Under the Tuscan Sun

Sunday I took my first trip away from Rome. It was awesome, aside from a little motion-sickness that was the result of the bus ride (for some reason those fancy charter buses, where you ride really high, make me queasy). We drove for a couple of hours through the Italian countryside, which very scenic indeed. It reminded me of Kansas, from when I used to live there. There where wheat fields (mostly already harvested), several sunflower fields, hay bales everywhere, and that kind of thing. It's not as flat as Kansas, of course, because we're near the Appenine Mountains; the medieval stone buildings on every hilltop aren't reminiscent of the Midwest either, but still. :) I was kind of surprised to see how sparsely populated this area of the country is. When I think of Europe in general I think of people all squished together, living practically on top of each other because there's not enough land. But Italy obviously has miles and miles of rural areas with only a few farmhouses here and there. It was nice to see.

Our first stop was at a little hilltop town called Pienza. Unlike pretty much every other Tuscan town, Pienza does not have a medieval look. It was remodeled during the Renaissance under the direction of Pope Pius XII, who was from there, so it has a very Renaissance look to it. It is seriously the cutest little town I've ever laid eyes on. The people there, who are really sweet and friendly, keep it immaculately clean, and there are little flower pots everywhere...wandering up and down the little streets, stopping at the shops, I just fell in love. I would totally live there. It was wonderful! And the entire town is surrounded by its medieval-period wall, which you can walk down and enjoy a breathtaking view of the gorgeous Tuscan countryside. It's like heaven on earth. It even smells good: you can smell cheese (from the wine and cheese shop) or flowers everywhere you go. :) I bought a couple of postcards that I'm not going to send: they're going to go on my wall when I get home!

After leaving Pienza, we drove for a little while and stopped at another little hilltop town called Montepulciano. This town is known for its cheese and wine. While we were there, we visited a wine cellar called Città Sottereano, which means Underground City. It had a tiny little entrance, but a huge underground maze was underneath it, dating to the fifteenth century. There they showed us where they kept the wine in huge oak barrels, aging it for at least two years before they bottle and sell it. Then they let us sample the wines (there were many kinds) and cheese and salami and biscotti. I liked most of it, except for the dessert wine. Blergh. I bought a bottle of red wine (the best wine I've ever had in my life...although that's not saying a whole lot, lol) and a bottle of white wine, along with a small piece of "walnut and laurel leaves" cheese (aged one year, they tell me) and a bottle of olive oil. All the finer things, eh?

After our long stop at the wine cellar, we all loaded up and drove over to a little restaurant on the top of yet another hill. This restaurant is run by a Tuscan lady and her 18 grandchildren. They treated us to a 4 course meal plus dessert. It was great. The view was terrific, and the food was awesome, including the wine, which happened to be the red wine I had just purchased. Oooh, it breaks my heart that I only bought one bottle. But anyway, I loved it. I think I'm perfectly suited to Italian dining, because I'm such a slow eater. The rest of the girls with me were stuffed by the end of the first course, but I eat so slowly that I never finished anything before the waiters started taking away our plates and bringing the next course. By the time we were finished, I was just comfortably full. :) I love Italy. For those who are interested, the meal went as follows:

1.) Toast topped with fresh tomato slices, with some sort of amazing seasoning on top. I normally can't stand fresh tomatoes, but this was awesome.

2.) Spaghetti, I guess. It had spaghetti-type noodles, but they were a lot thicker than any spaghetti I've had in the States. The sauce was of course incredible.

3.) Fettucine in a mushroom sauce. Heck yeah.

4.) Cheese, prosciutto, and salami.

5.) Biscotti with dessert wine (I refused the dessert wine--eww--and stuck with the dinner wine)

After lunch we just headed back to Rome, getting stuck in traffic on the way. We ended up seeing most of the World Cup game, though (see below). It was overall just an amazing day. And as much as I loved being out, I was soo happy to see Rome again. It's become a home away from home. Who cares if it's occasionally dirty, stinky, or covered with graffiti? I love it here.

In parting, here are some pics:

The "road of love" in Pienza. Awww.

That's me, standing in one of Pienza's main streets, with the town hall in the background. Isn't it the cutest town you've ever seen? I didn't doctor this photo, honest.


Dude, that's a big barrel of wine. I couldn't afford it and had to settle for a bottle.


This is the view from my seat at the restaurant. Seriously. It's not a painted wallpaper backdrop, it's real. Tuscany is so beautiful.

That's all for now! Love you all!