A Taste of Tuscany

Under the Tuscan sun we walked, we talked, we ate and we drank great wines. The eight of us from Australia, Switzerland, Vienna, New York, Florida and Portland gathered again, our fourth meeting since 2006 for a 6 day walking tour through our chosen country. The first meeting in 2006 was a celebration of our fearless leader’s 40th birthday. This leader is our common friend who gathered us all together and still initiates the excursions and plans extensively so that we all get to the right place at the right time. We’ve walked the beaches of Northumberland, England and Hadrian’s Wall with a break day at Alnwick Castle where scenes from the 1st Harry Potter movie were filmed. Our second gathering was in the Pyrénées in Southern France where the highlight was a day walking the Cirque de Gavernie. Two years later we gathered in Scotland to hike the West Highland Way. Every walk has had it’s perks and all have been beautiful with incredible scenery along the way. Every walk has had it’s trials, most having to do with blisters and this walk was no different. But each time the 8 of us gather we enjoy the reunion more than the last and we enjoy the history of the challenges we’ve faced and the time to be with strong women discussing our families and our future and the trials and joys we’ve experienced in the last few years and most of all we have a lot of good laughs together and lots of questions from the locals as to how we became a group given our diverse backgrounds (i.e. Sudanese, Italian, Alaskan, Minnesotan, Swiss and Pakistani/Australian).

We began our reunion in Siena, Italy with a few of us arriving a day early so we could acclimate to the time change. We spent the first day touring the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta and eating a fantastic meal of ravioli with herbs and almonds. The first walking day came quickly as the last of our troops gathered on late Saturday afternoon and early Sunday we headed out. One obstacle we’ve never faced before Tuscany was the intense heat. Those of us from Alaska and Switzerland were not used to the heat but we endured and our first destination, Asciano, proved to be a lovely respite at Ristorante La Mencia where we ate on the patio and lingered into the evening.

The next day’s highlight was ending the day at Monte Oliveto Maggiore monastery to celebrate a mass with the Benedictine monks chanting in Latin. The chanting proved to be magical in promoting sleep but more importantly this was a time to connect with spirit and my roots in the Catholic Church.

My favorite hotel was by far the Hotel Dei Capitani.  Not only was Montalcino a darling village atop a steep hill we trudged up in the heat but it was worth it because the views were AMAZING from the back of the hotel!  Capitani had lovely well appointed rooms, a pool on the backside with a view and the delicious breakfast could be eaten in a bright cheery room indoors with large windows or on their deck again with the view. Montalcino was also home to my favorite wine, Le Chiuse vineyards Brunello de Montalcino. We passed Le Chuise vineyards before ascending to the village.

The biggest impression Italy made on me was the history evident in the architecture. Traveling to Europe always gives me a sense of how new the US is. Each village had a gate we would walk through, a medieval gate because the villages and towns were surrounded by stone walls (Montalcino’s were built in the 13th century). Most towns we entered we did so by climbing a huge hill…and let me tell you, these hills make a larger impression when hiking then when traveling Tuscany by car. Our route brought us from Siena to Asciano, Buonconvento, Montalcino, Bagno Vignoni, Pienza and finally to Montepulciano.

And another huge impact I brought home was the amazing countryside and views we experienced. The weather was dreamy for great views and it was obvious that Italy grows much of their own food as we saw wheat fields, olive trees, cherry trees (maybe we ate a few cherries that looked like Rainier Cherries from the Northwest) and of course many vineyards.

And then there’s the food. The best breakfasts were served with lovely plain yogurt and fresh fruit, croissants sometimes filled with apricots, cured meats and cheeses and my friends enjoyed a number of fresh espressos at each hotel. The Tuscan Orange juice was delightful and the loveliest deep red color with rich orange flavor. My favorite lunches were those that we picked up at the local deli and bakeries. One day we were craving vegetables and we had fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and red onion with deli fixins and breads. For dessert we packed paneforte, a better than fruitcake sweet treat with nuts and the best was from Siena. For dinner, the homemade pasta was amazing, although I did check out the meat selection and ate chicken and beef and the beef was generally done quite nicely although a little more red than I like it. We often ate delicious bruschetta for an appetizer done a little differently at each restaurant. My favorite dessert was panna cotta with blackberry rhubarb sauce.

I am happy to report being acclimated back to the Portland time zone, 9 hours from Tuscany, and was so happy to reunite with my family after my adventures but the memories of Tuscany will linger on and the experiences of the views of vineyards and orchards, and the tastes of Tuscany I’ll have forever as well as the friendships of those 7 women I love to meet every two years.