Ciao for Now

Thanks for the most amazing two weeks!  We love you and miss you lots!

The end to another beautiful day on Lake Como

Our final stop on the Sherwood Family Italy Tour was gorgeous Lake Como. Linda found us a cozy apartment through the Albergo Milano in the small town of Varenna. Varenna could not have been more charming with its colorful waterfront buildings sprinkled with elegant villas and a tiny waterfront full of the fattest, healthiest and best looking ducks we had ever seen! Our stay in Varenna was immediately kicked off with a late afternoon aperitivo at the Hotel du Lac. Upon arriving, we had intended to take a longer stroll to explore the town, but the blackboard in front of Hotel du Lac boasting fresh white peach Bellinis on its perfect lake front deck was too much for us to resist.

Varenna

On the deck of Hotel du Lac	We couldn’t resist the Bellinis!

Leaves around the lake were showing signs of autumn	Views from our daily stroll along the lake

Lake Como

After our Bellini pit stop and some more strolling through the town, we got ready to head to dinner at the Ristorante La Vista at the Albergo Milano. We were treated to the most beautiful sunset over the lake from our table on the restaurant’s amazing terrace, and figured the view would be the best part of the night, but it got even better with a delicious meal and the “hotel cat,” Sashimi, who curled up in Linda’s lap during the meal.

It doesn’t get much better than this

Sunset over Varenna	Sunset over the lake

The view just kept getting better

Luckily there was a gelato store at the end of our street!

The next day we hopped on the ferry for a quick ride over to Bellagio, “the pearl of Lake Como.” I had great memories from a trip that I took to Bellagio in college and was so excited to make a return visit! Bellagio is pretty in every way…its steep narrow streets, panoramic views of the lake and perfectly landscaped trees and flowers. After spending the morning admiring the beautiful gardens of Villa Melzi, we had yet another delicious meal at Trattoria San Giacomo on one of Bellagio’s picturesque streets and topped it off with local microbrews and white wines at Aperitivo et Al.

Riding the ferry to Bellagio

Villa Melzi

The gardens of Villa Melzi	Villa Melzi’s “front patio” is not too shabby

Monument of Dante and Beatrice by Giambattista Comolli in the gardens

Tree and flower-lined path in Bellagio	View from our lunch spot in Bellagio

Big Jay and Johnny were happy to find a good Italian microbrew

We decided that for our final night with Jay and Linda in Lake Como, we should return to our two favorite spots – the terrace at Hotel du Lac and the Ristorante La Vista. The views and food just couldn’t be beat!

A final round of aperitivos at Hotel du Lac (we grew to be very fond of bright orange Aperol Spritzs!)

The stunning view from Ristorante La Vista was a perfect backdrop for our final evening with Linda and Jay

The next day we sadly saw Jay and Linda off at the train station. We could not have asked for a more wonderful two weeks with them, and we are so grateful that they were able to join us on part of our adventure!!

We spent the remainder of the day and the following day catching up on emails and the blog and researching the upcoming parts of our trip. We also completed the “golden triangle” on Lake Como and took the ferry to the town of Mennagio for lunch. On our way back from lunch, we were almost to our hotel when we heard “Johnny!” from across the street. Believe it or not, Johnny’s friends from San Francisco, Dennis and Robyn, were waving across at us…of all places to run into friends from home! Dennis and Robin now live in London and were on a weekend getaway with their Aussie friends, Linda and Philippe. They invited us to join them for dinner, so a few hours later we were all sitting together swapping travel stories (I think Dennis and Robyn have been EVERYWHERE, so we got some great travel tips for Turkey and South Africa) and having an awesome time! What a great way to spend our last night in Italy!!

Dinner with Dennis, Robyn, Linda and Philippe	So lucky to run into friends on our travels!

