Buses Don't Run on Sundays

Sunday was a beautiful sunny day in Greve.  Our plans were a return trip to Florence to see David at the Academia.  We pride ourselves on being smart, well planned tourists.  This means that we had tickets and reservations made for David and the Pitti Palace.  The one thing we did not plan for was the buses going between Florence and Greve do not run on Sundays.

After standing at the rather quiet bus stop for a little bit, Jamie conversed with a boy and his grandmother about the bus schedule.  They confirmed our thoughts that buses were not going to be an option for us that day.

Of course, Duane, Tari and I had to give Jamie quite the hard time about that.  With a wide open day in front of us, we thought we would wonder around Greve and explore more of the city than we would normally see.

Short Door Picture Time!  Just as we have done in previous years, everyone had to get their picture with a short door.  This time it was Duane's turn.

With Greve being the heart of Chianti, the Black Rooster is a very important figure in the town.  They have a statue representation near a local water fountain.

We walked from one side of town to the other and got the brilliant idea that we would walk to the near by town of Montefloralle.  There are a few hills on the walk and it was another warm day, so we made a decision to stop at the top of the first hill and take in some of the views of Greve.

After our adventures of the day, Duane ponders what the life of a wondering tourist would be like on a regular basis

Tari appears to be thinking more about relaxing with a glass of wine and people watching on the Greve Triangle.

Go to 6/1/15

Greve Market Day - Time to be Local!

Farm to Table - In Italy, not a fad but a way of life for centuries

In the United States farm to table and farmers markets have been growing in popularity over the last 5-10 years or so.  In Italy, market day has always been important and a way of life.  Many towns have at least one market day a week, larger ones may have a small one during the week and the main one on Saturday mornings.  Greve follows this plan, with main market day being on Saturday.  Of the many times we have been in Greve we have never been able to participate in Market Day as we were either flying in or flying out that day.  This year, we actually were able to participate and it quickly became one of the high lights of our trip and added to the next trip's itinerary,  When traveling, we always try to become part of the local scene.  Nothing does that quicker or easier than participating in Market Day.  The main triangle in Greve is over taken with various tents selling everything from fresh fruit, meat, seafood, flowers, and underware!  That's right, underware.  You really good get everything you need from this market.

We started the day as normal with a croissant and latte at the local cafe on Greve's main triangle.  Jamie found it a great place to people watch on any day, but especially on Market Day.

 

Whether you want fresh fish or fresh pork, they have it at the market!  I can confirm that the smell wafting out of roasted pork truck pictured above was as good as you can imagine.  The pork sandwich you could get there was amazing!  Duane couldn't help himself and had to get one as we wandered the market.

As if there was not enough tents and trucks located on the triangle to tempt your wallet, the Greve Main Triangle is of course lined with shops as well.  One of our favorites is Antica Macelleria Falorni.  This is THE meat shop of the Chianti region.  They have been in the same location since 1806 and have 9th generation butchers who know their way around pork!  Walking in  you have to be careful not to hit your head on the meat hanging from the ceiling.  Along with the best salumi in Tuscany, they also make a little cheese that can be found in their cellar below the main floor of the shop.  While in Greve many a lunch is made of salumi from this shop while we relax in or by the pool.

Duane had many different choices to make as he wandered the store.

Lunch!

It is hard to believe that after munching at the market and purchasing salumi at Falorni we would still have room for lunch.  Walking around the triangle works up quite the appetite! Just down from the main triangle is Alessandro's.  I am sure there restaurant has an actual name, but we have always called it Alessandro's after the main owner who was nice enough to let us purchase some of his coffee grounds during our very first trip back in 2011.  Ever since then we always make it a habit to eat here at least once for lunch. He has huge wood fired pizzas, salads, and even his own wine!

  

This is the "personal" sized pizza.  This one actually happens to be Jamie's.  It always makes me chuckle that he orders this pizza.  Jamie has never been one to deviate from traditional pizza toppings, but for some reason he ordered this one with hot dogs on it the first time we ate here and this has become his go to pizza at Alessandro's.

Of course after lunch we had to get gelato!  I must admit, I do have somewhat of an addition to this wonderful treat.  I never do not have room for gelato.

