Back to Rome: Day Trip to Tuscany

Sunday was another magical day to a place I again never expected to visit: Tuscany. Our first stop was at “The Town of Fine Towers,” San Gimignano, a rustic medieval town with preserved tower houses and remarkable views. The stone streets and buildings of the city with its views of the surrounding green valley were right out a movie. I could not believe I was actually there.

After our visit to the city was our first wine tasting at Tenuta Torciano. Our area was set up so elegantly in the vineyards, which have been in the same family for hundreds of years. The man who lead us through our lunch and tasting showed us how to taste the wine and explained the process of how it is made. We tasted one white wine, six red wines and one dessert wine, which to my surprise, were not terrible.

I truly believe learning about the wines and experiencing them in this way helps me appreciate them much more than I normally would. We also had some delicious balsamic vinegar and truffle oil. I was tempted to buy them, but my wallet opposed. For lunch, we were served bread, cheese, meat, soup and the creamiest lasagna I have ever tasted. I thoroughly enjoyed that wine tasting, and luckily, it was not our last.

After Tenuta Torciano, we went to Fattoria Poggio Allorio, an organic vineyard. The man in charge of us showed us wine barrels that were being aged and a barn full of the largest and most beautiful cows I have ever seen. Unfortunately, the cows would eventually be eaten, but the man told me they suffer a quick and easy death.

Our wine tasting consisted of two white and two red wines, paired with delicious cheese. The patio where we sat overlooked the vineyard, so it was the perfect spot for a scenic photo shoot.

We then headed back to the bus, which was way too big for fifteen people. We watched Bridesmaids and Daddy Daycare on the way home, which we all partially slept through. We sorrowfully said goodbye to our last planned weekend as a whole group, but knew we still had some more adventures to come.