Beauty - Everyday in Tuscany

Friday, July 27, 2012

Okay, maybe not every day....but Tuscany really is this beautiful. So yes, most days. Something about the light...and the breeze....and the sunset. Here are some pictures from a Sunday BBQ at our friends Hilly & Cristian's house in Castelfalfi. We've been lucky enough to attend a couple of these get-togethers at their gorgeous home, and both times we've left very full, quite buzzed, and extremely happy to be in Italy. These food and conversation filled afternoons have a knack for capturing everything we came here for.

We'll start off with everyone's favorite wine and cheese, then dine on farro salad, burrata, grilled pork, homemade bread, white beans, and sausage... then round things up with homemade limoncello, biscotti and fresh melon gelato. All interspersed with dips in the pool, walks in (and admiration of) the veggie garden, and in the most recent case - live music and scooter rides to the nearby ruins. 








Meeting people from all over the world and really being able to experience the Everyday life of Tuscany has been one of our favorite parts of being here, and I'm so appreciative of the people who have given us that opportunity. Not everything here is perfect, but it's hard not to think so during these festive and beautiful afternoons. We have more farm, garden and travel pics lined up so we'll be back soon :). 

In the meantime, here are some cose di interesse:

  • maybe I'm late to the bandwagon here, but I just discovered this amazing B&B finder/apartment renter. Can't wait to use it to book a place in Sicily (hopefully!) next month.
  • I want to remember these tips on how to meet new people in a city - I'm sure they could come in handy no matter where Jim & I end up next!
  • this just confirms my need to go on an African safari.
  • and this confirms my need to visit Alaska! Such beautiful photos.
And also, it's time to harvest our beautiful plums - has anyone made jam before? I'm thinking of giving it a try...

Hanno un buon weekend ragazzi!

My Friend Firenze

Thursday, July 19, 2012


A couple of weeks ago we decided to FINALLY visit Florence, one of my favorite cities in the world! It felt like a long time coming. My amazing 4 months in Florence while I was abroad in college was one of the main reasons I wanted to come here in the first place, so I had been psyched to visit the city since the moment I stepped back into Italy.

We rode the old scoot' to the nearest train station, San Miniato/Fucecchio, and grabbed a quick cappucino while waiting for the next train to Firenze.



We arrived at Florence SMN Station and then started our looong hike around the city at the San Lorenzo Market.



At the market we grabbed some truffle salami and some peppery pecorino, then some dried kiwi, mango and lime for a snack. The market is well known for amazing and unique meats, cheeses, pastas and treats - DO NOT go there on an empty stomach or you'll have no more money for the rest of your day in Florence!

After the snack we walked down through the center of Florence, over the Ponte Vecchio, to my old stomping grounds on the south side of the river (the best side). We visited Piazza Santo Spirito, which includes the most amazing sandwich shop ever (Gustpanino!) as well as the only trees in Florence. Two great reasons to pay Santo Spirito a visit.




After two panini we kept walking through the heat - past the Pitti Palace then down Costa San Giorgio to catch a glimpse of my old apartment. We continued on along the Arno to the Piazza San Michelangelo, which is a bit out of the way compared to other sights in Florence but is always worth the trip. If you walk, you have to climb up a steep hill, but you deserve the sights and available birra/water/gelato all the more for it, and the view is beautiful.




After that we headed back across the Arno to grab some cheap & quick gelato, stop by the Florence leather school, see the duomo up close and grab a quick pizza before the train. It was a full 7 hours of hiking around the city and we saw everything I needed to see - I'd call it un successo!


We've been planning some amazing trips so I'll be back with more soon - la fattoria, the beach, France, Sardinia, and wine country to come!

Ciao raggazzi~

San Jim-in-Yawno

Sunday, July 15, 2012




Ciao ragazzi! Time for a recap of our first real excursion off of the farm ("real" = on our own + more than 15 minutes away) to San Gimignano. It's a beautiful medieval hill town about 30 km from here, and it was perfect for our first getaway since it's decently close and able to be conquered in half a day.  We shopped, we walked, we ate panini, we ate gelato, and we enjoyed our time off the farm.



Such a lovely place! After enjoying the shops and walking through the streets we left the city walls and found a really nice nature path with amazing views of surrounding Tuscany.

Day Recap

  • Thorns: guess I'd say too many tourists, but I didn't really mind them. And I was terrified for a few moments on that scooter...
  • Buds: psyched to explore more of Tuscany!
  • Roses: the best part of the day was probably the scooter ride. Navigating the curvy back roads and flying past the gorgeous Tuscan vineyards and hill towns was extremely beautiful and freeing. We also loved this tiny little bookstore we found with tons of Italian gardening, cooking and nature books. And of course, the gelato. Cocco and ananas all the way. Yum!

We'll be back soon ragazzi - pics of Florence to come!


WWOOFing and EEAATing

Friday, July 6, 2012

Ciao ragazzi, I hope everyone's summer has started off swimmingly! I cannot believe July is here already - our first month and a half has really sped by. We spent the last few weeks of June really working. We no longer had our Newbie status as an excuse and we clearly knew the tasks at hand, so we just went at it. Plus, our friends Meg and Tony were visiting as WWOOFers! I knew Tony from our semester abroad together in Florence seven years ago (ew, seven, what??), so when I learned that they are taking an entire year to travel the world together I knew I had to reach out to see if they'd want to swing through Tuscany. 
They agreed to try WWOOFing out and ended up joining us at Vallibonci for 2 weeks! Having the extra helping hands really amped up our productivity around here. Plus, it was awesome to have the company. We embraced the festivity of having guests and had many a delicious meal. And many a bicchiere di vino. T&M have some great posts about our pizza dinner & our farm fresh breakfast sandwich, so check those out for more. 

Thanks so much for coming guys!

 

We also spent the end of June getting to know our surroundings here in Tuscany, since we finally got our scooter. It's amazing. It's everything I dreamed of. Every trip to the market is like driving into a painting...Tuscany really is just too picture perfect for words. Here are some shots of an evening in our adorb little town, Montaione, where we grabbed dinner last week. It's a tiny town but it has everything we need, and I just love going to the various small shops for our prosciutto, our fresh fruits and veggies, our limoncello etc. as opposed to always hitting up the big old supermarket. Plus, the shopkeepers are really helping us learn our Italian!


I have pics of San Gimignano and Florence to share, so there will be more very soon!

p.s. for those of you city dwellers, Green City Growers is supporting a new book all about successful veggie gardening in urban and suburban areas, but they need just a bit more funding to make sure the book happens. Help out if you can!