**The reason why we are cracking up in the group photo is because the cutest, oldest and smallest Italian man was taking our photo. It took a few attempts to show him how to use Johnny’s high tech camera, and when he finally got the button, with flash, pushed, the camera went on automatic timer mode, so he just held the camera for 15 seconds while the camera beeped and finally took the picture. It was pretty funny…he must have thought we were crazy!

So it is time to say ‘Arrivederci’ to Italy, as we make our way east to Turkey tomorrow! Our next update will be from Ephesus!

I’ve been struggling with how to communicate the wonder that is Venice through a blog post. Somehow my usual “amazing,” “beautiful,” “incredible,” and “awesome” adjectives wouldn’t seem to do the place justice. Then my mom nailed it…Venice is enchanting.

We rented an apartment (Ca’ Venexiana) surrounded on two sides by canals…like the coolest corner lot you can imagine…in Venice’s lesser-traveled Dorsoduro district, a quiet area of the city we came to love. It wasn’t uncommon to be enjoying a glass of wine in the kitchen while a gondolier rode right past the window. A truly magical spot. We spent most our days wandering aimlessly throughout the city, both on foot and by vaporetto, Venice’s water bus system. With our 24-hour vaporetto passes, we were able to cruise down the Grand Canal, hop off to explore whenever we wanted, and then hop back on for more cruising. If you’re ever in Venice, I highly recommend buying a vaporetto pass for the duration of your stay…it’s a perfect way to see the city.

Venice is, well, enchanting. Every twist and turn through its labyrinth of canals offers such unique beauty. Half of the time we felt like we were transported to the 14th century. The other half of the time we felt like extras in a James Bond movie. Venice also has its own unmistakable architecture, Venetian Gothic, characterized by Gothic lancet arches combined with Moorish and Byzantine influences.  Most definitely a city like no other.

The outdoor patio at our apartment

Where’s Waldo? (Hint: hanging out of our apartment)

Typical alley in Dorsoduro	Venetian Gothic

Wandering around the canals	Tiny bridges everywhere

Big Jay and Linda on Ponte dell’Accademia

Big Jay and Linda	Johnny and Anna

Ponte dell’Accademia	Piazza San Marco and Doge’s Palace from the vaporetto

Riding the vaporetto	Riding the vaporetto

You serious, Clark?

Walking home along the Zattere

When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie…

Riding the vaporetto at night	Wandering the chilly streets at night

When we weren’t purposefully getting lost all over Venice and spending time in favorite piazzas, Piazza San Stefano, Campo Santa Margherita and Piazza San Barnaba, we caught some of the city’s premier sites.  We spent a lot of time in Piazza San Marco, toured Saint Mark’s Basilica and rode to the top of Saint Mark’s Campanile.  The Sherwoods love food, so it’s no surprise that one of our favorite places to visit was the Rialto market, where locals have been coming to buy their fish and produce since 1097.  That’s a long time.  We also stumbled into some delicious and noteworthy restaurants for dinner, Osteria 1518 and Ristoteca Oniga.  Side note…check out the place my brother will be spending  the next three months training as a chef.  Villa Crespi, ooh la la.

Another highlight was taking the vaporetto to the island of Murano, famous for its glass making.  In the late 1200s, all glass making in Venice was moved to the island of Murano due to risk of fires from the furnaces.  Glass makers on the island who tried to leave were viewed as traitors and were assassinated to protect the secrets of their craft.  Needless to say, glass making on Murano is serious business.

Doge’s Palace	Saint Mark’s Basilica

Pigeon feeding in Piazza San Marco

Piazza San Marco	At the top of Saint Mark’s Campanile

View of Doge’s Palace from Saint Mark’s Campanile

Inside Saint Mark’s Basilica

Doge’s Palace and Saint Mark’s Basilica	Piazza San Marco at night

Ponte di Rialto from the vaporetto

Grand Canal from the Ponte di Rialto	Ponte di Rialto

Rialto produce market

Rialto fish market	Rialto fish market

Murano has its own beautiful canals

Anna and I have been in Western Europe for over four months now, and I’m embarrassed to say that occasionally the “wow” factor of being here wears off.  This old church looks a little like that other old church, this piazza like another piazza, this old building like that old building.  But then comes a city like Venice that totally sweeps you off your feet.  We’ll definitely be making a return trip one day.

