toscana

we're back from a week in tuscany.  it was an incredible trip that we are still processing (and digesting).  here's the story!

we began our adventure in rome, where we spent our first night at the incredible hotel cavalieri.  we arrived in the evening and enjoyed a quiet supper before heading to our room, where ben and i put emre to bed and then took full advantage of the drink coupons they provided upon check-in.  we enjoyed our spirits and chocolates (another gift from the hotel) while taking in the view from our balcony.  

the holy roman empire was neither holy, nor roman, nor an empire.  discuss.

of course it was quite dark, so we weren't sure what we were looking at until the next morning (i mean, we figured it was rome), when we discovered incredible views of the entire city, including the vatican (that's the duomo staring back at you in the center of the picture below).

holla at the pope

incredible hotel grounds

we had an elegant breakfast - with which i enjoyed the prosecco via mamosa because, when in rome - and then headed into the city for the sole errand of visiting ben's tie guy.  this was our third time in rome and our third trip to the tie guy which is the ONLY place he will ever buy a tie from again, ever.  they were happy to see us again, as you might imagine.  we met with the same 'tie guy,' as you may have noticed i call him.  he is a very nice guy who refuses to sell ben any tie that he does not believe suits ben's style.  he likes that ben wears navy suits, as opposed 'to those americans, who just wear black all the time.'  we think that was a compliment.  

no, ben didn't buy all of those ties.  close, but no.

we walked by the spanish steps to get back to the car, which was also fun to revisit, before hitting to road to chianti.  

emre, pleased with our journey thus far

after a 2.5 hour journey and a 1.5 hour grocery shopping bonanza, we arrived at casa camporata, our home for the week (i snapped these photos right before we left - it was actually cold & kind of rainy when we arrived, the perfect night to spend in our cozy villa!).  casa camporata was formerly an active grain mill, using a river that still flows beneath the main house to make flour for bread and pasta until the 1970’s.

ben and i sat out a couple of nights by the fire, lovely!

we decided it 'would do,' and began to unpack.  the owner, sue (a texan!), met us and showed us around the place.  she helped us find everything, provided us with firewood and salt (the kitchen had run out and i was not about to drive the 30 minutes of winding roads back to the grocery store) and a bottle of wine, before saying goodnight.  

my cozy cozy little kitchen - i loved it!

for our dinner i cooked up some of the fresh pasta i had picked up with homemade sauce from the incredible italian tomatoes, served with fresh mozzarella & basil, as well as the 'pizza' i bought at the grocery store (flat bread baked with various toppings - olive, onion, potato, etc.) and of COURSE a bottle of chianti classico.  it wasn't fancy, but it was perfect. 

dinner is served - the little window behind the table is what i believe was the opening to the old mill.

we spent the first day getting to know our villa and the town, gaiole in chianti.  it was a much needed break after all of the traveling, for all of us.

weary emre - he chose this spot to sit and drink his milk every morning.

we took a walk into gaiole and couldn't believe what a charming little place it was (even on a sunday, when everything was closed).  we really lucked out.

a map of the castles & churches of the chianti region

downtown gaiole - there happened to be a soccer team touring it as well

this was one view of the main piazza - a place where the locals would gather each afternoon during the riposo to chat with their neighbors, have a coffee.  i loved it.

emre loved exploring all of the villa's nooks & crannies

that night we headed just up the road to barbischio for dinner at osteria il papavero.  this was a place that we kept reading rave reviews about.  upon walking in, we could see why.  it was a completely unassuming stone structure, a tiny place with only about 6 tables.  the kind of place you hope to stumble upon in italy!  our waiter (the owner, i think) took great effort to ensure our experience was positive, translating the entire menu for us (thankfully since i know zero italian) and recommending dishes as well as an excellent chianti classico riserva to compliment our meal.  the walls of the restaurant were covered in art, and they played fantastic music.  it was an all around awesome experience.

our friendly & informative waiter

i had the filleto al chianti o all'aceto balsamico - basically beef that had been cooked for a good, long time in plenty of chianti & balsamic vinegar.

the next morning we were well rested and ready to explore.  we decided to spend the day visiting the towns of chianti.  ben and i had done a ton of research trying to determine the best towns to visit, and in the end, i think we made the right choices.

we started with a stop at ceramiche rampini- a famous ceramics maker in radda.  kind of the mackenzie childs of tuscany, if you will. 

yep - we invested in a few pieces that i absolutely love, thanks to rita's help.  i say invested because you would need to take out a mortgage to buy an entire collection from this place.

after rampini we drove about 45 minutes to greve in chianti, where we walked around the main piazza before having a wonderful lunch at enoteca fuoripiazza, a little local spot recommended by sue.

