Fun in Tuscany

This morning we woke up and headed to the train station where we were to meet our tour guides for the day.  My roommates and I along with a few of our friends signed up to go horseback riding in the Tuscan countryside.

In true Italian fashion our guides show up for our 9 o’clock meeting half past nine.  We sauntered toward the van that was taking us into the countryside but of course not before we stopped at a café for complimentary cappuccino and pastries.  We finally made it to the van with Nico, our wonderfully bald Italian tour guide.  40 minutes, one extremely bumpy and speedy ride later, we pull up to the town of Monteriggioni. 

We toured the small town that was nestled on top of a hill and surrounded by castle walls.  Here we took great pictures of the scenery and made our way into a small winery where we had a wine tasting.  Not only did we get to taste locally made wine but we also tasted their home-made honeys and olive oil, yum.  Next we made our way to the ranch where we would start our horseback ride.

Pulling up I notice a ton of dogs scattered everywhere and many Italian workers talking quickly and loudly between each other.  Now I don’t know how my guide got this notion into his head, but for some reason he thought that I was a good rider.  So they gave me a “energetic” horse is how I believe they put it.

Arcadia came to me neighing, bucking her head and stomping her feet.  My nerves built up just a bit at that point.  After a bit of struggling on learning how to get onto my horse (the ranch owner grabbed one of my feet and knees and basically threw me on top of the chestnut colored horse.  I sat there nervous, but just kept petting Arcadia and talking to her hoping that I’d create a “relationship” with her before we set out.

Next thing I know we are trekking up the first hill, once we reach the top all I can see is miles and miles of hills covered with villas, vineyards and rich burnt colors.  The two hour ride was wonderful and I didn’t run into any difficulties with my energetic horse Arcadia other than a few instances where she began to gallop (that was interesting). 

Once we returned to the ranch I pet my Arcadia good-bye and off we went have our five course lunch at a vineyard/olive grove/restaurant.  Our long table overlooked a small lake (which reminded me of home) at the bottom of hills covered in either olive trees or vineyards.  Our first course was bruschetta that was bursting with flavor, accompanied by their own white wine.  Then came what the chef called ‘pizza’ (fried dough) with prosciutto.  I think that one was my favorite, the warm doughy bread mixed with the salty delicate prosciutto was incredible.  Then we were served an array of deep fried vegetables like eggplant, zucchini, cauliflower and a mystery vegetable (we couldn’t figure out what it was).  Switching to their red wine just in time for the true Tuscan soup.  I didn’t particularly like this so called soup, it had soaked bread in it so the texture was very mushy.  But the flavor was incredible, I’ll give it that.  Then we had this rich creamy risotto.  The freshly grated cheese and zesty onions made the dish.  Finally we ended with a pane cota, interesting.  It looked like jello as it wiggled while being set in front of me, but I was brave and took a bite.  It tasted like ice cream flavored jello.  It was good but I couldn’t fully enjoy it because the jiggle of the dessert caught me off guard.

Stuffed and a bit tipsy we set out for Florence.  You would think that our tour guide has some cheesy Italian music to play, but no.  What comes on the stereo but Thriller by Michael Jackson.  We all burst out laughing and spent the next few minutes dancing and singing the song while swerving through the breathtaking Tuscan hills.

It was an amazing day and I found myself having to remind myself that I wasn’t dreaming.  I actually am in Tuscany.