Cheers Venice!

As most of you probably know, Cinque Terre is a series of five villages located in the Italian Riviera. Anna and I both have amazing memories of Cinque Terre from previous, separate trips, so needless to say we were thrilled to go back with my parents for a couple of days. While Cinque Terre is no longer “off the beaten path” and the tourists now far outnumber the fishermen, it’s still so beautiful that you have to pinch yourself every few minutes to make sure you’re not dreaming.

Manarola	Manarola

Ciao Mamma e Papa!

We based ourselves in the picturesque town of Manarola. I’ve probably used the word “picturesque” in every one of my blog posts, but this time I really mean it. After checking into our small hotel, we set out to walk the trail between Manarola and Riomaggiore, otherwise known as Via dell’Amore or “Lovers’ Lane.” Just like the Ponte Vecchio in Florence, walkers fasten locks and tag the walls wherever they can along the path to mark their love for each other. We didn’t partake in this tradition as we were lock-less and Sharpee-less, but we did continue the new Sherwood tradition of afternoon wine and bruschetta, this time at a wine bar perched over the sea at Riomaggiore. There was an unusually large swell in the water that sent waves crashing hard into the rocks, providing an amazing backdrop. That night we were treated to an incredible sunset before a mouth-watering meal at Trattoria dal Billy. Knowing that we had some serious hiking to do the next day, we carbo-loaded with some lobster and shrimp pasta, lemon and white chocolate cake and local Limoncino.

Our wine bar in Riomaggiore

Some wine…	…and bruschetta

Some other lovers already tagged the wall for us	Locks of love

Pre-dinner sunset

Lobster pasta at Trattoria dal Billy

Walking down to Trattoria dal Billy	Real men drink Limoncino

After a quick breakfast on day two, we headed out to explore each of the five towns. We couldn’t hike between Manarola and Corniglia because of some recent landslides, so we took the train between the two towns and then hiked from Corniglia to Vernazza. The scenery could not have been more beautiful and the weather could not have been more perfect. Still nursing some sore buns from our bike ride in Lucca, we took our sweet time on the trail. We had a great lunch at Gambero Rosso in Vernazza’s Piazza Marconi down by the sea (one of Anna’s happy places) before taking the train to Monterosso. After exploring that town (read: eating gelato on the beach) we made our way back towards Manarola for one final walk down Via dell’Amore. Another perfect sunset led to another great meal, and before we knew it our time in Cinque Terre had come to an end.

Hiking to Vernazza	View from the hike

Hiking into Vernazza	Check out the olive trees down by the water

Vernazza’s Piazza Marconi

More Vernazza	Lunch time in Vernazza

Vernazza

Check out all our Cinque Terre pics here.

Piazza dell’Anfiteatro

We were lucky to be in the beautiful town of Lucca for four days, but even luckier to be spending them with Jay and Linda!! We were overwhelmed with happiness to see Johnny’s parents when we met up with them outside of our beautiful little apartment in Lucca last week. The apartment was situated between a music school and an amazing garden full of cats, so we were constantly entertained by sounds of violins, pianos, flutes and harps streaming through our windows, and watching the 15 or so cats and kittens frolic in the garden below. We also had an unbelievable view of the Torre Guinigi which is easy to spot because of its tree-topped tower.

We had a private concert from the music school across the street every day

The garden out our apartment window	We had a perfect view of Torre Guinigi

Ciao!	Our neighbors were cats…around 15 of them!

I had a friend in college who was from Lucca, and he told me that it was the most beautiful town in Italy. I always thought he was exaggerating and had some serious local pride, but after spending time in his hometown, I actually think he might have been right. Lucca is a seriously picturesque spot that has a way of just making you feel good while you are inside its lofty walls.