Duane is waiting some what patiently for us to finish our gelato so we can move on with our day and wine tasting activities.

Time to Wine Down!

What better way to spend an afternoon then with friends and over 1,000 bottles of wine?  The Enoteca Falorni is located a couple of blocks from the triangle, but worth the walk.  It is located underground and is made up of several red bricked rooms that used to house grapes, but now house bottles of wine and several enomatic systems that let you purchase pours of wines so you can sample as many as your heart and wallet desire.

They also have a little kitchen area that does antipasta options, salads, and other snack like items.  Along with the typical red and white wines, you can also taste bubbles, olive oils, and grappas.

Tari and I had enough of red wine after a while, so on to bubbles it was!

Duane and Jamie checking out the Dievole wine options on the wall.  Yep, we ended up having one of the crates Duane is standing next to shipped home.  With this being one of Jame's favorite wine there was no way we were not getting some for home.

Calm down ladies, these men are spoken for!  Yes, I know their faces are beyond sexy, but try to control yourselves.  After a few glasses of wine Jamie and Duane decided they had to try to impress Tari and I with their sexy faces.














We spent several hours on the overstuffed couches trying wine samples and choosing purchases to take with us and ship home.  From the wine carriers below, it was a successful mission.

                                                    

All  You Need is Love.... and Wine!

Go to 5/31/15

Greve - Our home away from home.

Greve + Sienna + Wine+ Gelato+ Great Food = Perfect Day!



What better way to start a day then in Greve??  The picture directly below is from the view of our hotel room at Hotel Al Borgo.  We had always wanted to give this hotel a try as normally we stay at a villa behind the triangle.  This trip we were only in Greve for a short stay so it was the perfect time try the hotel.  Let's just say that from this trip we learned the villa is going to be the best option.  The only good things the hotel had going for it was the location.  The owners of the hotel changed the rules on the pool/patio at least twice while we were there.  The first day we could have food and wine on the grass by the pool.  By the second day we were told "No Food!"  To this day Duane and Jamie still get pissy if someone brings it up.



Typical breakfast in Greve.... croissant, latte, and the Triangle to people watch

Just a typical day in Greve.... the meat shop truck is getting ready to make deliveries and a statue of Giovanni Verrazzano watching over the town.

Time to Hit the Road!

Our plan for the day was to hit a few wine towns and Sienna!  It was going to be a busy day.  We had it in our plans to see the main area of Sienna where the Palio di Sienna is held, then drive to Pienza to see ALOT of cheese and then to Montepulciano to see our friend Adamo.

 The Countryside of Tuscany is always so pretty to look at.  Stopping for pictures along the way is usually the norm.

Side Trip #1 to Castellina in Chianti



 As is pretty normal, when driving with Monica she normally has some small side trips for us along the way.  On this day we made a short stop in Castellina.  Castellina is a town in Chianti that is home to the Castellina Winery.  This winery makes several wines.  The one we all knew the best was the Castellare Wines.  They are easily find-able in the States as they all have birds on the label.

                                                                                             

The town was a "Città tipica" or a typical town in Tuscany.  It is on a hillside, small, and made of stone.  Flowers are everywhere when walking through town.  What makes this town different your typical Tuscan towns is this one had covered passage ways that at one time had been to help defend the town from attacks.  Today the passage ways serve as a wonderful shopping and restaurant area.

 Have to keep up traditions, so it was Tari's turn to have her picture taken with a short door.

Tari and I enjoying the many flowers growing throughout the town. 

Sienna!

The town of Sienna is quickly becoming one of my favorite day trips when in Tuscany.  The town is famous for it's huge tower, Torre del Mangia, that stands 102 meters above the Piazza del Campo.  The tower can actually entered and a person could climb the 400 stairs to the top and be rewarded with spectacular views of Sienna and Tuscany.  We normally choose to reward ourselves by not climbing the 400 stairs and instead picking a prime people watching spot at one of the restaurants on the square.

