Day 9 - Tuscany / Chianti / The Departure

First of all, this was Mom's last day to spend with me before I had to make sure she caught her plane(s) home. Lucky for us, we saved the best for last.

We woke up this morning (same as usual), got dressed and hit the town. We knew that we had to head towards the train station, Santa Maria Novella, to catch our bus. The motorcar, as they call it, was going to take us out of the busy city of Florence into the country side. We had yet to travel outside the city, besides going to Pisa. But that was leaving one city to go to another. This day was NOT going to be the same.

The roads out of Florence are very curvy through the hills. The bus swerved left and right, up and down and before I knew it, I was struggling to keep my eyes open. As some of you know, I tend to get a little car sick on short ride through neighborhoods and down highways. This bus ride made me so sick, that I unfortunately missed most of the scenic country during the ride. I'm just glad that Mom got to see it.

Our first stop was in a town called St. Bridget. It's a small country town named after a woman who used to pray in the nearby grotto. After she preformed her miracles, and became a saint, they built a church upon the site of the grotto as well as named the town after her. St. Bridget, the town, is the perfect example of a quiet, quaint Tuscan village.

Tuscan countryside

Tuscan farm house

Tuscan farm house

St. Bridget Church

Statue of St. Bridget and Garden

St. Bridget Grotto

I should elaborate more on our location before I continue. We were not just headed out into Tuscany. Our destination was the Chianti Region. This is where the wine gets it's name from, not the grapes that make the wine which is a common misconception (more vino factoids to follow). In this Chianti Region, of which there are eight, our next and last destination was the Castello del Trebbio.

Castello del Trebbio 

Castello del Trebbio 

Mom and I with the Castello del Trebbio behind the pho-taugh 

Castello del Trebbio to the right of these scene

 

This is our tour guide Alberto. His cousin is married to Ana, the owner of the castle and the 800 surrounding acres. The man to his left is Mario. In the old days, each castle had a man responsible for guarding it while the family was not around. He is also responsible for the upkeep and guests who come. In the old days, the man who held this position was considered one with the property. He could not own much of his own or get married. Once Alberto's family took residence and ownership of the castle they broke tradition to allow Mario to get married and even take leave for a honeymoon. The 10 days Mario took for his honeymoon were the longest he has been away from the castle since the middle of the 50s. He is now in his early 80s.

This particular castle was built in 1184 as a fortress by the Pazzi Family. History lesson time! When researching Florence, I learned that there is significant history between two families during this era and hundreds of years to follow: The Medici's (ME-dee-chee) and The Pazzis (Pot-zee). The Medicis ruled the town of Florence as well as much of Europe. The owned the largest bank in Europe which lent money to the two most important figures of the time: The Pope and The King of England. These were debts that were never paid back. Therefore, in actuality, the Medici Family ran Europe. The Pazzis were No. 2. And since no one likes the be number two, they decided to "remove" The Medicis. This was not easy task. In fact, they had to establish the help of The Pope in order to determine hte best time and place to rub 'em out. The Pazzi's used the Castello del Trebbio as the location to conspire against the Medicis. This conspiracy is comparable to the J.F.K. assassination in U.S. history. So, all-in-all were were walking on some very historical and important ground.

Long since the Medici's and the Pazzi's owned the grounds, Alberto's family purchased the castle. He gave us a tour of the private rooms, seeing as his family still lived there year round. We were able to see the living quarters, dining room and cellar where the family wine was kept.

Inside the courtyard

Inside the courtyard

Wine cellar. Located in the castles basement and dungeon. 

Older wine bottles. We didn't taste any of these or the ones below. 

After the tour, we were taken back to the dining room for a proper wine tasting. We were shown how to properly hold a wine glass, cool the wine if it was too warm, warm the wine if it was too cool, determine the importance of color and sniff out different flavors the grapes provided. We also learned the difference between blended wine and wine made by one grape. I could go on and on, but all in all is was a fascinating day filled with information about Tuscan Chianti wine. What more could you ask for?!

 Scene for our wine tasting 

Mom and I at the wine tasting

As wonderful of a day that it was, I knew that it was only hours before Mom was jumping on a plane to Germany and then Chicago. I made dinner in our room and we ate and talked the remainder of the evening. I do hope she knows that already today, Jan. 6, I am missing my Italian buddy as I begin my adventures by myself.

This is now where I find myself. And I'm ready.





P.S. In case you were wondering about the conspiracy against the Medici's by the Pazzi, turns out that the Pazzi's ambushed the Medici's in the duomo of Florence (pictures in former entries). The Pazzis were successful in killing only one of the important Medici family members. Within two days of the duomo ambush, 100 Pazzi Family members were killed, strung up and hung in the center of Florence. Don't mess with the Medici Family. A few years after that, the Medici were successful in making not one, but two family members Popes in succession. Message sent.