Tuscany Trip

Bonjourno friends!

We just returned from an all day trip we took called "the best of Tuscany". I found it as the number 3 on the list of things to do in Florence on trip advisor and Adam and I both couldn't agree more! Before this trip I didn't realize that Tuscany is not a city....in fact it's a region. We would relate it to a state back in the US. Florence is considered part of it too. Today on the tour we went to Siena, a Tuscan Winery, San Gimignano, and Pisa. We traveled by coach bus and met an incredible mix of people across English speaking countries (it was an English tour), many of them from the US.

Siena is a very cute small Tuscan city, set atop a hillside. Here we wandered with a guide through the narrow streets learning about the proud people and culture, the banking tradition, and their famous horse race that takes place in the town square (the race was on the James Bond Quantum of Solace). We also visited their beautiful Cathedral that featured work from Michelangelo. The Italian (and all Europeans) are spoiled with these incredible cathedrals;I never get tired of looking at them. Next, we headed to a Tuscan winery where we did a short wine tour and then had a 5 course traditional Italian meal for lunch....with of course unlimited wine and an incredible view of the Tuscan winieries. :) The meal started off with a grilled bread with olive oil and sea salt. Next course was fresh pasta ragu (meat sauce). Third course was salad. Forth course was a selections of Italian cured meats and cheeses. Then finally we had dessert....and every course was of course paired with wine and bread and olive oil. God bless Italy. Haha

Next we headed to the very small Tuscan town of San Gimignano. I think it's only about 6000 people total. It is a very quaint town where we split up and Adam and I found ourselves just slowly wandering down the cute streets and starring at the breathtaking views of the Tuscan Countryside. At one point I told Adam it could be right of a jar of pasta sauce back home. :) Of course we also sampled some Gelato here (pistachio by Darcie's request and she was right...delicious!). Our final stop of the trip today was Pisa. Pisa is obviously known for the leaning tower of Pisa. Adam and I were both completely shocked at how much it is truly leaning! The best part of the story is that apparently when they were building this tower they realized that it was accidentally leaning and decided to try and fix the mistake. Upon trying to fix it they actually pushed it to the opposite side where it rests today. Today they are probably excited about it seeing as it put Pisa on the map. Outside of the leaning tower we took a short tour of Pisa as well and it's another very cute Italian town that is occupied by many students (50% of the population).

Upon returning from the trip around 8pm we went and grabbed some more pasta and wine for dinner and we are about to crash! What a great day it was, with so many great new people! Adam and I agreed that it was one of our favorite days of all time.

Tomorrow morning we plan to go see the statue of David and then tomorrow afternoon we are taking a train to Venice so we are very excited!

Ciao friends and family! Much love from Italy.
Shelby

Ps Happy Birthday to Adams Mom Nancy!