Our European Adventure, Part 3 - Tuscany: Pisa & Florence!

It's funny. As I said in my last Europe blog, Tuscany was my absolute favorite place of the trip. Strangely though, when asked what the worst place of the trip was, the answer would also be located within Tuscany. Where is that, might you ask? That would have to be Pisa.

Pisa
I'll never forget...the street sellers chasing us through the parking lot

After leaving the castle in Chianti, we began our drive to Florence. Before arriving in Florence, however, we decided to detour to Pisa. As we passed Florence and got on the tollway for Pisa, we accidentally drove through the wrong toll lane. At the time, we didn't know what that meant. Were we going to be chased after by the Italian police for not paying the toll? Were we going to get a ticket? We really had no idea what to expect. As we kept driving, nothing happened and we relaxed. When we got to the toll exit, we tried to go through the correct lane but suddenly realized what we did wrong: we never got a tollway ticket to insert into the machine. Whoops. As we tried to insert money, and it wouldn't accept it, a bunch of cars began pulling up behind us. Finally, Gwith pushed the help button and luckily the person on the line spoke English. They explained that since we didn't have the ticket, we would be charged €25 on our credit card. After numerous honks from the row of cars behind us, we were finally let through.

As we continued our drive, Gwith realized the gas meter was running lower and it was time to stop at a gas station. Unfortunately for us, we had no idea how to use the self service station, or which gas we needed. A friendly Italian motorcyclist came over to us and tried to help as best he could. He didn't speak English but he was able to point out which type of gas our car used. After he left, Gwith fiddled with the machine until he finally figured out how to use it. I took the opportunity of this stop to use the restroom at the station. The people in the store were really creepy and I was glad to get out of there quickly. Or at least as quickly as I could. I couldn't figure out how to use the bathroom key! It wouldn't turn, no matter how much I tried...and when I finally got it, I was almost stuck in the bathroom for good!

In retrospect, the creepy people should've been a warning for Pisa! When we arrived, we drove into a parking lot surrounded by street sellers. We kept driving towards the back of the lot to get away from them but as we parked, we could see one walking towards the car. We got out as quickly as we could. Unfortunately, we couldn't avoid him. We managed to continue walking, ignoring his efforts for conversation, and zigzagged our way out of the parking lot, past a large group of other street sellers. Once we were at the Leaning Tower of Pisa, it was cool. We had our fun taking photos with the tower and watching hundreds of other tourists doing the same. Was it worth the photo? Maybe. Maybe not. Basically, I'm glad I went because now I'll never how the urge to do it again. Before we left, we went into the McDonald's to use the restroom. To actually use it though, Gwith had to buy food to get the bathroom code. He wasn't exactly excited to eat McDonald's, because as he said, it tastes the same pretty much everywhere. Once we got back to the parking lot, Gwith stopped at the machine to pay. While we were standing there, the street seller approached us again, trying to sell us sunglasses. Gwith looked at him and told him he didn't need a pair. The man responded, "You have money for parking. You can buy these sunglasses." Gwith continued to shake his head and refuse. I clutched my purse and we walked back to the car, with the street sellers following behind. We were so relieved to get back into the car and leave for Florence!

Florence
I'll never forget...the amazing wines of Chianti

Our first night in Florence, we wandered to a local restaurant to eat dinner. Our dinner was mediocre but the real highlight was randomly meeting a couple from New York who knew an acquaintance of Gwith's from Auckland! It's crazy how small of a world it really is.

The hotel itself was quite strange. We stayed at Hotel Silla, and we're still convinced it was once a hospital and we were staying in the psychiatric ward. There were numerous alarming factors that led us to this conclusion. First of all, the layout of the Hotel screamed hospital. Secondly, the lock on the bathroom door had been removed. Thirdly, there was a public restroom in the corridor. Fourthly, there was a gate in front of the many steps to get down to our floor. Still not convinced? Here are some pictures:

Aside from the weird hotel layout, the people working there were at least friendly and I was pleased with how many gluten free options they provided me for breakfast!

The next morning, we headed out for our wine tour! We were thrilled to find out the tour guide was an American, only because we could actually understand her throughout the tour! Our tour group was full of very nice people as well and it was all around just a great, relaxing day. From the moment our tour begin, I could see Gwith's face light up with excitement. As our guide taught us about Chianti and the wines, I could practically feel Gwith soaking up every last bit of information.

