Under the Tuscan Sun

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Sunday all of my roomies and I did the "Under the Tuscan Sun" tour with our study abroad group, and it was amazing! Our first stop was at a vineyard just a little ways outside of Montipulciano (I think I spelled this wrong). We went in and first had the most amazing, heavenly, wonderful, (you get the idea) foccia bread I've ever had in my entire life EVER, along with some fantastic cheese made special in that area. We tasted a special 2003 reserve wine that they made in that vineyard, then took a tour of their wine cellar before doing another tasting of their 2001 reserve. After the tastings and time for people to make purchases we sat down for a delicious 5 course meal. We had two types of pasta, pork, salad, and a dessert bread made with nuts, dried fruit, and rosemary(not my favorite, I must admit).
After the meal we had one more tasting, then piled on the bus to head into the town of Montipulciano, which is said to be the highest town in the area. This was a beautiful city but quite steep--we were all tired after the hike around the town. While there we toured an underground wine cellar--it was really cool, several stories deep underground and very maze-like.
We left Montipulciano and drove to Pienza, another small town not too far away. The scenery between the two towns was amazing! It's solid rolling hills covered in vines, olive trees, hay fields, and sheep pastures, very picturesque even though it's winter. Pienza is a beatuiful town with a true Tuscany feel. There is a wall surrounding the city and the square was redone by the pope who it is named after--definately one of my favorite places, and I cant wait to go back!

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