Tuscany, Pisa, & Florence

Before moving here, I only dreamed of going to Tuscany and staying in a Medieval village surrounded by vineyards, olive orchards, and beauty.  I can tell you, my friends, on this trip.....I got to experience it.  There’s this little western Pennsylvania country girl inside of me that ran barefoot all throughout the country any day that it wasn’t snowing.....she wakes up and she sighs in relaxation once she gets out of the hustle and bustle of city life and views rolling hills.  I feel like I’m more of a city girl after all these years......I love the constant buzz of things going on, things to do, shows to see, events to attend, and an international airport nearby.  I’m not that country girl anymore, but I relax down to my soul in the country.  If you ever plan to see Florence, Firenze in Italiano, please do yourself a favor and stay at a vineyard like this one. Don’t stay in the city.  
 
The Chianti Region of Tuscany
With my mama still in town, we decided to drive to Tuscany.  We have a small car, so we were rather cramped on the drive, but we saved a ton on train tickets.  We were also able to stay at a vineyard away from a train station, since we had the car. If we had taken the train, we would have ensured that the place we stayed was near a train station in order to train into Pisa and Firenze. Tuscan wine is named by region and also by type of grape.  We stayed in the Chianti region of Tuscany in an adorable resort called Tenuta di Artimino.  This resort is perfect for couples or families and is located smack dab between Pisa and Florence.  Either city is about an hour away with Pisa to the west and Florence to the east. There is a main building with hotel rooms, a restaurant, a pool, a bar, and the front desk.  Then, about 1/4-1/2 mile down the road, with vineyard on both sides, is a medieval village with apartments, a sandwich shop, two other restaurants, a wine store, and another pool.  It’s cobblestone everywhere and panoramic views for days.  We stayed in the apartments.  The food at this resort was knock-your-socks-off incredible. The farms here get their food locally and the food is made fresh daily from the ingredients picked locally. 

I must tell you about the Florentine Steak. Italy is very proud of her regions. Different foods come from different regions in Italy. That region is always very proud of their specialties. For example, Napoli is in the Campania region and is known for Buffalo Mozzarella, Margherita pizza, Pasta Genovese, and much more.    Tuscany, most notably Florence, is known for this incredible Florentine steak among other dishes. The Florentina must include a porterhouse cut between a sirloin and the tenderloin. It’s sold by the weight in the restaurant, it’s thick as hell, and it’s fresh. They usually bring the meat out for you to inspect before they cook it. You cannot get Florentine steak well done.....it’s just too thick of a steak!  You have to be okay with blue, rare, medium rare steak.....at least in the middle. My husband ordered one....they brought out the raw meat and he looked at me like he was in heaven. Hahaha He shared this steak with all 3 of our boys.  I know, I’m a party pooper; I don’t like rare steak AT ALL!!  I ate some of the outside of the steak and it was incredible. One of our boys actually ate the meat off the bone afterwards, yup, just like a caveman.
​The wine.......I could go on for days about the wine. If you ever have the opportunity to go to a wine tasting in Europe, it always starts with a white wine or Rose.  Then, they give you the younger, red wine made of grapes that haven’t been aged in an oak barrel, then they give you the oak barrel aged wine, then finally, their reserve wine that has usually been aged the longest and is the prized wine of the vineyard. The wine in Chianti is medium bodied, full of flavor, and is of incredible quality. My husband and I sighed at every first sip.  My mom is more of a sweet wine drinker.....Tuscan wine is not sweet, unless it is a dessert wine.  She enjoyed the Prosecco more (I know, I think she’s part alien, too). 
 
Since my mom is not a big Tuscan wine drinker, she watched the kiddos so that we could get a personal lesson and wine tasting with a Sommelier. Thanks mom. =)  We had a wonderful time.  It was amazing to get a lesson on the region, the different types of wine and grapes, what the colors of the wine mean when tilted in the light, and we had each tasting with a complimenting fruit, meat, or cheese with each different wine.  We learned about their certification process (DOCG versus DOC for you wine geeks like me out there), where Tuscan wine originated from.......and we drank wine. Really, really freaking good wine. It was a blast and included a lot of giggling.

Wine Tasting Lesson with a Sommelier

Enjoying the view from the pool

Florentine Steak Raw

Florentine Steak, Cooked

​Pisa
The next morning, we drove to Pisa, which was only an hour west of our resort. Pisa has a cathedral with a duomo (dome), a monument, another church or two, a park, the leaning tower, and that’s pretty much it. We knew this going in and figured we’d see one of the towns on the way back to the resort and have a chill day. Taking photos with the leaning tower are a ton of fun. We each took turns holding up the tower, smiling, laughing, and being goofy. In truth, it leans less in person than I thought.  
 
***Travel tip: In order to see the Cathedral and/or the Duomo, you actually have to have a reservation.  We did not know this, so learn from us!  We only came and saw the leaning tower, took our pics, bought some cheesy leaning tower glasses and souvenirs, and left.  
 