The view from the second winery.

The first winery we visited had some of the best wines we had ever tasted. We ended up buying a bottle of the white wine, and in retrospect, I wish we had bought a bottle of our favorite red as well! We did take a picture of the bottles however, and got a information sheet for supplying the wines in our restaurant, Aroha. We are really hoping we will be able to provide some of these delicious wines! I could go on and on just about the wines but I can't forget the amazing cheeses and olive oil as well. I can not thank our guide enough for explaining the differences between real olive oil and the handful of fake olive oils sold in the USA. It was an eye opening experience for me and convinced me to find truly pure olive oils back home. It's appalling how many brands label themselves as "pure olive oil" but still use a mixture of olive oil and canola. Ironically, while Italian brands sold in Italy cannot get away with this, a large amount of the Italian brands exported to the USA, do. Here's a helpful tip for finding olive oil: Besides researching the brands, a pure olive oil should give you a fiery sensation in the back of your throat while tasting it.

While touring the winery, we learned about the use of sulfites in wine. While most wines already have natural sulfites from the grape skin, the wines sent to the USA have additional artificial sulfites added to preserve the wine longer. It was amazing to discover the difference between drinking wine in Italy versus back home. We had no next day headaches or sleepiness. The alcohol content was also lower and therefore, far less affecting. As a huge lightweight who can't normally go beyond half a glass, I'm living proof of this. I tried multiple wines at the winery and found myself doing okay.

If the day wasn't already going well, our next stop made Gwith's trip complete. For lunch, we stopped at a butchery owned by famous butcher, Dario Cecchini. Besides being known for his skills and restaurants, he has also trained Gordon Ramsey and Jamie Oliver. Gwith was ecstatic when he got to meet him and take a picture with him. The real highlight though for him was the lard Dario made. It was creamy, buttery, and full of flavor. Seriously, Gwith is still talking about it even now. Ask him what the highlight of the trip was for him? He'll say "lard".

The following winery was absolutely beautiful. The surrounding scenery was breathtaking. While the wines at this location weren't nearly as good, we still enjoyed our time, nonetheless. Afterwards, our tour guide took us all to a small village to stretch our legs and walk around before heading back to Florence. There, Gwith and I wandered into a meat and cheese shop. Gwith's eyes widened with excitement when he saw all of the meat hanging from the ceiling. I, however, was most excited about the stonewalled cheese cave downstairs. It shouldn't be a surprise that we ended up buying some things while we were there!

Florence

After arriving back in Florence, we walked along the river during sunset to find Florence's most popular gluten-free restaurant, Ristorante Ciro & Sons. It also turned out to be Florence's most popular restaurant in general. People were lined up at the door just waiting to get in! We were starving but it was worth the wait in the end. I got to enjoy gluten-free garlic bread and lasagna, while Gwith had a seafood pizza. For dessert, we shared lemon sorbet which was served inside a lemon. We also overheard a very interesting and um, inappropriate, conversation at the next table. I would share it on here but it's not exactly PG-13 material. It's questionable if it even falls under an R rating.

The next day, we were ready to leave Florence. Florence on the other hand, wasn't quite ready for us to leave. As we pulled onto the main street in our rental car, we discovered all of the main roads were blocked off for a race. Needless to say, our GPS wasn't happy and didn't understand the circumstances. As we tried finding a way out of the city, we stopped to ask a police officer where to go. Unfortunately, he didn't speak English well and directed us backwards. As we continued driving around confused, we found another police officer to ask who luckily spoke some English. She directed us on how to leave the city. Of course, this didn't stop the GPS from trying to tell us to turn around every chance it got. We thought detouring in LA was a challenge. Nothing beats trying to detour in a foreign city!

Quick Tips for Tourists Going to Pisa and Florence

• Don't go to Pisa.

• Okay. Go to Pisa if you really want the photo but please go with a group, and preferably, on a tour bus.

• Also, clutch your things while walking around Pisa and don't talk to strangers...unless they're tourists taking photos of each other.

