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Florence Day 2

Today started off by us getting picked up right outside the door to our hotel by Simon in a black Mercedes to drive us through the Chianti region of Florence. We stopped at two small towns on our way to the first vineyard. The first was so small we walked around the entire town in 5 minutes. The second was a little bigger and had a secret tunnel that walked you under the town but still had windows showcasing the view of the countryside. 




The first vineyard, Poggio Amorelli, was a family owned and run vineyard.  They only sell their wines at their vineyard, along with the olive oil they make there too.  We sat outside on the terrace and sampled their wines, along with breads, cheeses and meat, and had the place to ourselves for most of the time (it was only 10:30am so that might have been why).  



The second vineyard was I Selvatici. Upon arrival we were greeted by the winemaker himself, Guiseppe.  We had a private tasting with him as our guide and fresh pasta for lunch made by his Mom. We learned that he travels to the US for 6 weeks every year and always comes to Omaha to host a dinner with the Chef at the Boiler Room. Needless to say, we have Giuseppe’s phone number and will be calling him for tickets to next years dinner.  At the end of the tasting, he took us for a tour around the vineyard and showed us the family’s chapel that the nearby town used to use (and still do weekly as a gathering space for prayer).  At the end he even introduced us to his Mom, a wonderful Italian lady. 



We returned back to Florence late afternoon and went off in search of gelato.  We then decided to walk down the Arno River and across to an overlook garden. Somehow we had to pay money to climb a massive hill but the view of Florence from that garden on the hill was amazing.  We wandered our way back as the sun set. Florence is beautiful at night, with all the sounds and lights and bustle of the crowds.  What was supposed to be a short walk for gelato turned into 6 miles and a lot of stairs and hills, but balanced out the morning of being driven around the most beautiful countryside we have ever seen. 




Tomorrow is a full day group tour to Assisi and Cortona.  

Comments

  1. MomApril 26, 2023 at 3:45 PM

    So beautiful! When I think of Italy, that’s what I see❤️

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousApril 26, 2023 at 3:46 PM

    Looks like great fun! A bit of along walk though?

    ReplyDelete

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