Vendemmia & Best Loved Places in Tuscany

Vendemmia & Best Loved Places in Tuscany

9 Days Itinerary Vendemmia & Best Loved Places in Tuscany Come and work in the vineyards, dine among the vines, learn how to make wild boar lasagna and visit the most loved local places in Tuscany What better place to celebrate life than in Tuscany harvesting grapes and soaking in the golden Tuscan light of early autumn? We'll spend some mornings at the winery estate of Poggio Molina with Claudio and Alba and their family during the vendemmia (grape harvest). We'll learn how to make Alba's famous wild boar lasagna and have lunch in the vineyards. We'll toast with champagne made onsite at Poggio Molina! And we'll learn a Tuscan joke or two from Claudio (be prepared to be a bit ribald...). In between our fun at Poggio Molina we'll explore the back roads and most loved places of Tuscany, including: Siena Our travelers always want to return to Siena and we have a surprise treat for you this time! The Val d’Orcia Most of the photos of sweeping vistas that make us long to visit Tuscany come from the Val d'Orcia. Also, some of the best cheese in Italy comes from the area around Pienza in the Val d’Orcia. We’ll spend a morning at a farm specializing in the making of Pecorino (sheep’s cheese) The Crete Senesi The hills of clay outside of Siena form a sweeping landscape with isolated stone farm houses and lunar vistas that take your 1 The hills of clay outside of Siena form a sweeping landscape with isolated stone farm houses and lunar vistas that take your breath away. We’ll go back-roading (yes we can do this in a small bus) and stop to take photos of the various shrines we find at crossroads, visit an ancient palace that now serves as a tiny museum, and of course join the Italians at one of their favorite local trattorias. Cooking with Giuseppina and her family and a visit to San Gimignano The day spent with Giuseppina and her beautiful family is always a favorite for our travelers. We’ll learn to cook a four-course meal, drink wine and try to avoid getting the wooden spoon love tap by the fun-loving Giuseppina! On the way back to our agritourismo, we’ll stop off in San Gimignano, the hilltop town that possesses fourteen original towers. Day 1 Pick up in Florence to head to your agritourismo Image credits: Pixabay Your private driver will pick you up at the Florence airport and whisk you away to your home in the Tuscan Hills. Check-in to our hotel in the Tuscan countryside Upon arrival, you'll check-in and enjoy the afternoon to rest up before we gather as a group this evening to kick off the tour! Our home for the week is a small, medieval “borgo”, now an agritourismo and wine estate with an onsite restaurant. The views are of the hills, and there is a pool that should still be warm enough to swim in in early October. 2 Welcome dinner at our Agriturismo! We’ll begin the week with a dinner under the stars and a flight of wine from our hosts' winery along with a three-course meal and grappa or limoncello (of course). Then to bed! Day 2 Siena - Private Guided Tour of Historical City Center Piazza del Campo, in the heart of Siena, with its mix of medieval and renaissance buildings lining the scallop shaped piazza, is the most beautiful city-center in Europe. And the imposing Palazzo Pubblico has an amazing interior which we will get to see. Here you will meet Guidoriccio da Fogliano, a famous soldier riding off to war in a painting by Simone Martini from 1328. We’ll be visiting the Cathedral to see the marvelous pavement that is uncovered only for a few weeks in the fall. 3 Free time in Siena on your own Image credits: Pixabay You’ll have free time for lunch and some shopping before we take you for an Aperitivo at what we’ve come to call the glass palace in the sky. You can stroll around, do shopping or soak in the atmosphere of this medieval town in one of the outdoor cafeterias or bars. Map of our favorite places. Aperitivo at Glass Palace Via dei Termini, 6 Siena A maze of alleyways, the white-gray marble, red brick creeping between trefoils, portals and hidden courtyards. Siena has been called the city of the details. It hides and reveals itself each time you change your plane of observation. Today, we'll visit the rooftops where we will find a city view from one of those places that you can usually only imagine: A palace - one of the oldest houses in the town center, where Tiberius Bichi Borghesi, gentleman