you wouldn't break it when you were too bombed to hold it any longer.

A short drive from the town center was the winery estate of my former professor, Count Niccolo Capponi. He is a descendant of the Florentine Capponi family and a fine historian. His brother runs the wine operations at Conti Capponi but Niccolo was able to sneak us down into the cellar for some barrel tasting. We caught up, reminisced about the Fall of 2000, and drank good wine--what a pleasant evening!

Finally Katie and I turned in the rental and hopped our flight to Geneva. Tomorrow we fly to Houston so that I can begin work on my new startup. Our grand Tuscan adventure is over, but oh what a week it was!

Pics are available in my facebook album.