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05/31/2004: "Tuscany"

We rented a car (Nissan Micra) in Florence and began driving Italian style through Tuscany. Good thing it was a Saturday because traffic was not too bad (although still many motorcycles and bicycles). Drove towards Greve-in-Chianti along the Chiantigiana (SS222) thought the heart of Tuscany.

Greve in Chianti

In Greve, to find our agriturismo B&B, we had to navigate a windy unpaved road up and up the hill side. The B&B, Podere Torre, is nice and has great views and very good breakfast which we ate al fresco.

View of Tuscany from B&B

The next day we drove toward Siena stopping at a couple of cantine aperte. We sampled wines and salamis and toured the gardens of Vingamaggio featured in the movie Much ado about Nothing (also where Mona Lisa lived). We were lucky they were open on a Sunday, another special event day. We stopped in Castelina in Chianti where we had porchetta sandwich for lunch and the best gelato of the trip. We then continued on to Siena.