Tuscany: Wine and Relaxation

Next we moved up to Tuscany region to spend sometime exploring and relaxing in the area. Are plan was to meet up with our friends and family and spend a week in a collection of farmhouses on the grounds of a 12 century castle. Most of the guests arrived on Wednesday and stayed thru till Saturday.

While in the area we arranged a group wine tour. At each stop we sampled local foods and wines. We learned about the different laws and varietals that go into making Brunello di Montalcino, Montepulciano, and Chiantis. In general italian vineyards are organic (no pesticides) and the majority of the wine produced is made in the old Italy style. The old Italy style refers to the use of large oak barrels. This is unlike the California style of making wine where winemakers use smaller oak barrels for storage. The result for italian wines are less robust / Oaky flavors.

Ah, I love wine!

The following pictures were taken by a friend who could not sleep in fear that she would miss out in an adventure. So, one restless morning she woke up early and was able to captured the morning mist around the property. I just want to go back .... it was so dreamy!

I love Rome

So, much to see and do, i just love Rome.... We started our trip with three (3) nights in Rome. We stayed in a fabulous room at the Westin. The location was good (not great but good). When we arrived we met my mom and brother. They already had traveled from Milan, the lake region and Venice before meeting us in Rome.

Here is the Trevi Fountain... just a fabulous fountain. Crazy touristy but really amazing.

The above pictures are from the Vatican museum. The status and the artwork... WOW! We were lucky to have found a great english tour guide. We booked private tours of the Vatican, Roman Forums and the Coliseum while we were in Rome. She was actually a German artist that wanted (needed) extra cash and found an interested in Roman History. We found that if you had a group (4 or more) this was actually reasonably priced. So, we had detailed private tours of the history and artwork that interested our group the most.

So I have time

Here I am again sitting in an airport... waiting for another flight. (I travel A LOT for my job). So, I have about 2 hours till my flight boards... and I thought I share my September adventures with you.

This September my boyfriend and I decided to get married. Both of us are not really into the whole marriage thing... and so, instead of eloping (my family would have had to followed)... we did a small destination wedding. The location Italy.

So, why Italy, I get/got this question a lot... Well, I wanted something in Europe... Originally the concept was to relax in a rather seclude location on an island off of France... But as the guest list grew in size I decided to moved it to somewhere more central (Tuscany). I wanted to give our guests the best opportunity of making it a vacation.

Giving it a Shot!

My good friend from Philly has started her own blog.  I love it, so I decided to give this a shot.  This is my first attempt at what I hope grows into something....

I hope you enjoy!