Siena……aww sweet Siena.

I think of Siena as Florence’s sweet little sister in a prime location to also head out into the Tuscan wine region. I spent several days in Siena, a charming little University town filled with it’s 17 contradas (all named after animals). These are neighborhoods like little social clubs. Each neighborhood has their own church, fountain, social club or community room, and of course a stall for their horse which comes into play during July and August when they have Palio Di Sienta, the biggest horse races in all of Italy.  In Siena, I stayed at Villa Fiorita (little flower) just a couple of blocks outside of the city’s walls. It was an old Tuscan villa full of antique furniture and a lovely garden. It was peaceful and sweet and inspired me not to forget to experience the Tuscan Wine Region while I was there.

My Little Villa in Siena

I decided to go into The Chianti wine region which is known as the land of harmony. Locals call it The Garden of Chianti and describe entering the region is like being on a ancient, solitary journey amidst the intense, lasting embrace of noble vineyards and sacred olive groves. There were rolling hills, Romanesque churches, castles, and medieval villages like that of San Giminiagno which we visited. The village was like a walk down cobblestone streets into the past.

A view of San Gimignano and it's medieval towers

A lady with an angelic voice playing the harp as we walked through the garden from atop the medieval castle while the sun glistened through the trees was perfect symbolism for the small hamlet that was so captivating.

If you can’t see the video below, please click here to view.

In the Chianti wine region we visited a small local organic vineyard named Casanova. Run by Silvano, a native Sienese who left his Italian corporate job, in his words, a world of madness with 1,000 employees and 3,000 daily problems, to follow his dream. Only a  small vineyard in the heart of the Tuscan countryside that intentionally stays away from any mass production. Organic wine varietals, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and fresh lavender and rosemary essential oils. Here, I also had my first pleasant tasting of honey on cheese and balsamic vinegar on ice cream. A real delicacy of the region.

Silvano describing the process of his winemaking

The Chianti Wine Region

Me and the crew from NYC on the wine tour with our amazing guide Elio

“Good Chianti, that aged, majestic and proud wine, enlivens my heart, and frees it painlessly from all fatigue and sadness.” – Francesco Redi, a great Italian scholar

Lovers in the streets in San Gimignano

My favorite quote from the Chianti wine region:

Bread for a day, wine for a year – An old local proverb

One of my favorite pictures from San Gimignano:

Two Lovers in the Street

As a side note for those of you have asked, my posts are of course not in real time. I am no longer in Siena, by the time you read this I will actually be in Sicily and having a Sicilian holiday. I am having so much fun and constantly on the go, I typically don’t get a chance to update until at least a week after I’ve left a certain location…..or in this case a month. Haha. But, I am actually trying my best at posting in the order in which I visited. This is actually the timeline for the Italian Itinerary: Florence and Siena (First of November), Lake Trasimeno on the border of Tuscany and Umbria (Mid-End November), Naples and The Amalfi Coast (Beg. of December), The wanderings around the entire island of Sicily starting in Palermo (Mid December through the new year), then to Rome where I will spend the first week of January before I fly to India.

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