emre was mostly interested in the truck which was loading benches from a recent festival

the main piazza

emre made a new friend

after finishing off our lunch with tiramisu and a cappuccino, we headed to our final stop for the day, san gimignano.  this is a medieval walled city that sits on top of a hill - kind of your standard town in tuscany.  we followed the winding street all the way to the top, where it opened to the piazza della cisterna.  in the center of the piazza was a well which was once the main source of water for the town's residents (OLD).  because of it's shape (and cement slab covering the once open top), ben's step mom thought it was a guillotine!

collegiate church of the assumption of mary

emre loved the freedom of the pedestrian-only streets, and ran down every single alley he came across

after exploring the town we got back in the car and took a beautiful drive in the late afternoon sun back to gaiole.  the views were incredible - all of tuscany is pretty much what you imagine and see in pictures: rolling hills covered in vineyards and olive groves.  incredible!

back at home, we spent the evening at the house, grilling steaks served with fresh raviolis in a pesto sauce i found at the local gastronomia and a caprese salad.  deeeelish.

the next morning we had a leisurely breakfast at the house before driving to florence for the afternoon.  

having a tea party with dede

it was great to be back in florence (i had been there as a college student), but this was definitely the part of our trip where we realized how different traveling is with a toddler.  poor emre didn't get a solid nap in, and therefore was a real handful for the afternoon.

our first stop was to a linens store, le telerie toscane di giulia, a place that was recommended to me by rita at rampini.  i was looking for something special to bring home and found that, plus maybe a few more.  i absolutely loved the tuscan linens & ceramics & could have easily bought a whooole lot more if only my budget allowed.

emre took a 20 minute nap while we shopped and then was up for the rest of the day (not good).  we walked across the ponte vecchio, florence's famous bridge which is also the jeweler's district, while emre melted down.

view from ponte vecchio

poor ben tried his best to cope with our tired baby while i snapped some pictures

at his wit's end

after much crying and carrying on (from emre, though ben may have shed some tears as well), we decided to just sit in the spot we were standing in front of.  it happened to be the piazza san giovani, which is the square in front of the duomo.  so we had coffee and ice cream at probably the most expensive and touristy cafe in florence, surrounded by turks.  that's traveling with a toddler.

hey, it was a great view

this is emre's favorite form of tantrum - he's just going to sit, or lay down - wherever he is.

once the ice cream showed up, we were happy again.

yeah, you could say he enjoyed the gelato.

evvvv'ry bite of it

at that point we decided we were ready to go back to gaiole (which we did, as soon as we met back up with ben's folks) and NOT leave the house again that night.

so, we ordered pizza from the unfriendliest pizza guy you've ever met (when ben asked him if he had anything besides pizza, he answered 'they have garlic bread in london.').

ben's dad was the only one who enjoyed his pizza with yogurt - he couldn't believe i'd never seen that combination before.  what a turk!

the next morning we decided to time our drive to siena around emre's nap, to ensure he got some sleep & we kept our sanity.  siena was only about 40 minutes from gaiole, so we decided to take a detour.  ben just turned down a rural road and kept on driving, which led to a fantastic tour of tuscan back roads, surrounded by incredible views.  we stopped numerous times for pictures, and emre took a great nap.  win, WIN.

i'm pretty sure that winding road in the distance was a driveway

those are olive trees all neatly lined up

farmhouse on a hilltop.  we were worried we had ended up on their driveway, but no, the road simply went through their property and down the hill.  an old lady did scowl at me from her window upstairs, though.

would you believe me if i described this to you?  the picture doesn't even do it justice.

as soon as we arrived in the old city of siena, we were ready for lunch (it was 2pm, i think?).  we decided on a restaurant that we just happened by, while ben's folks decide to walk a bit more.  that's good because the chicken in this restaurant was delicious, if you know what i mean.  actually, the entire meal at mugolone was incredible, we really lucked out.  and since we were there in the off-hours, we had the whole place to ourselves!

an array of italian pastries... emre couldn't decide which one to try

after that lunch, we needed to walk.  and walk and walk and walk.  we walked over to the piazza del campo, where tons of italians were soaking up the sun.

mangia tower and the santa maria church

emre made friends with the locals everywhere we went, such a charmer.

he especially loved exploring those back streets, which seemed perfect for someone his size

stomping in the puddles

we let emre run for a long, long time.  but then it was time for the stroller, and that was not a happy time.  ben captured that moment perfectly.

no, we're not posing

we strolled around the city, bought emre some killer winter boots, and enjoyed the afternoon sun before heading home.

emre was pretty worn out, as were all of us.  no dinner that night, we were too full from our late lunch.

on our last day in tuscany we decided to leave & go to umbria.  funny choice, right?  but sooo worth it.  it was a two hour drive to the city of perugia, passing by a beautiful lake and then up up up the winding hill to the city center.  i loved how the cities were all built on hills, leading to amazing views as you entered and exited.