Facade of Duomo di San Martino	Duomo di San Martino

Basilica of San Frediano

We spent our days wandering the pretty streets of Lucca, ducking in and out of stores, enotecas and gelaterias, and discovering new piazzas and churches around every corner, each more beautiful than the last. We also took advantage of the 4km wall surrounding the city. In perfect condition, the wall is like a floating park with tree-lined bike and walking paths, parks, cafes, picnic areas and breathtaking views of the surrounding mountains. The entire wall is also flanked by expanses of green rolling grass areas, complete with moats and bridges…basically a dog’s paradise.

Lucca’s tree-lined city walls

Our daily stroll along the walls	Looking down at the open market from the walls

More good times on the walls

Lunchtime at Ristorante Antico Sigillo	The lovely streets of Lucca

A view from the top of Torre Guinigi

Delicious dinner at Osteria Baralla

Salute!	Cin Cin!

After indulging in some delicious local cuisine and cruising the walls and colorful streets for a couple of days, we decided to kick it up a notch and take a bike tour through Tuscany Ride a Bike outside of town for a wine tasting and lunch at an organic farm. We met our fellow bikers from Kauai, Toronto, Houston, Louisiana and Michigan, and our Italian guide, Andrea, at around 9:30am and headed out towards the countryside. We were immediately in awe of the beautiful scenery around us as we pedaled on bike paths along a river, over bridges, past farms, wineries and small villages, finally reaching our winery, Terre del Sillabo, after a couple of hours. We were greeted by the friendly owner and plates of her fresh-baked, still warm focaccia bread and were led to the back patio surrounded by vineyards for our wine tasting.

Riding along the river	The intrepid bikers

We make it to the promise land

Terre del Sillabo Winery

Enjoying the vines	And the winery

Yum	Who needs Gatorade when you have wine?

Life is good

After three very large glasses of wine and a couple bottles to go, we hopped back on our bikes and headed for our farm, Agriturismo al Podele di Rosa. We were again warmly welcomed by the owner who showed us into his 300-year old farmhouse which was set with a family style table covered in plates of home-made local dishes made from home-grown ingredients. We spent another hour or so here, savoring every bite and every sip of wine and getting to know our fellow bikers. Needless to say, everyone was pedaling a bit slower on the way back from lunch, but luckily Andrea saved the shortest part of the ride for the way home, so we were back on Lucca’s green manicured walls before we knew it. A gelato cone on the walk back to our apartment created the perfect ending to an amazing day.

Our lunch spread at Agriturismo al Podele di Rosa

Food is a serious subject	Bike parking only at the farm

The Tour de Lucca ends on the city walls

We were sad to say goodbye to lovely Lucca, but excited to head to our next destination, Cinque Terre!

With a few days to spare after Brian and Marisa left and before we meet my parents in Lucca, Anna and I rented an apartment in San Gimignano.  A little over an hour bus ride from Florence, San Gimignano has been called Medieval Manhattan because of its tall towers located throughout the town.  The towers were built as symbols of power and wealth of the city’s medieval families, and 14 of the original 72 are still standing today.  Enough with the history lesson…San Gimignano is the Tuscany you see in paintings, postcards and your dreams.  It’s a picturesque little town full of piazzas made for long lunches and bottles of the local Vernaccia wine perched high up on a hill with views of vineyards for miles.  And in the morning before the tour buses come and in the afternoon when they leave, San Gimignano is heaven on earth.

Piazza della Cisterna at night

Piazza della Cisterna	Piazza del Duomo

Bell tower in Piazza del Duomo

Typical view in San Gimignano

Cooking in our apartment…chicken with lemon and capers	We made the meat sauce from our cooking class

View from the wine bar DiVinorum

One day when we weren’t tasting Vernaccia wine or popping in and out of San Gimignano’s numerous hand-painted ceramics shops, we went for a bike ride to the tiny town of San Lucia just a few kilometers away.  The owner of our apartment, Claudio, gave us the key to his garage so we could use his mountain bikes at any time.  Bonus!  After a couple hours of navigating the hilly region around San Gimignano, our legs and buns were spent, but we were rewarded with some great views.

