On Saturday December 18th, I had a day trip to Tuscany planned. Since there was no train or plane to catch, we could sleep in a little more and have breakfast at the hotel.
I had previously visited some of the same places we were going to that day, but with a group tour. I knew that I wanted to be able to spend a little more time where I wanted, so I chose to book a private driver. I looked into several companies and went with Belitaly Tours. Beki was our driver and he picked us up at 9:00 at our hotel.
There were some places I had specified I wanted to visit and then he added to the list. The first stop was one of his additions. We visited the Florence American Cemetery where 4,392 of our World War II soldiers are buried. There was a very heavy frost and ice a few places, but I'm so glad asked if we wanted to stop.
Next up was Siena. I love Siena and it's fabulous duomo so much!
The were actually working on the installation of the nativity while we were there...
This is the magnificent Piccolomini Library at the duomo. These frescos were painted from 1503-1508...
A She-Wolf, which is the symbol of Siena
After the duomo we walked along the streets of Siena mostly window shopping and soaking in the ambiance (of which Siena has tons). We did stop at this one store so that I could buy a couple of olive wood spatulas. I wanted one of those big cutting boards! But spatulas were all that wanted to haul in my suitcase!
I just love all the florists everywhere...
At the Siena Piazza
One of the things that was SO nice about the driver I selected (and I had no idea until that morning), was that he had a pass that allows him to drive right into the heart of Siena. Most tours have to drop you outside of the city and you walk in. He actually was able to drop us off and pick us up right here in the piazza.
I called Beki and he picked us up in the Piazza and I thought our next stop was lunch, but he surprised us with this medieval walled town of Monteriggioni. Oh I loved it!
This is the 13th Century Church of Santa Maria...
This town is on the Via Franciagena, which is an ancient pilgrim route from France to Rome. Siena is on the stop as well. Beki thought this guy on the bike was "one of the crazies who travel the pilgrim route"...
The next stop was lunch at Tenuta Torciano winery...
It started with meat, cheese, and bruschetta
Tuscan Ribollita Soup was next
Truffle Lasagna which doesn't look great in the pic, but was the best dang lasagna I've ever had...
16 hour roasted wild boar (I thought it was ok, but was so full, I didn't eat any more of it)
Next stop: San Gimignano
I LOVE San Gimignano and didn't get to spend enough time there on my first visit, which was partially why I chose to drop some cash that day and hire a driver
I wanted to meander around it's little streets and alleys until my heart was content...
We had some gelato in SG. Gelateria Dondoli has won a best gelato in the world competition. I don't think it was even the best of our trip, but it was very good. I didn't get any pics, but you can see the Gelateria in the video I took.
Babbo Natale was in San Gimignano that Saturday...
That was the last stop of the tour of Tuscany.
Later I wandered around Florence for a bit.
San Lorenzo...
Yeah, I had Gelato again. This evening I tried Grom, which is a chain, but I had read good things about it. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't a favorite.
That's an end of the second day in Florence/Tuscany. I ended the day quite a bit lighter in the pocketbook, but I cannot recommend Beki and Belitaly Tours enough! Next up is our last stop...Rome!
Comments