The Campo is also home twice a year to the Palio.  The famous horse race that pits 10 Contradas (neighborhoods) against each other to see who will be the winner of bragging rights and the Drapellone, or Large Drape.  The Palio is a 4 day long event that turns the Campo into a dirt horse track surrounded by many, many people there to scream for their Contrada.  The horse race is actually a very dangerous race as the horses are in very tight quaters and are pushed to go very fast.  It is not unusual for a horse to cross the finish line without the jockey as he was thrown or fell off somewhere along the the race.

 The day we happened to be in Sienna was a very warm day.We chose to spend majority of it sitting in the shade drinking Prosecco, eating Gelato and people watching.  Tari and Duane did venture out into the sun to get a picture in front of the Duomo and Tower.  We all felt really bad for the adorable moppy sheep dog that was walking the Campo.  That poor dog had to be warm!

Side Trip #2 Sulfur Rock Springs and Tuscany Views

 In order to see the amazing views of Tuscany we stopped along the side of the road where a random set of wooden stairs appeared out of nowhere.  The stairs actually led to a wonderful flat farm field where you could tun in a 360 degree circle and see all of Tuscany.  The famous Tuscan Farmhouses, tall Cypresses, and rolling hills.  At this particular location you could also see the rock sulfur beds that helped feed the many hot springs located through out Tuscany..  Going up the stairs to the farm field was much easier than climbing them back down.  The stairs were much steeper than they looked!

Pienza!

Pienza is a small hill town located close to both wine cities of Montepulciano and Montelcino.  In previous trips we had always tried to make a stop in Pienza but had always ran out of hours in the day.  Tari has quite the love affair with cheese, so we knew this trip we had to make sure to make a stop.  Pienza is home to the famous Pecorino cheese, so there as many cheese shops in Pienza as there Starbucks in Seattle.

While in Pienza we also learned a lesson about Duomos.  Our driver Monika said she would drop us off and meet us at the Duomo once she parked her van.  Silly us thought that Duomos were always buildings with a dome top.  After wandering the streets of Pienza many, many times we finally found Monika standing out front of the main church... which did not have a dome top.  When we mentioned we couldn't find a dome topped building she chuckled at us and explained Duomo actually means Church or Cathedral, not Dome like we all assumed.  That would have been good information to have as we spent ALOT of time trying to find that dome!  

                                          

 One of many Pecorino shops along the streets of Pienza.

Time for Gelato!!!

My one weakness is Gelato.  It is so bad that I actually have a Gelato budget while I am in Europe.  I have to admit, that I have been known to get Gelato whenever it is available, no matter if i just had Gelato or if we just finished a huge 5 course meal.  There is always room for Gelato!

In Pienza, I found via researching the internet that they actually have a couple good Gelato shops.  Monika actually recommended the one located towards the end of town.  Gelatria Toscana was a great Gelato place!  You could tell all 30 flavors were homemade and handmade.  No neon colored gelato here!  They also had interesting flavors like Lavender, to go along with your typical flavors of pistachio, chocolate, frutti di bosco, etc.  They also had a wonderful outdoor seating area to enjoy your treat and watch the people go by,

                                                                     

A view of Pienza from afar

Montepulciano!

Montepulciano is one of the prettiest hill towns in Italy and one of the oldest.  Montepulciano started as an Etruscan town back in 308 B.C.  Because of it's location, it often was caught between Sienna and Florence's battle to be the most powerful city, so for many years it would be a Sienna backed town until Florence would attack and win the city back.  This went on for many years throughout the 1200 to the 1400s.

 Most Duomo's in Italy have a beautiful and expensive facade.  Not the case in Montepulciano, the Duomo here never received the planned facade as the money was used to defend the town against attacks from Sienna and/or Florence. 

Contucci Winery and Etruscan Passageways

 One of our favorite wineries to visit is Contucci Winery in Montepulciano.  Contucci is ran by Adamo Contucci and his family.  The winery is located on the side street by the Contucci Palace.  That's right, Adamo's family has a palace, right on the main square by the Duomo.  The Palace was built back in the 1500s and has been home to the Contucci ever since, including Adamo today.  The Contucci Cantina as the wine tasting room is called has many hallways of wine barrels to explore and a small tasting room to actually try some of the best wine in the world, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. 

Time to tour the wine cellars!  One of the fun things about Contucci is that they let you wonder at your pace to look at the wine barrels, and old wine storage areas.  Once you have walked the maze of passage ways, it is time to reward yourself with finding the exit with some Vino di Nobile!

