[2014 Italy] Under the Tuscan sun Part 2

After Siena, we're off to our lunch destination: Fattoria Poggio Alloro, which translates to Bay Leaf Hill Farm. It's an organic farm located in the Chianti region. The farm was started by a trio of brothers back in 1955, and is still family-owned today. Since then, it has expanded 3 times to to 75 hectares, and produces 10 different types of wine, extra virgin olive oil, various fruits and also the famous Chianina cattle, the main source of Florence's famous steak. When I heard this, my eyes lit up. Could this mean the famous steak is on the lunch menu? Since most restaurants sell this by kg, there's no way I could finish an order by myself, so of course I haven't had the chance to try it. Sadly, the only beef we're getting at lunch was in the form of ragu :(

The endless vineyards we passed along the way were just beautiful~

[2014 Italy] Under the Tuscan sun Part 1

I was uber-excited about today as it's the day of my Tuscany day trip. Ever since watching Diane Lane's Under the Tuscan Sun, I've been dreaming about the rolling hills, endless vineyards, lines of cypress trees and Italian hunks...ahem. Truth be told, during the planning stages of this trip, I I was debating between city hopping and a Tuscany drive-through. But I decided against Tuscany due to my ignorance of the Italian language and fear of driving in a foreign country. As a compromise, I booked a one day bus tour with Walk about tours, which visits Siena, San Gimignano and Pisa, as well as lunch at a farm in Chianti.

The tour began bright and early at 8:30, departing from the Florence train station. After checking in with driver, I got on the bus and just picked a empty seat. Now that I've taken the tour, I can tell you one big tip: sit on the right side of the bus! Almost all of the sights pointed out along the ride were on the right, and since we're heading south, the sun is always on the left. So not only did I miss out on some prime photography moments, I was also completely fried by the end of the day. Lesson learned!

 Thankfully the windows were super clean, so I did manage to get some awesome pics of the Tuscan countryside. *swoon*