of the past with a passion for photography, wanted to build 'with large expenditures' his personal atelier. Sit comfortably in sofas and armchairs or on the terrace enjoying the gorgeous views while enjoying a aperitivo in the sky! From here, you will have a view over the rooftops of Siena that truly only the birds have! 4 Day 3 Trequanda, Asciano & Crete Senesi The Crete Senesi (literally, "clays of Siena") form a sweeping landscape where the distinctive grey coloration of the soil gives the landscape an appearance often described as lunar. We’ll go back-roading (yes we can do this in a small bus) and stop to take photos of the various shrines we find at crossroads, visit an ancient palace that now serves as a tiny museum and of course join the Italians at one of their favorite local trattorias. You know the feeling of mystery and delight when you are traveling and you stumble on something you have never heard of that is full of treasures? The Daily Telegraph has defined Palazzo Corboli as one of the most beautiful among small museums. It isn’t “just” a museum as traditionally defined : it expands from the Sacred Art Section to the Etruscan Archeological Section; but the building itself is a real artwork. Its architectural and town planning value, its precious frescoes, its contribution in reconstructing the role of Asciano in the history of the economy of the Sienese Medieval area, have made it extremely valuable. It's a hidden palace you will want to bring your friends back to see and you'll be visiting it today. We’ll travel on to Trequanda for lunch in a trattoria overlooking the hills and then slowly make our way back to Podere Casato. Day 4 Grape harvest, picnic and cooking class at Poggio Molina Time will stand still as you travel into the countryside to have lunch with an Italian family at their own winery. You’ll drive down a back road and pass row after row of grape vines and olive trees. Finally, you’ll arrive at a highpoint of rolling, green Chianti hills: the most beautiful intersection of woods, vineyards and olive groves that you'll ever see. We’ll join the family in 5 Chianti hills: the most beautiful intersection of woods, vineyards and olive groves that you'll ever see. We’ll join the family in the grape harvest, and then we’ll have a picnic in the vineyards and maybe a nap on the porch before we take a cooking class from Alba and learn how to make wild boar lasagna. We’ll stay on for an early dinner (that we have made!) Day 5 Val d'Orcia - Landscape and Cheese Image credits: Pixabay Most of the photos of sweeping vistas that make us long to visit Tuscany come from the Val d'Orcia. Also, some of the best cheese in Italy comes from the area around Pienza in the Val d’Orcia. We’ll spend a morning at a farm specializing in the making of Pecorino (sheep’s cheese. Sheep’s cheese from Pienza (“pecorino“ from the Italian “pecora“ for sheep) has been the epitome of good cheese since the time of the Romans. In those days, the countryside of the Val d’Orcia was little cultivated and full of meadows brimming with aromatic herbs. Cheese-Making demo and lunch at Podere il Casale Did you always want to know how cheese is made? Here at Podere il Casale we make your cheese dreams come true, offering you a behind-the-scenes look at the fine art of cheese making! Together with Ulisse, owner of the farm and cheesemaker, you learn how a traditional Pecorino di Pienza cheese is made. During the activity, Ulisse will guide you along the whole process: from the stable into our dairy during a guided tour, where he will also talk about the aging of cheese in our aging rooms. Afterwards follows the actual cheesemaking class. During the demonstration of a first salt cheese on the spot you can ask Ulisse all the questions that will come to you spontaneously during the discovery of this ancient art. 6 Bagno Vignoni & San Quirico d'Orcia Image credits: Pixabay After a lunch made with produce, cheese and wine from the farm, we’ll visit two of the most beautiful small villages in Tuscany, Bagno Vignoni and San Quirico d’Orcia. We’ll have a spritz in the piazza before returning to the agriturismo for a free evening. Day 6 Certaldo - Cooking Class with Giuseppina Imagine yourself sitting on a 12th century wall of a medieval village overlooking the rolling hills of the Tuscan countryside enjoying a meal of unmatched culinary delight.

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