At one point today, I simply remarked, “wow”. Lisa replied, “that is all you can say about this, ‘wow'”. You have to see this place to believe it.

There aren’t mountains, but they aren’t rolling hills. They are more significant than that. Every hillside is a tapestry of agriculture and architecture. You see homes dotting the hillsides, but mostly you see wheat, sunflowers and, of course, grapes. Grape vines monopolize the hillsides. On top of distant hills are medieval walled villages. You can see them, with their stately lookout towers at the crest of the hills.

Today we had hired a private driver to show us the Tuscany country side. Here is what we did:

1. Visited Pisa and saw the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It was kind of surreal to be standing there looking at an icon you’ve seen so many times in other pictures. Wow.
2. Visited the small village of Voltaire. The arch that is the entry way to the city dates to 4 BC. Yes, 4 centuries before Christ. It looks old. It is worn and has eroded, but it still stands. On the other side of the village are the ruins of a Roman theater that dates to the first century. Wow.
3. We then traveled to San Gimignano that featured 7 bell towers and a wall that protected the city that dates to the 8th century. The bell towers were once built as a show of prosperity by families. This village once had over 70 such towers and only 7 remain. The views from the hill top of Gimignano were fantastic. They also had Italy’s best gelato there, having one contests in the country every year. We tried some. Wow.
4. We then went to Pansano, a very small village where we had lunch at Dario’s. Here is where I need to comment on the food in Italy. Bottom line – it is better – period. Not because it is Italian food, but because it is fresh. The vegetables are fresh, the fruit is fresh, the beef is fresh, the fish is fresh, the olive oil, wine and vinaigrette all are from local sources. Nothing is processed, canned or salted. Our lunch was ridiculously good. Wow.
5. We then visited a local, family run winery and visited the olive trees, the grape vines and toured the facilities to see how wine is made. We then tasted the olive oil, the vinaigrette and wine. We are not experts, but we learned a little and enjoyed our time there. The wine we tasted is from the famous wine area of Chianti – look it up. Wow.
6. Lastly we went to Greve of Chianti and had a cheese tasting. We had more wine, different salamis, including wild boar and several cheese types with honey and fig marmalade. Wow.

After returning to Florence, we rested a bit and then headed to dinner where we enjoyed some steak and a firework show. Today is a major holiday in Florence. It is patron saint day. Their patron saint is San Giovonni Batistta (John the Baptist). It is a big deal, very big. This celebration on June 24 has been occurring since the 13th century. Wow.

Hope all is well with you guys. Talk to you tomorrow.