Since we already had two toasters when we moved in together, we didn't ask for one as a wedding present. Instead, we wanted a contribution to our honeymoon, which we planned to spend in Tuscany and Cinque Terre in Italy. So first a big thank you to family and friends who made this dream trip possible.
Usually when we travel, we book travel and accommodation ourselves, we google, search and ask friends for tips. This time we went old school and walked down to the local travel agency. Here we met Pirjo, who turned out to be a real Italy fanatic and who had lots of good tips. We told her what we had in mind and came up with a great proposal that we took right off. It was a week in Tuscany and a week in Liguria at Cinque Terre. This post is about our first week and here you can read about our second week.
We flew to Pisa where we stayed for two nights which was just enough to discover the city. It's a big enough city for a weekend trip and besides the lovely weather there is a lot to see and do, the leaning tower if nothing else.
Andra dagen plockade vi upp vĂ„r hyrbil för att bege oss vidare till ljuvliga Toscana. Vi hade egentligen tĂ€nkt att vi skulle hyra cyklar och cykla runt mellan vingĂ„rdar sĂ„ som mĂ„nga verkar göra. Jag vet dock inte om dessa personer Ă€r vĂ€ldigt modiga eller trötta pĂ„ livet. Toscana har enbart smala slingriga vĂ€gar och alla kör i full fart. Vi fick ocksĂ„ höra att ”man tar ju kurvorna bĂ€ttre efter ett par glas vin”, varför vi ganska snart bordlade idĂ©n om cyklar. En av oss fick helt enkelt ta vistelsen i Toscana lite mer torrlagd. Tur att vi Ă€ndĂ„ bodde pĂ„ en vingĂ„rd. đ
Below you can see pictures of the small village of Volterra which is about half way to Tuscany. This spring had been the rainiest in living memory so it was still very quiet in the area, but we were incredibly lucky and only had one rainy day before the spring sun came out and gave us a fantastic weather the whole trip. After all the rain, it was also incredibly green and lush everywhere.
Our travel agent Pirjo had booked us into the vineyard Castelvecchi in the centre of the Chianti area. This old castle with a beautiful garden in the middle of the rolling countryside we had never found ourselves and we could not have got a better accommodation. The food was really good, the service super and the location was perfect for getting around the various villages in Tuscany.
Vad gör man dĂ„ i Toscana? Det Ă€r inte platsen för dig som gĂ„r pĂ„ diet. HĂ€r Ă€ter och dricker man gott mest hela tiden. Förutom vĂ„r egen vingĂ„rd besökte vi ett antal andra gĂ„rdar som hade riktigt bra restauranger. Medan Castelvecchi var mer rustik och familjĂ€r sĂ„ fanns det gĂ„rdar dĂ€r du fick plocka pĂ„ dig finstassen och avnjuta mer konstnĂ€rliga kreationer. Eller ocksĂ„ hamnar du pĂ„ den lokala pizzerian pĂ„ torget och fĂ„r Ă€ta den godaste pastarĂ€tten du Ă€tit i ditt liv. Det senare skedde en dag nĂ€r vi varit ute och utforskat de olika smĂ„ byarna i chiantiomrĂ„det. Vi hade kommit alldeles i otakt med maten och var plötsligt jĂ€ttehungriga klockan fem pĂ„ eftermiddagen men det fanns inte en öppen restaurang inom synhĂ„ll. Nöden har ingen lag tĂ€nkte vi och valet föll dĂ„ pĂ„ det lite smĂ„trista haket pĂ„ torget i Gaiole in Chianti som var det enda som var öppet. Oj, vilket stĂ€lle! Vi blev först övertalade till en ”liten” förrĂ€tt, vilken ni ser pĂ„ en av bilderna nedan, som sedan följdes av en riktig bra middag, en tryffelpasta till mig och en oxfilĂ© till Henrik. Trots att vi satt ute, lĂ„g tryffeldoften tung över nejden nĂ€r servitrisen kom ut med maten. Kameran glömdes dĂ€rför helt bort till förmĂ„n för den goda maten.
If you get tired of wine and lush hills, Tuscany has two beautiful cities to visit, Florence and Siena. We chose to save Florence for a trip of our own that we hope will happen soon and instead headed for Siena which is like a Florence in miniature. We were only here for the day and the city is just big enough to stroll around for a day. Don't miss the beautiful cathedral Duomo di Siena or Piazza del Campo whose large square is the site of an annual horse race.
Our first week of our honeymoon was almost over and we can both say that Tuscany really is a wonderful place to travel to. With our bags full of good wine, we now travelled on by train to Liguria to hike away a few kilos of food and to get new nature experiences.
