An American Abroad: Castelina in Chianti (Tuscany)

Onto Tuscany and Castellina in Chianti . . .

What can I say? From one beautiful area to another. The Tuscan landscape, like Cinque Terre, is something you see on television or in pictures and say, ‘yeah right, it looks like that?!’ Well . . . it does . . . in every way. Castellina in Chianti is a small village my Mom and I happened upon 10 years ago. It is small medieval/renaissance hilltown nestled in the Chianti region of Italy. We stayed at Fattoria Tregole and was hosted by the lovely Edith. She runs a beautiful and very hidden B&B overlooking olive groves and grape vineyards. She serves and simple, but tasty, breakfast and even runs cooking classes (which my Mom and I took her up on happily). We also got a chance to walk around their cellars, since they are a small working winery. We also got out one day and did some wine tastings, thanks to our trusty GPS, a ‘few’ windy white stone roads and some suggestions from small, but very tasty winery employees.

**I have to pause, because as I write these blog entries, I realize that I have not yet told you a few of our interesting and, at times, gut splitting stories throughout our Matregrano Italian Tour. Could it be compared to a National Lampoon’s Vacation experience, well, at times . . . yes. Here is a list of a few of our note-worthy experiences throughout our travels though Italia . . .

1. The entire trip was focused on my Mother’s stubborn and moody phone. We ended up calling her 'Flo', so at least we had someone to yell at. One minute it had service, the next it didn’t. One minute we’d be driving along using the GPS system and the next, we’d be cut off. I believe the record for the amount of time she needed to restart the phone to reset the service was 4 or 5 times. The best thing was, that it became a joke every time the ‘power up’ ringtone sounded; alerting her the phone was operation. It reminded me of high school, when someone dropped their tray in the cafeteria and every one would cheer. That’s pretty much how we are dealing with the phone situation (mine just doesn’t even work).

2. When we did have GPS capabilities, ‘it’ or really I should say I, managed to drive our small Ford Fiesta rental car through the main (forbidden, I might add) street in Siena . . . one of the most historical Italian centers. Luckily, after my father turned bright red and my mom refused to look any of the passerby’s in the eye, we found a young waiter you gave us directions out and encouraged us to do so quickly.

3. Apparently once wasn’t enough, because I seemed (I blame it on the damn GPS at this point) to do the same thing through the lovely and super famous walled hill city of Montepulciano. At this point, my mom and I were laughing so hard she stopped breathing and I nearly peed myself (but my Dad still turned bright red). Now, luckily we only managed to go through the lower part of the main square and we got out pretty quickly by following a permitted vehicle. Look at it this way though, if you are interested in learning about the ins and outs or Siena and Montepulciano (on a personal level), put me behind the wheel.

4. Besides the phone, the private tours of famous walled cities and the profuse sweating all of us experienced, at this point we are just blown away by the amount of calories we have to be burning in Italy! I mean, you think Italy, you think amazing food. Well, it’s true. We have eaten some outstanding food, but DAMN, do we walk a lot. And not just walking, but hill/step walking. I am going to need a friggin’ vacation from Italy.

Anyway, back to Castellina in Chianti . . .

The first night we were there, we ate at a restaurant recommended by Edith. It was pretty disappointing. It was the first bad meal I had in Italy. I should have known, though, because it was in the main piazza and was filled with tourists. The food was soaked in butter and oil and it was just off-putting. Luckily the following night was our cooking class dinner/ We made foccacia, pasta, pesto, stuffed tomatoes, a roast and a few other goodies. A Canadian couple on their honeymoon were also taking the class. We ate outside, laughed (mainly about chasing bats out of houses . . . don't ask why) and just had a relaxing evening. On our last night in Castellina in Chianti, we hit a fantastic hidden outside restaurant, next to a vineyard. It was definitely a better suggestion than the first restaurant.

The following day we headed out for Montepulciano, hoping to stop by Siena on the way there. Well, as you may have read (if you were not totally bored and didn't skip the the bulleted list above), not only did we see Siena, but I decided (by accident, of course) to take the VIP tour of Siena and drive directly into the pedestrian walkways, up to the main square (I TOTALLY blame that incident on Flo). After my parents practically shi**ing themselves, I managed to get back on track and, with only one failed attempt at entering the majestic walled city of wine, made it safe and sound into Montepulciano.