C2S Travels: Tuscany, Italy

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.

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Tuscany Eats: Truffles, Cantucci Vin Santo, Chianti wines and more...

I am in love...Tuscany opened its arms which I embraced and fell under its spell. Though I was only there for a few days, it was what I needed to unwind and recharged myself before work beckoned again.

As with any travels, I find myself savouring and sampling the local cuisine which was wonderfully aromatic and delicious. My best meal turned out to be the last meal on this trip, much to my dismay but let's start from the beginning.

I somehow lost some of my food pictures from this trip (devastated!), but some amazing places still deserved to be mentioned.

On the first night, we had dinner at La Torre in Loro Ciuffenna. Situated within a tower, we climbed the stairs and found ourselves in a charming restaurant.

La Torre

The crepe was refreshingly tasty and light.

Guancia di Manzo alla Toscana con Tartufo (Beef cheek with truffle) €13

Deeply rich and hearty would be how I would describe this. The truffles added an aromatic umami richness to the dish. The overall balance isn't that of a delicate finesse but of rustic density.

Tagliata di Pollo al Vin Santo con Pere saltate (Chicken tagliata with pears and sweet wine) €12

Being intrigued by the pear and sweet wine combination, I was curious and ordered this. The flavours did not seem to combine in a harmonious way as each flavour was quite distinct as you eat this. The texture of the chicken was too dry as well.

Cantucci Vin Santo (Tuscan almond biscuit and 'Vinsanto' dessert wine) €6

The Cantucci Vin Santo is a dessert from the Tuscan region. It is quite different to the regular Italian desserts that one is usually familiar with. It comprises of a glass of 'Vinsanto' dessert wine and almond biscuits on the side.

A good alternative for those who tend to shy away from sweet or creamy desserts. I really enjoyed eating the liquid soaked almond biscuit from dipping it into the wine in contrast to the crunchy and dense texture of the almond biscuit.

Ristorante La Torre, via Dante Alighieri 52024 Loro Ciuffenna, Tuscany 

Osteria da Luchino

A visit to explore the town of Arezzo led us to Osteria da Luchino. The sight of a tantalising box of mushrooms at the entrance plus tables filled with locals were good indicators that this place might be what we are looking for – honest local food at reasonable prices.

It definitely was indeed and we have such a satisfying meal here.

Osteria da Luchino, Via di Beccheria, 3, 52100 Arezzo

I remembered my Tortelli Di Patate Noci E Tartufo €8 in particular. Delicious and you'll be hard pressed to find one as good as this for the price. There were quite a number of restaurants lining the town with tourist menus and we were glad that we chanced upon Osteria da Luchino.

Now onto the last meal of the trip which turned out to be our best meal. It was with a feeling of regretful irony that we only discovered it on our last night and it was always right at our doorstep (next to the B&B).

We ate at Conte Max which is owned and operated by three chefs. Each day, the three chefs take turns to work the floor while the other two reside in the kitchen. The kitchen serves up modern interpretations of the local classic dishes that just works!

For our starter, it was local meat 'sushi' degustation €10. I had no idea what sushi was doing in a local Tuscany restaurant when I first read it on the menu and it turned out to be canapé styled starters with a mixture of different combination of ingredients used. Some of it was styled to look like sushi, hence the name! It was an eye opener and only made us excited in anticipation of what we were going to get in our following dishes.

The starters and mains are amazing – stimulating both the stomach and the mind. Desserts however to my dismay, was not their strong point. I highly recommend getting yourself here when you plan a trip to Tuscany.

New Conte Max, Piazza Nannini 3, Loro Ciuffenna 

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Neapolitan Pizza in Napoli

I’m in Napoli, the place where fast food was invented. The land where pizzas originated and raved about with many pointing that it must be the air or the water that makes it so good. 

Needless to say, our travelling party has been looking forward to it and we have been limiting ourselves in having pizzas elsewhere in anticipation.  

