We have been on sort of a vacation spree these last few weeks. As I write this, I'm in a hotel room in Zurich (but we'll get to that later), and last weekend was one of my all time favorites... Tuscany!
It was my friend, Laura's, idea. Her family has a house there, so five of us (friends from school + Ryan) drove down last Friday. The house's location could not have been more idyllic... it was in and amongst green, rolling hills with vineyards on each side, and was only a short distance from the sea. We visited old towns, tried local dishes (which always featured the meat of wild boar that roam the surrounding area), and had great wine. But what set this vacation apart was the group dynamic... it felt like a college road trip, and that's not something we get to experience a lot in Europe. Here are the highlights.
We spent some time at the house, mostly playing volleyball or cards, and taking in the view. I even got to feed the neighbor's animals. No big mouth pictures this time... just me, a horse and a donkey, and handfulls of sweet grass.
Laura's family was great. Her mother is from the US, but her parents grew up in Italy. Her father is Italian, but his mother is American. It all made for a good story over dinner.
We went out one night. We ate dinner at a pizza place that automatically brings you about 10 different appetizers, all before the main course even begins. They included white beans in olive oil, assorted slices of meat, wild boar ragu on bread, an Italian version of ratatouille, spinach omelets, ham omelets, anchovies with red onions in oil... I can't remember them all, but they were fantastic. And all of this before the pizza, before dessert, and before placing bottles of limoncello and grappa on the table.
We visited three very old cities (one of which was Volterra - can't remember the rest).
And came across this sculpture. It was standing straight up on the side of the road, on top of the hill, and wouldn't budge.
The last day might have been the most memorable. The highlight was a trip to the small grocery at the center of Laura's little town. Two brothers ran the store, and if you wanted to buy cheese, they took you to the cheese room, and made you try at least three. Then, if you wanted salami, they took you to the meat room and made you try at least six. We had to leave, otherwise we would have gone on to taste the oils. All taste tests are accompanied by little glasses of red wine. And it's all homemade! They hunt/slaughter the animals for the meat, make the cheese, and harvest their own grapes and olives. This was an amazing experience.
This meat room alone is unbelievable... here, he's carving a pig they roasted (look up porchetta) the night before, giving us pieces of the best meat I've ever tasted. And look at the walls and ceilings - this place was COVERED in legs! We walked away with two big hunks of cheese, a bottle of olive oil, spicy salami, and wild boar prosciutto. After checking out, Ryan asked about the homemade beer that was near the counter, and the guy said - just try it - and put it in our bag. I love Italy!!!
We spent the end of our day on the beach. We had porchetta sandwiches, the boys played soccer, and we all rested and soaked up the sun. Really, really, really great weekend!