emre napped the whole way

in perugia we found a public parking lot which was connected to the old city via a series of tunnels.  perugia is noted as one of the most well-preserved medieval cities in italy.  that was obvious as we walked through an ancient building exiting the parking garage.

you know, just your average public walkway

lunch was first on our agenda, again.  we were heading towards a touristy area, so i decided to ask the guy at the visitor information booth for a recommendation.  luckily i caught him just as he was closing for riposo - lucky, because he recommended an incredible little hole in the wall (i would not have known it was a reastaurant) where we enjoyed yet another amazing meal.

nobody at ristorante altromondo spoke english, except the girl who we suspect was the owner's daughter, who was sitting adjacent from us alone & just finishing her lunch. she spoke perfect italian, and english with some kind of northeastern european accent, and wore riding pants (there were equestrian awards all over the walls, hence our suspicion).

we started with the traditional bruschette - served simply with tomatoes, olive oil and plenty of garlic & basil on very thinly sliced white bread (not toasted, always fresh).

emre couldn't decide what to have

we ordered the gnocci for emre - but he didn't want to eat, which was fine.  more for us!  it was so soft it melted in your mouth.  i had the veal pizzaiola, which i will try for the rest of my life to replicate.

after lunch we were eager to see perugia.  we headed out into the old city and were amazed by just how well preserved this medieval city really is.

explorer emre

we discovered that perugia was set up for a massive chocolate festival...

...which began the NEXT DAY. boy did i kick myself at that moment!  ah, well.

emre enjoyed watching them construct the stalls

italians, being italian

everywhere you looked it was ancient buildings... but ancient buildings that are still used, and lived in, today.  it was an incredible place.

hangin' with dede

boy does this kid love finding a place to sit.

look ma, another seat for me!

he especially loved sitting on the short fences that were intended to keep people off the grass (not emre - he just jumped right over 'em)

after lots of walking around and exploring, we headed back home.

he also discovered his love for walking on walls

beautiful city

still walking...

view from perugia

ok, now he's ready to be carried

that night we headed across the street for dinner at le contrade.  we had heard good things about it but weren't sure we'd make it there.  i'm so glad we did.

emre stayed busy & we stayed happy

not only did the chef supply emre with his son's toys to keep him occupied throughout our meal (genius!), he was an incredibly gracious host and served us each course himself.  when he brought us our starter, he explained that it was a tribute to tuscany.  the cheese puffs and red cabbage on the left represented the hills, the hazelnuts and mushroom powder the rocky terrain, the greens were the cypress trees and the red cabbage on the right the tuscan sun.  

you almost didn't want to eat it... except it was so delicious.

we ordered the bistecca fiorentina - the famous tuscan steak.  it was enough for all of us to share, and share we did.

bistecca de amazing

on friday we stayed home, enjoying our last day at the villa.  ben's folks went to radda for the afternoon, so i cooked us up a lunch of the leftovers in our fridge from the week which we enjoyed on the patio while emre napped.  after emre woke up we took one last walk through gaiole.  i loved looking at the homes and seeing how the locals live.  ben and i like what we refer to as their philosophy of 'enough.'  they don't live extravagant lives (at least, not these folks), and they seem to have mastered the concept of having just enough.  yeah, i think i could probably live in italy.

the rooster is the emblem of chianti - i wanted to bring this one home, but sadly he didn't fit in my suitcase.

vespas

sunset over the hill - that is a winery on top

when we got home we discovered that andrea, our personal chef for the evening, had arrived & was cooking up a storm in the kitchen.

he was a super nice guy.  that might sound normal to you, but remember italians aren't always that friendly (see: pizza guy).

chef andrea

he'd been to our villa before so he knew his way around the kitchen.  within 30 minutes we were served the first course.

emre & ben supervised

ready to serve the first course

emre decided to stay in the kitchen with andrea while we ate

first course: bruschette with tomatoes, with a zucchini/shallot/garlicy spread, and with a tomato/smoked mozzarella.  each one was incredible.

second course: ravioli in rucola pesto

third course: chicken slowly cooked in chianti

side: white beans cooked in olive oil and tons of garlic

andrea serving us dessert

dessert: ricotta tart with wild fruit sauce

after that meal we never thought we'd eat again (and yet...).  it was definitely a unique experience that i'm so glad we took the time to set up.

the next day our stay in tuscany was over, and we drove back down to rome.  when we arrived at the airport hotel, they informed us the city was closed down due to violent protests.  that was a shame, as we had planned to visit the trevi fountain (a special place for ben's dad).  instead we headed to ostia, a small sea-side suburb not far from the airport.

emre got a cone of whipped cream & was in heaven

after coffee & ice cream we ran around for a bit before heading back to the hotel to have dinner.

we flew out early the next morning, and have spent the week recovering (our stomachs, mostly) from that incredible holiday.  definitely a once in a lifetime trip (or, if we're lucky, maybe twice?) which we'll be dreaming of for some time to come.