• Stock up on Gluten-Free snacks in Florence, if you're GF of course! They have hundreds of tasty treats sold in the pharmacies.

• Do a wine tour and do it with this company, Tuscan Wine Tours. You won't regret it.

• My husband would not be please if I didn't write this, so I have to: try the lard.

• If you're gluten-free, going to Ristorante Ciro & Sons is a must. Be smarter than us though! Make reservations in advance if you'd like a gluten-free pizza. They need 24 hours notice. Most likely so the dough can rise to it's fluffy delicious self, like the pizzeria in Rome.

• Walk along the river at sunset. It's beautiful.

Next up on my European Adventure blogs: why Venice and Disneyland have similar qualities and why Milan is AMAZING and my husband should keep me away next time...

Our European Adventure Blogs

Part 1: Chicago & Rome!

Part 2: Tuscany - Our Drive to Chianti!

Part 3: Tuscany - Pisa & Florence! (Now Reading)
Part 4: Venice & Milan! (Coming Soon)

Part 5: Switzerland - Zurich & Lucerne (Coming Soon)

Part 6: The Magic of Paris (Coming Soon)
Part 7: Why the Hilton in Belgium Can't Get Customer Service Right (Coming Soon)

Our European Adventure, Part 2 - Tuscany: Our Drive to Chianti!

If someone were to ask me where my favorite place on the trip was, it would hands down be in Tuscany. Away from all of the tourist infested areas and amongst the beautiful vineyards, you find yourself in an incredibly relaxing oasis.

Instead of taking the trains, we decided to rent a car and take the road trip of a lifetime as we drove from Rome to Lido di Tarquinia, Siena, Gaiole in Chianti, Pisa, Florence, Bologna, and Venice!

Lido di Tarquinia and Siena Memories
I'll never forget...driving through a private community and the wacky GPS

From the B&B in Rome, we had a taxi driver take us to the airport to pick up our rental car. For some reason, the driver could not figure out where the Hertz pickup was and dropped us off at a random, empty spot at the airport, and told us to squeeze down the almost nonexistent sidewalk to get to the elevator. Well, we got to the elevator and surprise, surprise. It was the janitor's elevator. After looking around confused, we decided to keep walking towards the main terminal. As we approached, we saw the actual elevator leading up to the Hertz dealership.

Luckily for us, Hertz accidentally gave away the cheap Volvo we had paid for...so somehow, we ended up with the brand new Audi A5 with only 10 kilometers on the clock. Gwith was ecstatic! Along with the car, we also paid to rent a GPS. As it turned out, the Audi was one of the few cars they had already equipped with a GPS. We sat in the car and tried to figure out how to use it. First, I had to figure out how to change it to English which was surprisingly not an easy task! Even more shocking, was once I changed the language setting, we still couldn't figure out how to use it. Gwith started using a weird method of manually locating a random place on the map and selecting it. With this method, it didn't give us any instructions and I had to keep turning the dial just for it to track us! We selected Grosetto since it was half way to where we needed to go. As we left the parking lot, we stopped at a stop sign and the car shut off. I can safely say we will never buy a car that shuts off every time you stop. Because Gwith couldn't figure it out right away, he had to turn the car off and start it back up again. For the next few days, every time Gwith stopped, he would leave plenty of space between the cars so he could roll forward every few seconds!

As we drove out of Rome, we saw the beautiful farming landscape. It was great to leave the hustle and bustle of the city and really explore the rural country. FYI, driving in Italy is a very interesting and different experience, even for us LA drivers! Apparently it is entirely acceptable to drive between two lanes, as well as honk twice if you want to pass the slow poke in front of you...and amazingly, they will politely switch lanes when you honk!

At the private beach

One hour into the drive, we somehow decided to get brave and detour off the highway and search for the beach. We ended up in a small beachside community called Lido di Tarquinia. We are still pretty convinced it was a private community that we accidentally drove through. Why? Mostly because it was gated and as a car went through the gate, we just followed right along. Whoops. We realized after the fact but decided to keep on driving through the cute suburban community. We stopped in a small lot and walked onto what was most likely a private beach. The water temperature was perfect. I don't know about the other coastal locations in Italy but I have to say, we are spoiled with the 17 Mile Drive in California. Nothing compares to it. Not yet, anyways. After our sneaky excursion, we jumped back onto the highway and continued as we passed Grosetto. Realizing we now had no destination on the GPS (and it kept telling us to turn around!), I decided to start fiddling with it as we continued on the highway. After many attempts, I finally figured it out and was able to add our castle destination! The GPS also started showing us the actual path we needed to take and listing the directions. We were so happy that we weren't going to be confused the next few days!

