Wine is constant proof that God loves us and loves to see us happy

Benjamin Franklin said that.

I apologize for the lull in blog posts, but this past week I have been pretty busy with my classes, and also feeling very lazy. But I'm back!

Last weekend one of my sorority sisters was here visiting! It was so much fun! We were able to see so much and even took a day trip to Fiesole, which is a small town that over looks Firenze. It is much older than Firenze, since that was the original settlement before people moved down by the river.

Lots of walking up and down

Over looking Firenze!

Sorelle :)

The monastery of San Francesco

Ancient ruins!

Fiesole

 Like I said, this city was founded much before Firenze, so they have a lot of Etruscan ruins. However, being college students on a budget, we decided to skip the actual museum and walked around the edge of the fence instead. As you can see above, it was just as good!

Kate and I

It was so nice to see a familiar face in Florence! I'll be seeing her again in Paris! And I actually have two other people I know that will be in Florence this next week. I'm definitely looking forward to all of that!

This weekend is going to be full of adventures, too. Today I went with SRISA to Chianti, and tomorrow Alicia and I are going to Bologna. We're taking a cooking class in Bologna, and I am very excited about that. You'll have to check in (hopefully) later this weekend to see how that went.

Chianti, however, was fantastic! Anything that involves beautiful vineyards and wine tasting is bound to be great, but this was really great. Chianti is right outside of Florence, and we were in a section called Greve. We stopped in the city center first this morning and were able to wonder and find some food or whatever we wished to do. A lot of people are in photography classes this session, so it was definitely a great opportunity for all of them.

The town was very quiet and small, so after finding a great bakery we just chilled until it was time to pick up and move.

Giovani da Verrazzano, he discovered NY.

After having a lazy morning, we jumped back on the buses and made the trip up all of the winding hills to Castello di Verrazzano. Apparently when the original family first bought the estate it was occupied with tons of wild boars, so translated, Verrazzano means "lives with the boars" or something along those lines.

Chianti is, as you should know, the wine district of Tuscany. Chianti wines are different from the rest and undergo long processes and must follow strict guidelines. It was the first wine every documented in the Americas, and has been very important to the region for many many years.

They have either Chianti Classico or Reserve, and each batch must be tested to make sure it qualifies as the right product and is worthy of the high quality pink ribbon around the top of the bottle. I wish I could tell you everything our tour guide told us about the process and what goes into each type of wine, but I don't remember. It was really cool though, and the history behind it was great.

Renaissance pond

Wild boar!

Lemons

Verrazzano competition across the hills

Making prosciutto

After the tour, we were taken to the restaurant for the taste testing, along with a spread of meats and cheeses. I was in heaven!

We were taught how to assess a glass of wine before drinking it. First, you put the glass up to your nose to smell it. Then, you hold the glass up against something light or white to test the color and make sure it matches up with the age of the wine; if it's a younger wine it will be a deeper red, if it is older it will have a more golden tint to it. After the color, you swish it around in the glass a few times, making sure you really move it around. Then take another whiff, and you'll notice that the aroma has changed. I don't know what the difference should be, but I know that it should smell different after swishing it around!

Dessert!

The first wine we tried was the Verrazzano Rosso, next the Chianti Classico, and third we had Chianti Reserve. Out of all of them, I think the Rosso was my favorite. For dessert we had Vino Santo, or the holy wine. You dip your biscotti in it, let the wine soak in, and drink it through the cookie. It was great, but so sweet. A little bit definitely went a long way. The dessert wine was the only tasting where we were only given a glass. The rest we got in bottles to share with the table, so I think it's safe to say that we all had about four or five glasses of wine. By the end of lunch, we were feeling great.

We still had a few hours before heading back to Firenze, so we made a few purchases at the vinery store and then went out walking. We helped ourself to the pathway down the vineyards. It was so beautiful, and right then and there I decided that if I were to move to Italy I would have to have a house somewhere with a view of the countryside. Having a vineyard wouldn't be too bad, either!

Happy as a grape!

As usual, the pictures don't do the scenery justice. And throughout the entire day the person I was thinking most about was my dad. After smelling the Chianti Classico, I said "this smells like my dad!" If you know him then you understand that that is not a bad thing at all. He needs to do this, along with many other things I've been so fortunate to do on this trip. I'll just add it to the list of reason to come back with my family :)

It was a beautiful day with wonderful weather, friends and wine. What more could you ask for?

Next week is our last week of class! I can't believe this month has gone by so quickly. Next weekend I'm off to Paris, and the weekend after that I'll be at a wedding in Gaylord. That is so weird to think about. I need to go find a good pair of shoes before I go! I guess that is what I'll be searching for this week :)

xoxo