Think of rolling hills and winding paths as you zip around in a little panda car. Take a pause as you breathe in the fresh air while tasting wines and basking in all that Tuscany has to offer. It was a full blown feasts for the senses and I love it!
Ms. Savory and I stayed in a charming B&B located in a tiny town known as Loro Ciuffenna. Loro Ciuffenna is not a popular destination that comes to my mind for the tourists compared to the abundance of other towns around the area. Though that lends to one being able to immerse with the locals and have a better feel of what life is like living here. I even joined the locals one evening when they were having a BBQ while watching different bands comprising of local kids playing rock music. It could be past midnight and you still see kids and families out at the main square playing while the parents and elderly sit around talking about the events happening around the world.
The best meal that I had also happened to be located right here.
The B&B that we stayed in had been there for years and it was a charming place. Located in one of the rooms were original wall paintings that took my breath away.
Tuscany is full of towns located along the Chianti trail which runs for approximately 200 miles. We just drove around and went into any wine estate that intrigued us. It was great chatting with small independent vineyard owners as we discovered and learnt about what it takes for a wine to be labelled as a Chianti.
The town of Brunello houses a wine museum which keeps a record of all the local Montalcino wines produced with one of many of these vintage bottles retained. An indescribable feeling washed over me as I sat on one of the benches to leafed through the records that are are pale and yellowed with age.
San Gimignano is a popular tourist spot and is great if you don't plan to travel around by car and looking for a relaxed weekend away with its abundance of restaurants and shops to explore.
The historic centre of the town of Siena was another place we explored and classified as a UNESCO world heritage site that is worth seeing.
If wines and towns are not your thing, you can also head for some high end shopping at 'The Mall' factory outlet.
We concluded our trip with a short visit in Pisa to view the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
Tips:
1. Hiring a car and zipping around is a great way to explore. The only drawback is that the driver can't really be sipping on too many wines.
2. There are many tours based in Florence which will take you on a day tour in Tuscany as another option.
3. Lots of places are shut in the afternoon with eateries shutting around 2.30pm. It is good to plan your day by exploring in the morning, have lunch, head back to the hotel for some rest before heading out again in the evening.
4. To visit Tuscany, you can either fly into Pisa and it is another 3-4 hours to Tuscany or fly into Florence (flights costs more) and it is less than an hour to get to Tuscany from there.