The two places that we went to as I subsequently discovered after my trip are members of the Verace Pizza Napoletana Association. In fact, they were part of the original group of founders who set this up to retain and preserve traditions, customs, quality and authenticity of the Original Neapolitan Pizza

A Neapolitan pizza is very specific, you can click here for more information.

We found ourselves at Ciro for our virgin experience of the Neapolitan pizza. Arriving early and with the heavens pouring on us, we stood with our squeaky shoes and wet umbrellas looking in at the staff going about setting up the place. A few minutes later, the doors opened and in we went. 

Without any debate, we went straight to the pizza section on the menu. 

Alla Ciro (Tomato, Mozzarella, Ham, Mushroom) €10

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Taormina Eats, Sicily

The next stop in the East was Taormina. Gorgeous place that relies heavily on tourism, it is perched high on the mountains with views of the ocean and Mount Etna. 

We stayed in a B&B that is away from the main high street which means that we had to use the local shuttle. Not too ideal but we were richly rewarded with stunning views of the ocean and Mount Etna from our room. Truly luxurious. 

As this is a tourist town, the vibe is immediately different from the previous places that we've been too and prices are slightly more expensive. That doesn't take away its charms though and walking through its winding streets, we were engulfed and enamoured by our surroundings. 

We experienced the worst and also the best culinary meal in Taormina in this Sicily trip. 

Being enticed by the name, we entered Cafe de Artist for dinner. 

Maccheroni Al Pomodoro €6

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Catania Eats & a sweet stop in Siracusa, Sicily

Catania is a good base to be to travel around the east of Sicily. After touring the west, we arrived in Catania to continue our travels. 

A walk around the area found us walking into a shop that sells fresh pasta, Leantichearti Della Pasta. They looked so tempting but it was not possible to buy any being only midway through the holidays. The shop is family run and we managed to get by with our minimal Italian. The papa offered us some fresh raw pasta to try and having never tried raw pasta before, it was definitely an experience biting into thin and semi frozen pasta shell before tasting the pistachio and cured meat filling.  Disappointed that we couldn't buy any pasta as they looked awesome, we consoled ourselves with getting a bottle of pesto each. We left with a dessert pastry courtesy of the papa and son who said that the mama makes them every morning.

We found ourselves at U Fucularu for dinner.

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Agrigento pit stop, Sicily

After Palermo, the next stop was a brief one at Agrigento to visit the Valley of the Temples. It is truly an amazing place; the weather was perfect to soak in the serenity and tranquillity of the place.

Stopping for only one night, we ate at two places.

For dinner it was at a restaurant called La Corte Degli Sfizi.

Overall, this place caters to the tourist. Standard fare which will not leave a mark in the memory bank.

The second place which I highly recommend is the snack bar located at the end of the main street. You would not have high expectations coming in here but boy was I delightfully surprised. I don't know the name but this is a photo of the entrance.

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Palermo Eating

I went away on holiday in Sicily and the first stop was Palermo. It was a good way to start and the people had a matter of fact friendly charm to them.

Food was also another factor and we had some good food that we enjoyed.

Canelle

This was a side street stall that we were brought to by our lovely B&B owner. These were fast food made to order. The first was Canelle which is made from chick pea flour. Freshly fried, it was soft and melting in your mouth with the crunchiness oath exterior from being deep dried. This was cooked so fresh that even having eaten it halfway, there were still steam vapours emanating. It was different to have carbs as a filling rather than meat or vegs and I was starting to feel like carb overload.

The croquettes had a light glutinous texture, almost starchy with a crispy deep fried skin. Tiny bits of mint add a refreshing and minty taste.

We had a cooked dinner of pasta with zucchini with a sprinkle of nutmeg. It was wholesome and good. Simple ingredients with a well balanced flavour that could not go wrong. The zucchini was refreshing with a slight juicy creaminess to it. Our lovely B&B owner also made us lunch, well we chipped in and it was the first time I had to handle or knew what to do with artichokes. So much effort for such a tiny amount but it was worth it!

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