 When we say the wine barrels are large, we mean LARGE!  to give some perspective, each couple stood in front of some of the barrels.  And these barrels were actually some of the medium size barrels.

 

Since the Contucci's have been here since the 1500s and before them the Etruscans resided here some of wine passage ways reflect that history.  Above are two of the older passage ways at Contucci.  They are roped off so you cannot walk to far into them, but it still amazing to think life that happened so far back in history can still be seen today. 

From our many wine tours we have created fun ways to tour a winery.  Below is my fun way, which is to jump out from behind some barrels with jazz hands and a wide smile.

Wine, Wine, and More Wine!

 Once we made it through the wine alleys, we met Monika in the tasting room.  Since she is our driver, she never is able partake in the wonderful wines she takes us to.  So she has to make due with smelling it from the bottle.

Unfortunately during this trip, we missed our friend Adamo, but met a new face of the winery that was almost as outgoing as Adamo.  

Besides the Contucci winery there is also a winery called Redi located in Montepulciano.  Redi is actually located at the bottom of one of the hills in town but a fun way to reach their tasting room is to start at the top of the hill near the town center and take the winding staircases through the cellars to reach the destination at the bottom.  Along the way you will see wines hundreds of years old and also an Etruscan well,

The Etruscan well.  This trip they had it roped off.  The first time we followed this path, you could actually walk right up the well and look down through the grate covering it. 

                                                                         

Finally!  We made our way down to the bottom of the cellars to the Redi Wine Room,

On the Road Again!

After finishing up at Redi, it was time to start making our way through the rolling hills of grape vines and back to Greve.  Along the way of course we had to take a detour to show Tari and Duane the Castello di Brolio.  Brolio is the oldest winery in Italy and the 4th oldest business to be located in the same place through it's life and the 2nd oldest winery to have this distinction.  This is the actual birthplace of Sangiovese grapes and as such the birthplace of Chianti wine.

We Earned a Stellar Dinner!

After the day long Tuscany Tour we had worked up quite the appetite.  We decided to eat at La Terazza.  La Terazza is located right on the Triangle and offers a wonderful upstairs patio for eating outside.  We had great antipasto, pasta and Duane was ready for his own Bistecca alla fiorentina.  Funny story of trip.... We are sitting there enjoying our antipasto, pasta, wine etc and Jamie keeps staring at the table next to ours.  He finally leans over to me and says... "I think that is Elena next to us"  Elena is the owner of one the wineries we visited on our first trip to Greve two trips ago.  I give her a look and have to agree that the lady at the other table does look somewhat like her.

Jamie is convinced it is her so he starts to lean over to talk to her.  The look on Duan, Tari, and my face must have been pretty comical as we all start looking anywhere but at him or the table next to ours.

Lucky for Jamie, it was Elena so her and Jamie had a quick conversation about how she was doing and her winery.  She let us know that the wine we were drinking that night was actually her wine as the restaurant used her wine for their house wine.  No wonder we like it so much!

The Pasta in Italy is like no other!  The way it is made, is always slightly different from restaurant to restaurant so it is hard to get tired of pasta.  It is not unusual to eat it for almost every dinner.

Elena's wine that is used as the house wine for this restaurant.  It was as good as we remembered from touring her winery on our first trip.

Ah!  Bistecca alla Fiorentina!

Every Carnavore's dream meal!  Bistecca alla Fiorentina is a Porterhouse steak from Chianina cows.  Chianina cows are scattered through out the Tuscan countryside and are one of the oldest breeds having been raised in the Tuscan area for the past 2200 years!  There is only one way to have Bistecca, that is grilled to a very rare state over a wood fire and seasoned with salt, pepper, and olive oil.

When ordering the steak, it is actually sold by the kilo and normally at least a kilo (2.2.lbs) has to be ordered. The meat is brought to the table before being grilled to confirm size and quality before being prepared.  As a general rule, it is typically shared by at least two people if not the entire table.  That of course was not going to work for Jamie and Duane as they pretty much ordered one for each of them.

 

Duane making sure to not leave any meat behind!  

Go to 5/30/15