View back towards San Gimignano

The leaves are starting to change colors

Doing some laundry out in the olive grove	Resting those legs

We also took a day trip to Siena, a place Anna and I had always wanted to see.  We hung out for a while in Siena’s main piazza, Piazza del Campo, which many believe is one of Italy’s best piazzas.  It seems like the entire town of Siena takes their lunch break on the sloping piazza, catching up on some sun and gossip.  Then we headed over to Siena’s impressive cathedral.  Being on a budget, we’re pretty picky about what sights we pay to see, but immediately upon entering the cathedral we knew it was money well spent.  The black and white walls and columns, the midnight blue dome and the “most beautiful floor in the world” make it a truly unique sight.  Afterwards, we climbed to the Panorama del Facciatone, which is at the top of what was supposed to be the new cathedral in Siena before the plague wiped out most of the town’s population.

Piazza del Campo	Piazza del Campo

Typical street view in Siena

Siena’s cathedral and Duomo

Staring up at Siena’s Duomo	Inside the cathedral

Beetlejuice!  Beetlejuice!  Beetlejuice!

View from Panorama del Facciatone	Rooftops of Siena

On top of Panorama del Facciatone

On our last night, we treated ourselves to dinner at Le Vecchie Mura, which has to have one of the best views in all of Tuscany. Combine the views with the best gnocchi of all time, and you have a winning combination. As it got dark and we were ready to pay the bill, we saw the longest, brightest shooting star we’ve ever seen. Naturally, I took this as a sign to get a triple scoop gelato cone. A great way to say “ciao” to San Gimignano.

Dinner at Le Vecchie Mura

View from dinner	Enjoying the view

Goodnight, San Gimignano

The fleur-de-lis is the ancient emblem of Florence

We couldn’t wait to get to Florence, not only because we were excited to go back to this beautiful city, but more importantly because we were meeting up with our friends, Brian and Marisa! My mom and Marisa’s mom have been best friends since before we were born so Marisa and I have grown up together, and her family is basically like my second family. Marisa and Brian were celebrating their one year wedding anniversary with a trip through Italy, and it worked out perfectly for us to rendezvous with them for a few days in Florence!

Piazza della Repubblica

Marisa and Johnny both studied abroad in Florence during college, so we luckily had built-in tour guides. We rented a funky little apartment a stone’s throw from Santa Croce and proceeded to take in as much of the city as we could in three days. Our first evening started off perfectly with a stroll down the Arno to the Ponte Vecchio and over to the Duomo, followed by some delicious Chianti in our apartment listening to Brian and Marisa’s insane travel day from LA to Venice, and topped off by dinner at Acqua al 2. Marisa remembered this restaurant from her time in Florence, and it lived up to her memories. While the girls shared the amazing pasta sampler, the boys each had an enormous steak smothered in what looked like thick chocolate sauce – don’t worry, it was actually balsamic. We ooohed and aaahhhed over each bite at dinner and decided that our inaugural Italian dinner together would not be complete without some gelato, which we found down the street from Santa Croce surrounded by overflowing bars and clubs. We didn’t end up at any of the bars or clubs because we were saving ourselves for our cooking class the next morning.

Our apartment	Santa Croce, in all its glory, at the end of our street

The Duomo

Ponte Vecchio	Ponte Vecchio

Dinner at Acqua Al 2	“Chocolate” steak

Is that some gelato in your beard?

The cooking class was awesome. So awesome, in fact, that we decided to give it its own blog post … coming soon!

