Under the Tuscan Sun

This past weekend we had a class trip to Tuscany. We visited the less discovered towns of Siena, Arezzo, and Asissi. They were all charming in their own ways.

Siena had a gigantic, sloping piazza in which you could lay down and just bask in the sun. It also had villages within the city (similar to Columbia, but Italian city style), each with their own coat of arms (caterpillar, goat, boar, etc.). Each year they have a horserace, or something to that effect, to compete for the "best village" title. I know you love my analogies. The picture to the right is of Siena's piazza and my wine glass. Natasha and I were sitting at a cute cafe's little ledge/balcony overlooking the square.

Afterwards we headed to Arezzo. The cool thing about this town is that on the first of every month there is an antique market that takes over the main street of the town. There were lovely trinkets, American class rings (lol clearly not an antique), and vintage YSL ties. I even saw an extremely old camera, used in the days before film was invented. It was a good price, but still out of my price range :( That day Natasha and I went to mass (in Italian of course), enduring the chilling temperature inside a church constructed around the 1400's. It is still used today of course, but it doesn't have central heating, like most of these ancient churches do. Little did we know that this same church has a very important fresco hiding behind the pulpit. The fresco depicted the story of the cross. Note that I said the story of the CROSS, not the story of Jesus, but rather how the cross came to be used for Jesus' death. Because, of course, only a special type of wood could be used for such a man.

Ps: A fresco is a form of painting in which the artists paints over wet concrete so that the image is actually preserved inside the wall.


From Arezzo we went to the highlight of the trip: wine tasting! We drove about an hour to Castello del Trebbio. This is a real castle that was owned by the Pazzi family in the medieval/renaissance period. The Pazzi family was the 2nd most influential (wealth and power) family in the region, second to the Medici family. The Medici family was first because they had the political influence that the Pazzi's didn't. So, one day the Pazzi's were sick of being 2nd and they developed a plot to assissinate the two most important Medici brothers. However, this was tricky business because the Medici's were never seen together since it was too dangerous. The only time they were all together in one place was on Sunday's at church. The Pazzi's decided to use that opportunity to assissinate the brothers. So one day during Sunday mass, the assassin went in and managed to kill one of the brothers. The other managed to escape. Everyone was in an outrage--how dare the Pazzi's try to kill someone inside a church!? The surviving Medici brother went on to wipe out the entire Pazzi family, sparing no one. He confiscated the castle that is now used by the current family living there. How did this family acquire the castle you may ask?

Interesting story:

The name of the woman who owns the vineyard and castle is Anna. Her father was a very wealthy and successful business man, but was also a widow who had no children and lived a very lonely and unhappy life. One day, while on a train, her father met Anna's mother. At the time her mother was 20 years old and her father was 60. They fell madly in love, got married, and had five children. As you can imagine, Anna's father was now a very happy man. To thank his young wife, he bought her this castle (4o rooms, a courtyard, and acres and acres of land). Anna's mother was a stay-at-home mom, but she wanted something extra to occupy her time. So, she started a vineyard that produces wine and olive oil. Anna's parent's have both died (her father by natural causes and her mother in a car accident), and Anna has kept the tradition. She bought out her siblings in order to be in charge of such a big responsibility.



Another intersting thing is that Anna and her family (1 husband and 3 kids) actually LIVE in this castle...every day! We got a tour of their home; well, the family rooms on the first floor, and their wine cellar. Anna prepared some apperitivo for us, like bruschetta and patte using her olive oil, to accompany our wine tasting. We sampled two chianti (one light-body chianti and one full body) and a white wine (I bought 2 light body chianti, 1 white wine, and bottle of olive oil). We also sampled a very strong desert wine--bitter and sweet taste--in which we dipped biscotti.


At the castle they also offer vacation packages, using private, neighboring villas, as well as wedding services. Yes, I'm already wondering how long the waiting list is to start preparing for my wedding. It was such a lovely experience and I want to do it again. Someone please come visit me so I can take you!




The next day we visited Asissi (pic above). This town was my favorite out of all three. It is the quintessential, Italian town. We got a lot of exercise because it is all on a hill, but well worth it. We visited the Basilica of St. Frances (below), Church of St. Clara, and had lunch. I tried rabbit and pig cheek. Very exciting lol






So that's what I did in Tuscany. This weekend I'm off to Milan!