Happy Sabbath

MONTECATINI, ITALY - Well I'm tired.

Today, since it was Sabbath, my Tuscany tour group decided to take it easy and spend more time in nature versus touring a lot. So we woke up, bussed out to the middle of nowhere (in the Chianti wine region) and walked through the countryside. While it was very isolated (and very warm), it was definately a very cool experience. We had "church" and ate lunch outside a little chapel built only 1,000 years ago. The whole place overlooked the Tuscan countryside, so it was a very welcomed rest from the walk up to that point.

From there, we walked over to a little renovated castle that was now a Chianti vineyard and wine cellar. Seeing where and how the wine was made and stored really reinforced to me how important this industry is to this place. BUT, when I had the chance to try this famous drink out, I almost spit up! My white wine tasted like bug spray and was not nearly as good as the red, which tasted like bug spray and grape juice. I don't think I'll ever have a problem with being a real wino!

After walking around here, we ran over to Vinci (think da Vinci...) and checked out Leonardo's hometown. Between his old house and the village itself was a pretty long countryside walk, but it was gorgeous nonetheless. Alongside the road, there'd often times be roses as wide as a human face and cypress trees stretching to the sky. It's another part of the trip I'll always remember.

After the town of Vinci, we headed back to Montecatini and peacefully closed out the Sabbath. All in all, it was a tiring but wonderful day. Can't wait to head back out tommorow.

-cw