Top chefs Sherwood	Top chefs Bailey

Following the five and a half hours that we spent cooking and indulging in delicious food and wine, we headed over to the Uffizi and wandered the statue-lined halls, admiring all the beautiful artwork. We decided that Bronzino’s naked double-sided dwarf, “Portrait of Dwarf Morgante” took the cake as the most unexpected and favorite painting of the day. We concluded our Uffizi tour with a wine and beer break at the Uffizi’s rooftop café. I would probably buy a Uffizi ticket just to come to this café with its amazing view and nice cool breeze.

At the Uffizi

Enjoying the Uffizi’s rooftop cafe	And its great view…

After a little more wandering around Florence we headed to dinner at Osteria de’ Pazzi. Everything we ordered was delicious, and Brian and Marisa went above and beyond and treated us to our meal. Johnny and I didn’t think it could get any better, but it did (as most things in Italy tend to do) with two rounds of Limoncello, one of which was on the house since Brian had befriended our waiter over the course of our meal.

Dinner at Osteria De’ Pazzi	Limoncello came out to play

After dinner we thought we’d join the party on the steps of Santa Croce. We had noticed the night before that it seemed to be the PTB (Place To Be), so we grabbed a bottle of Chianti and some to-go cups and posted up on the steps of this stunning church. Brian and Johnny were on a roll, and we ended up going through a couple bottles till 2am on the steps which were still as crowded and going strong when we finally dragged ourselves off to bed.

Santa Croce rising up over our heads

Chianti, to-go cups, some 13th century Franciscan church steps and good friends

Johnny really wanted to stay and join in on the drum circle that had started on the steps

Although Johnny and Brian were feeling a little less than stellar from their red wine consumption the night before, we rose bright and early the next morning to head to the Accademia Gallery to see our main man, David. He was just as good looking and impressive in sheer size and perfection as I remembered.

He needs no introduction

Once we had our fill, we left David and gathered our things for an excursion back to Greve in Chianti. Since Brian and Marisa didn’t have any of the Tuscany countryside on their itinerary, we all agreed that we should take advantage of our close proximity while in Florence. Johnny and I had had such an awesome time on our scooter ride the week before, that we decided to pay our friend at the scooter shop in Greve (only an hour bus ride from Florence) a return visit and rent scooters for the afternoon. We had such a blast riding all together through the gorgeous Tuscan countryside, stopping in Panzano, Radda and Castellina, and ending the tour with some wine and antipasti at our favorite wine bar in Greve, Bottega del Moro.

Biker dudes in Greve’s Piazza Matteotti

Brian & Marisa on the Chianti road	Ready to ride

Chianti	We couldn’t stay away from the Gallo Nero

Glorious

That night, back in Florence, we had another tasty meal at Osteria de’ Benci followed by some of the best gelato we’ve had so far at Vivoli.

Dinner at Osteria de’ Benci	Brian’s wine-soaked pasta

Our final morning, making sure to take advantage of our last few hours in Florence, we set off to climb all 463 steps to the top of the Duomo. The huffing and puffing up the narrow spiral staircases was definitely worth it for the amazing views inside and out of the frescoes and panoramics of the city.

Climbing the Duomo

Up close and personal with the Duomo’s frescoes

We made it to the top!	The shadow of the Duomo on the city below

Taking in the view

With our legs thoroughly warmed up and toned (read: shaking and burning), we set off across the Arno to climb more steps to take in another jaw dropping view from Piazza Michelangelo and the Basilica of San Miniato al Monte. Along the way Marisa and I did a little shopping at San Lorenzo Market and also hung a lock with all of our names onto another cluster of locks on the Ponte Vecchio. According to legend, if you and your loved one lock a padlock to the bridge, your love will last forever and you’ll one day return to Florence. I hope this is the case, because we had a wonderful, memorable few days with Brian and Marisa in Firenze, and feel so lucky to have had this experience with such dear friends!!

Locks of love

Marisa + Brian	Anna + Johnny

San Miniato

Views from Piazza Michelangelo	Looking back at the Duomo that we had just scaled

Despite our best efforts, we couldn’t find a farm or winery to work at on such short notice. Actually we could, but we weren’t really interested in building compost toilets, breeding Arabian horses or cleaning chickens. Instead, we found our own place to rent in Italy’s Chianti region that gave us a great weekly rate, so we were off to the rolling hills, olive groves and vineyards of Tuscany…not a bad consolation prize.

