Relaxing in Tuscany
Trip Start
Apr 30, 2012
1
12
30
Trip End
Jul 28, 2012
Greve in Chianti, Tuscany, Italy
Sunday, May 27, 2012
We arrived in Greve in Chianti just before lunchtime guided by our good old GPS (aka Maggie T or the Thatch). Generally speaking Maggie gets it right but not on this occasion. Maggie took us up some steep and winding narrow roads until we reached a street that had been blocked off by the council. We had two options remove the barricade blocking the road or reverse up the winding narrow street.
Steve pulled over while I found our hotel by foot. It turns out that every Sunday the small town closes all roads to the square for their market. Unfortunately the only way we could access our hotel was to drive through the main square. We took matters into our own hands and I removed all the barriers blocking the street. Steve drove through and I quickly ran out to put back the barriers. I tried to do this discretely but I am sure the noise would have attracted the attention of elderly locals peering out their windows. We then continued to drive through the main piazza trying not to hit anyone at the local market. Being discrete was made harder by the fact that Steve stalled the car in the middle of the square. Eventually we arrived at our accommodation safe and sound without too many evil eyes from onlookers.
Our accommodation was perfect. We stayed in a small Tuscan apartment with so much character. We expected a single room but were surprised to find a full apartment with a kitchen and a lot of space. When Steve checked out the room prices it looked like we had been upgraded. Normally the apartment was worth 200 euros a night. We are on a roll with upgrades at the moment. Being overly organised and booking in advance is paying off.
We spent the afternoon walking around the market hoping no one would recognise us as the ones who drove through the square. We picked up some wine and antipasto and had a very relaxing afternoon in the backyard of the accommodation .
The next day we set off to visit the small villages around Greve in Chianti. I can't even count the number of times we stoped the car to take photos because the scenery was just so beautiful. The winding roads are spotted with wineries and some of the wineries even had road side stalls for tastings. Our first stop was Castellina where we picked up some yummy prochutto and cheese sandwiches for lunch. We then continued onto San Gimignan which is a town surrounded by a large wall. It is quite touristy but has spectacular views over the Tuscan country side. We picked up some local wine and biscotti (it's all about the local food in Tuscany). We then continued on to Volterra which is a hilltop village you have to access by a very large staircase. We enjoyed a coffee and took lots of photos. Apparently this is where they filmed one of the twilight films but we haven't seen them.
We returned back at our accommodation later that evening to cook up a feast in our Tuscan kitchen. It's was so nice to have some good old home cooking. We both agree that we will certainly visit Tuscany again.