Roaming the streets of Siena

About an hour from the castle, we stopped in Siena for a walk around the medieval town. Finding parking was confusing but we finally figured it out, purchased a map, and walked around. The medieval streets really pull you back in time. It was awesome walking along the cobblestones. Supposedly, cars aren't allowed within the town, except for those staying at hotels, and yet there was a large amount of cars constantly driving down the streets! I really do wish they didn't allow any cars within the town. It would make it far more mysterious. While walking around, we stopped and bought some gelato and then continued to look around. As the clouds rolled in though, we realized it was time to head off. After all, we didn't want to end up in a storm while driving in a foreign country! Luckily, the clouds never actually opened up.

Gaiole in Chianti Memories
I'll never forget...the beautiful Tuscan Castle

On the castle grounds - camera in the grass!

Arriving at the Castello di Spaltenna felt like arriving into a fairytale. Before we even got there, we were just surrounded by miles and miles of vineyards. The castle and its surrounding grounds took our breath away. It was a beautiful oasis in the middle of Tuscany and we couldn't believe we were only there for one night! We honestly did consider canceling our next hotel just to stay longer.

Gwith hung the camera from a tree knob!

Our room was lovely. It included an enclosed stone wall balcony and the most heavenly memory foam bed you could ever sleep on. Looking out the window, all you could see were the rolling hills for miles and down below, the fresh herb garden for the restaurant. After settling in, we headed out of the room to explore the endless grounds. As we wandered around and took photos, we had to get creative with the camera! At one point, Gwith even hung the camera from a tree knob and set it on the timer! The photo turned out fantastic! Who knew a tree could be such a great couples photographer? The other crazy spots he placed the camera on included one of the rolling hills, as well as a ledge with a water well on the other side. Somehow, the camera made it through all of our crazy antics and we ended up with some amazing photographs.

After our photofest, we wandered to the bar, which was located in an old stone cellar. Gwith got a red wine made by at the vineyard and I got a white wine. I'm not much of a red wine drinker (or at least I wasn't until this trip!), but even I thought the red wine he had tasted amazing. It was so relaxing sitting in the courtyard sipping our glasses of wine. The next morning, after the greatest night's sleep of our entire lives, I had a massage at the castle's spa. The castle was the most relaxing part of our entire trip. I still can't believe we were only there for one night! We will definitely be returning one day!

Quick Tips for Tourists Driving Through Tuscany

• The Italian drivers are insane - they drive between two lanes, they speed, and expect you to move to the next lane if they want to pass you.

• Drive like an Italian and you'll surprisingly feel a lot safer.

• Pay attention to the signs - certain signs warn you about upcoming speed traps (in Italian, of course!).

• There are toll booths everywhere. Make sure you go through the correct lane and grab the ticket otherwise you'll be charged through the roof!

• Staying in a castle is a must.

• Get creative with your camera but seriously, don't sue me if it breaks. I still think we got lucky...

• Visit Siena if you like medieval towns. It's awesome.

• Close your eyes. Relax. Open your eyes. Take in the amazing location you're in. No matter where you are in Tuscany, it's most likely the most beautiful place you'll ever be.

Next up on my European Adventure blogs: Why Pisa was terrifying and our wine tour from Florence was amazing! Plus: Detouring in a foreign country with a crazy GPS, is not all it's cracked up to be.

Our European Adventure Blogs

Part 1: Chicago & Rome!

Part 2: Tuscany - Our Drive to Chianti! (Now Reading)

Part 3: Tuscany - Pisa & Florence!
Part 4: Venice & Milan! (Coming Soon)

Part 5: Switzerland - Zurich & Lucerne (Coming Soon)

Part 6: The Magic of Paris (Coming Soon)
Part 7: Why the Hilton in Belgium Can't Get Customer Service Right (Coming Soon)