The owner of our apartment picked us up at the bus station and took us to our place. We couldn’t believe our eyes. The “apartment” was actually a little house, complete with front yard, huge bedroom, separate living room and brand new kitchen. It was most definitely a home away from home for the week.

Our place behind the trees	Our patio

Our front yard	Our side yard

Inside our pad

We based ourselves in the small town of Greve in Chianti, the unofficial capital of the region about an hour bus ride south of Florence. After walking the entire town in about 30 minutes, Anna and I got a little worried that we might become bored out of our minds staying here a week, but we grew to love Greve more each day. The town’s focal point is the triangular shaped Piazza Matteotti, which is lined with enough enotecas (wine bars), macellerias (butchers) and other specialty food stores to keep you busy for a month. The piazza also hosts a festive Saturday market, where Anna picked up some goodies for the folks back home.

Over the course of the week, we made friends with the owner of a homemade pasta shop where we’d pick up ingredients for dinner, the owner of a made-to-order panini shop where we’d grab lunch, and the waiter of a wine bar (Bottega del Moro) right down the street who would let us use the wi-fi and give us free bruschetta whenever we stopped by.

We also tasted our fair share of the region’s wine at Le Cantine di Greve in Chianti. It’s an underground wine cellar that has hundreds of Italy’s wine available for tasting. You buy a prepaid card, stick it into one of the several taps located throughout the cellar, and out comes your tasting. €10 got us each about eight tastes. It’s a little touristy, but a great way to learn about and try all the different wines from the area.

Piazza Matteotti

Piazza Matteotti during the Saturday market

Market goodies	More goodies

Via Roma, Greve’s main street

Picking out sandwich toppings is hard work	Success!

Pesto pasta and olive spread compliments of the pasta man

Wine tasting at Le Cantine di Greve in Chianti	More wine tasting

After reading a couple guidebooks that were left in our apartment, it was clear that the best way to truly experience Tuscany, and Chianti in particular, is to rent some wheels and explore all the small hill towns on your own. This was great news because it had been a couple weeks since we’d last rented a scooter, and I needed a fix real bad. Luckily, there was a place right in town that offered daily scooter rentals. Much to Anna’s chagrin, however, all the pink Vespas were gone when we got there and we were stuck with your run-of-the-mill grey scooter.

Armed and ready, we headed out for a day of exploring along Le Strade del Gallo Nero (The Road of the Black Cock). Settle down, perverts. Le Strade del Gallo Nero refers to the wine road of Chianti Classico, the region’s most famous red wine whose symbol is a black rooster. We made pit stops in the picturesque Chianti towns of Montefioralle, Panzano, Radda, Castellina and Lamole. Each town offered incredible views of the Tuscan countryside, especially in the afternoon. The way the late day sun would throw shadows on the hills, vineyards and stone farmhouses made us feel like we were living inside a painting.

Vineyards near Lamole

On the road again	Mothers lock up your daughters

Balanced our camera on the scooter for a snapshot	Stoked!

The grape harvest is just around the corner, so the bunches were huge and plentiful

Montefioralle	Montefioralle

Radda	Radda

View near Castellina	Some pretty sweet pads

Olives

And since no blog post would be complete without some serious food pictures, I present to you our lunch at Ristorante la Castellana in the town of Montefioralle…definitely worth the mile-long hike uphill.

How ’bout that view?

Fresh country artichoke	Pappardelle with wild boar ragú

Anna’s truffle ravioli made me wish I had a cardiologist on speed-dial

Tomorrow we’re off to Florence, and we’re ecstatic to be meeting up with our friends Marisa and Brian for a few days of museum hopping, gelato eating and, who knows, maybe even some more scooter riding.