Right after Easter, our little family took a trip to Venice and Tuscany. We'd been really looking forward to warmer weather and Italian food, and overall, we did get that great experience.
But a post about the trip just isn't completely honest if we don't discuss The Incident in Venice.
Ever since traveling to Venice in college, I knew I always wanted to go back with Colin. Its such a romantic city! And why not go with little Ellie in tow too? It all seemed perfect. After a long day of traveling (a flight to Bologna, a train to Venice, a water taxi to Lido where we were staying), we all napped at the hotel and went out to dinner.
That night Colin woke up sick. Then I was sick. We were literally hit with something TERRIBLE - vomiting and the works! None of us slept - poor Ellie was so tired (but fortunately not sick herself)! Oh it was awful.
I never left the hotel room in Venice after our first dinner, except to get back on the water taxi and leave Venice. Fortunately, Colin managed to muster up some strength and get to see San Marco. Hence our lack of photos from Venice!! At least our water taxi ride to Lido was through the Grand Canal and we got to see a lot of the sites from the water, which was fun!
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| Rialto Bridge is behind us |
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| Ellie loved watching the water |
Although it took us a few days to recover, our time in Tuscany totally made up for the time lost in Venice. By day 3, tasting wine again sounded appealing and it was just in time - we needed to try all the Chiantis, the Nobile from Montepulciano and the Brunello from Montalcino!
We started our trip by staying at a gorgeous Agriturismo outside of Pienza. It was just what we needed - peaceful, bucolic, a delicious restaurant included, and a nice apartment to ensure we could all get some rest!
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| Agriturismo La Fonte outside Pienza |
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| Enjoying a delicious dinner at the Agriturismo La Fonte - the cheese plate with local pecorino was fabulous! |
We toured the little town of Pienza...
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| Ellie's fave street in Pienza |
We loved our day trip to Montepulciano and wine tasting in the cellars at Contucci - they were in the town's 14th Century walls!
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| Unfinished facade of the Cathedral |
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| Happy Traveler. Obviously, the weather was not that warm! |
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| Just tasting a few wines. I think it was hardly noon. :) |
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| Outside the Church of Madonna di San Biagio consecrated in 1529. |
We checked out the Fortezza in Montalcino...
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| Ellie loves the carrier. She chirped and blew spit bubbles the whole time she was in there. |
After staying in Pienza, we made our way up to San Gimignano. We had booked a wine tasting and lunch pairing at a beautiful Agriturismo called Guardastelle. It did not disappoint. The Agriturismo was in the Tuscan hills surrounded by vineyards and with a gorgeous view of the bell towers of San Gimi. We had originally planned to head to Volterra and stay there for two nights. But while we loved touring Volterra, afterwards we made our way back to Guardastelle to stay another night with that view - it was just too special.
Oh and during the wine tasting we also made bff with a couple who was staying there, so it didn't hurt that we spent a night drinking wine with them and hanging out in the main living room of the B&B while Ellie slept in our room. It was so fun! And the sun started shining then too... making up for the cold weather and The Incident in Venice.
Here are our pics from our first day in San Gimi and at Guardastelle for the wine tasting.
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| This place has won awards for its gelato. The chocolate was good, but still has nothing on our fave place in Florence! |
Then we headed to Volterra, which we loved walking around.
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| This Etruscan arch, the Porta all'Arco, dates back to the 5th Century. During WWII, the Volterrans were afraid the Nazi's would blow up the arch to slow the Allies, so they dug up stones nearby and filled the arch so it looked like it couldn't be used. |
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| Beautiful Roman baths and amphitheatre |
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| Snuggle time while looking at the beautiful views from Volterra |
And since we loved it so much, back to the agriturismo outside of San Gimignano!
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| We enjoyed basking in the sun with a little picnic. |
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| View from our room |
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| If only it was warm enough to swim! |
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| Ellie's ride vs Italian ride |
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| Final dinner overlooking the countryside. |
At this point we felt completely fulfilled by our Tuscan stay - we had great wine, food and weather. But as we made our way back to Bologna for our flight, we were so close to Chianti in Greve and Florence. How can you not make stops in those places when they are just minutes away? So we did!
At this wine tasting in Chianti in Greve, they have hundreds of wines available and you can pay just to taste a tiny bit - a fun way to try some more expensive wines!
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| What can we say? Ellie is a fast learner! |
And how can I be so lucky to get to go back to Florence - with Ellie and Colin?
We didn't have a lot of time to do much in Florence, but we did the priorities... walk past Pitti Palace and across the Ponte Vecchio to Piazza Signoria (it was cool to see the palace there again since it was modeled after very similar ones in Montepulciano and Volterra) and get the best gelato ever!
What a trip!