One our way back, we took a different route and stopped in a town called Lucca.  We ate at a restaurant where I had a delicious Pistacchio (pistachio in English) Ravioli.....I have an obsession with Pistacchios.  Lucca happened to be having an antique market that day!!!  I’m not big on antiques, but European antiques are SOOO cool and my little ones found a bin of comic books in English!  If we had the room in our trunk for anything other than wine and our luggage, I would’ve loaded up.  The curse of the small European car bites me in the butt!  If you ever get a chance to hit up an antique market in Europe, do it. There are SO many cool things. 
 

The hubs and I

Pisa Cathedral

Pistacchio Ravioli

My Mom and the Boys

​Florence aka Firenze
We left our hotel early in the morning to get as much time in Florence as possible. 
Florence is much smaller than Rome and it is possible to see a lot in one day, although I feel that Florence does need a day or two longer to give the city its full justice. Firenze is the birthplace of the renaissance. I fell IN LOVE with the architecture, statues, and style of the renaissance. It’s so unique and grand and special. 
 
The Cathedral de Santa Maria del Fiore is the most impressive and unique cathedral I have ever seen!!!!  The duomo stands out above the city, making Florence easily recognizable in any photo just by the dome! Construction on this cathedral started in 1296 and Brunnelleschi designed the dome. We did not make reservations in advance for the Cathedral de Santa Maria del Fiore, so we had to wait in line for about 30 minutes to gain entrance. The outside of this cathedral is so vibrant....it’s creamy white color is enhanced and accented by hues of pink and green to give a very impressive look and is dotted with columns, unique design, and statues. I guarantee that the moment you lay eyes on this cathedral, you WILL catch your breath. It’s truly that impressive.  Inside the cathedral, the marble continues with the impressive design and accented colors. The soaring columns give the feel of endless space and the paintings on the ceiling are full of biblical drama, with the stories of the bible brought to life.  Can you tell I was impressed?  

​***Insider tip:  In order to enter most (if not all) cathedrals in Italy, it is required that a woman’s shoulders and knees are covered. They usually have little cloths at the entrance for you to cover yourself up by wrapping one around as a skirt and another as a shawl.  As you leave, there is a pile for you to discard the borrowed cloths.
 
From there, we made it to our second bucket list item in Firenze....Michaelangelo’s statue of David. We quickly gained admittance to see the statue with no line and I believe it was €12/adult and the kids were free. David is in a museum called the Galleria dell’Accademia.  This museum is full of incredible art and David has his very own room in the museum with a skylight shining down upon him to give him the best light possible. In all my life, I’ve never seen a single statue gain the crowds and crowds of people that David does. It’s SO incredible to see people in this day and age appreciating art and history. Our boys didn’t see it as a big of deal as we did, but did gaze up on the statue with appreciation. Seeing it in person, I felt that one hand was disproportionate to David’s body, but it only appeared that way when I stood at a certain angle.  The chisel of this body, the look on his face, all of it was like seeing the bible come to life. Incredible.  I’m going to be honest, there’s a TON of art in this museum that is very impressive. It was worth every penny to see the renaissance art and character of the time revealed in the art at this museum.  

David

​We walked over the Ponte Vecchio bridge to check out the shops and we admired the sculptures at the Piazza della Signoria.  We walked as much of the city as we could and didn’t find anyone trying to haggle for money or pulling off elaborate schemes.  Florence was void of the insanity of Rome and Pisa. I’m not sure if they have different laws or what, but it was a welcome break!  
 
**Travel tip:  Many Italian cities have ‘cheap eats’ which come in the form of small sandwich shops on the street. Our family (of 6, including mama) ate lunch, drank soda, & had 2 glasses of vino for under €25 and it was delicious and easy to eat on the go.  I had a sandwich with spicy salami and cream cheese. It was perfetto!  Sometimes, the city has a law where you’re not supposed to sit on the steps and eat the sandwiches or loiter nearby, but we always find a way to get away with it. It’s kind of a silly rule if you ask me.

Spicy Salami & Cream Cheese Panino

I Fratellini in Florence. A 'cheap eats' sandwich & wine shop

My husband and I with the Ponte Vecchio bridge in the background

Dramatic Sculptures at Piazza Della Signoria

The last morning of our trip, we spent more time at the pool at our resort in Tuscany, purchased some crates of wine from the vineyard, and purchased sandwiches, to go, from the medieval village we stayed in.  This sandwich shop was a flippin jem. This old couple made our sandwiches with such love, all while their hands were shaking with age.  They smiled the whole time and gave us a culinary masterpiece.....I had a roasted pork Panino with Italian roasted red peppers, and onions. I still remember how delicious that sandwich was.  I’m such a foodie and I especially love when I can tell someone put their heart in their cooking!  After receiving our amazing Panino, we headed back to Napoli. The Tuscan region spoiled us rotten with equal doses of art, food, wine, adventure, and relaxation.  I truly can’t wait to go back.

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