We decided our first weekend away would be in Chianti. We hired a car and as it was much cheaper to get a manual, Anna was the designated driver, which suited me just fine!
Just south of Firenze, this is the largest wine region in Italy, and is responsible for producing 'Chianti Classico' which is usually what we drink when we go out for dinner, which is basically every night haha. We booked a cheap little B&B just outside of the main town of Chianti (Greve), and after Anna successfully navigated us out of the hustle and bustle of Firenze, we were there 45 mins later pushing our two tiny single beds together to make a double!
We went straight into Greve that night to have a look around and after Anna struck up a friendship with the local patisserie chef, we decided on a cute little family run restaurant for dinner in the main Piazza. Whilst it was a great place and Anna enjoyed her meal, I made the mistake of ordering the 'veal hoof off the bone' which was actually a plate of gelatinous fat and was fucking disgusting!
Next morning we set off for the day, first stop was 'Castello di Verrazzano' which is one of the most well known vineyards in the Chianti region. The castle at this wine estate was home to Giovanni da Verrazzano who explored the Nth American coast and is commemorated in New York by the Verrazzano bridge which crosses the Hudson River. It was a lovely spot with plenty of great photo opportunities!
Next stop was a tiny little medieval village called Montefiorale which was way up in the hills overlooking Greve. Again it was a great spot for photos and a chance for yours truly to continue the sampling of vino!
Lonely Planet then came through with the goods by putting us onto a small town called 'Panzano in Chianti', known throughout Italy for the butcher shop run by Dario Cecchini. The burger with vegetables and potatoes was amazing and good for a change from the usual proscuito/cheese/pesto panini that I have basically had every day!
By this stage I had tasted a fair share of wines, but it wasn't over yet! We went back to Greve to a special wine cellar where you could taste over 140 different wines. 2 hours of this, with the last 20 mins dedicated to grappa almost put me on my arse, but not before a big bowl of pasta.
The next morning we woke up with another average breakfast supplied by our B&B and set off for a short stop at a town in Sth Chianti called 'Castellina in Chianti' before driving west to our next destination, San Gimignano. Anna had been here before, but was excited to go again and I was equally as excited as I had heard much about it. Driving into SG, the 14 towers of this walled hill town look like a medieval Manhattan. There were originally 72 towers built by families to flaunt their power and wealth, but that has now decreased to 14. Nevertheless it was a fantastic place, no wonder so many people talk it up. We toured some of the museums and the Palazzo Comunale, had lunch, had gelati, played funny buggers and climbed the palazzo's Torre Grossa (the tallest of the remaining 14 towers) for amazing views of the town and surrounding countryside.
Loving this. When we did the walk from sienna to Florence we saw all tese places and sayed close to greve so ofcourse did the wine sampling as well. We stayed a night in panzano. It took us 8 days to do the walk. Xx mando
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