Whirlwind Tour of Italy: Tuscany, Day 2

Our tour of Tuscany left Florence and headed south into the countryside. Franco, our guide from Tuscan Sunshine Tours, was incredibly friendly and knowledgeable. We had a great time spending the day with him. Our first stop was at the vineyards of one of world's largest producers of wine. Franco filled us in on the art of growing grapes and we even got to sample a few:



According to Franco, the stripes of color we could see in the vineyard were rows of different varieties of grapes:


We were particularly lucky to be in Tuscany for harvest! Franco drove us all around the vineyards, pointing out various different kinds of machines used to harvest the grapes. While some of the larger producers have very fancy "combines" that do all the work for them, most of the harvest is still done by hand - what a job! After the grapes are cut from the vines, they are brought to a production facility like this one where they are loaded into the large bin on the right. Once it's full, the bin is lifted and the grapes are sent through the funnel and up the conveyor belt on the left which delivers them to the "smasher". Thank goodness it's not done by foot anymore or I might not be able to bring myself to enjoy a glass of wine every now and then!


As we drove through the countryside, Franco pointed out all of the native Cyprus trees. It was interesting because I've heard of Cyprus trees many times before, but I guess I never really knew what they were because this is not at all what I had pictured in my mind! Franco told us that there are both male and female versions of the tree. Then he said in his think Italian accent, "Not to offend you ladies, but the male Cyprus is tall and thin while the female is much wider. It's nature's doing, not mine!" He was hilarious.



We visited lots of tiny, ancient villages. Most, like this one, were set up on a bit of a hill because that was the best means of protection during the time that they were built.


Others, like the one below, were also walled for additional protection. Interestingly, this village, Montefioralle, is where Amerigo Vespucci (the person who named America), was from:



In all of the villages we saw these growing wild in the stone walls:


Turns out they are capers! Personally, I'm not a huge fan, but I never knew where they came from so it was pretty interesting to see.

As we drove around, Franco filled us in on the winery he would be taking us to for lunch and a tasting. He told us that "the mama" (also what he called my mom all day!) was an amazing cook and prepared all the food served there. He said that all of the food was fantastic, but that one of his favorite dishes was the fresh pasta with wild boar meat sauce. He mentioned this quite casually, but you know that Jason and I were immediately picturing ROUSes (rodents of unusual size) from The Princess Bride. I was quite intrigued by this so I started asking questions and the more I heard, the stranger it got! The conversation went something like this:

Me: Where does "the mama" get wild boar meat?

Franco: We hunt it; there are lots of them around here. They are actually quite a nuisance.

Me: Are they dangerous (as I picture the ROUSes)?

Franco: No, they mostly stay hidden during the day. They like to sleep down by the streams in the wooded areas.

-- 30 minutes or so pass --

Me: So Franco, have you ever hunted wild boar?

Franco: Sure, we have big hunting parties. It's a law here that you can't hunt boar unless you are in a group of at least 20 people.

Me: Seriously?

Franco: Yes, but it's okay because you about need that many people to carry it out once you've shot one. Grown, they are almost as big as a small car.

Me: Wow! And they really, aren't dangerous huh?

Franco: No, not as long as you kill it before it gets to you. You must kill it before it kills you!

I'm sure you can't fully appreciate this story because 1) it was way better when delivered in Franco's Italian accent and 2) he wasn't trying to be funny - even his, "You must kill it before it kills you!" exclamation was completely serious.

Needless to say, my curiousity was sufficiently piqued. I was both excited and a bit nervous when he told me not to worry, I'd get to see one at our next stop. Much to my relief, the "wild" boar we visited was nice and stuffed. He was just a little guy - I can't imagine facing a full grown one!


You might remember the jamon Jason bought in Spain. Well, turns out this is also a delicacy in Italy, only there they cure wild boar as well and, this is the creepy part, they leave the tails on!



Creepy tails aside, this little shop did have some really yummy meats. We got to sample lots of different salamis, etc as well as cheese and olive oil.


After we finished up at the meat shop, we set out for lunch and wine tasting at a family run winery.




Franco told us all about the different chiantis produced at the winery.


After picking our favorite, we ordered a bottle to go with our lunch and sat down on the winery's nice outdoor patio to enjoy our lunch. Everyone decided on the pasta with traditional meat sauce except for our adventerous eater, Jason, who had to go with the wild boar sauce. It was all amazing - even the wild boar!

After lunch, Franco took us on a tour of the winery's production facilities before showing us where all of the wines are stored to age:



And the special room where the 30-year old balsamic vinegar is aged:


Ha! Don't we look like we're at some weird church service?

After finishing up our tour, it was time to set off for our next destination - the Cinque Terre National Park on the Italian Riviera.


It was actually a much longer drive than we had anticipated (probably close to 3 1/2 hours) but we passed the time in the car by napping and hearing lots more about the area from Franco. By far the neatest thing we saw along the way were the "marble mountains." The marble mountains are a portion of the Italian alps that are made up almost entirely of marble. It is actually where Michelangelo went to select the piece of marble that would eventually become The David. Seeing them from a distance you would swear that they were just snow covered mountain peaks, but all of the white you see is actually exposed marble. Really amazing! (This is not my picture; it was too cloudy on the day we went though to get a picture, so I shamelessly stole this from someone else.)


Once we finally reached our destination it was late and we were tired so we grabbed some authentic Italian pizza for a quick dinner and called it a night. Up next, hiking in the Cinque Terre!