Thursday, May 29, 2014

Exploring the hills of Tuscany

On our last afternoon in Tuscany, the hosts at our agriturismo loaned us their two young sons, Nicola and Alessandro, both university students, who kindly drove us up to those hills we had been admiring from down below. We were left to explore for a bit, and they came back for us at an appointed time. As we explored the town, Alex and I looked down the hill and could see La Pietriccia from a different perspective. (It's near the top in this photo.)


Spring is such a lovely time to visit with all the lush greenery and flowering trees.


We decided to stop for a bite to eat at this place, the Bar Centro Storico Pasticceria. It was shortly after noon on Sunday, and we noticed a lot of very well-dressed people coming from church. The men wore suits and the women wore suits or dresses and high heels. I loved the fashions I saw in Italy, partly because the women there dressed very femininely and apparently love florals as much as I do!

Inside this restaurant, I almost decided to camp out here at the glass case full of sweets. Yum! I have realized that Europeans take their sweets very, very seriously. It is perhaps a good thing I don't live there.

As we read over our menus, I was surprised to find I was sitting in a ... "tea-room." Who knew? But I wasn't in the mood for tea. I wanted something Italian, and what's more Italian than …

Pizza! Mmm. That Pizza Margherita is sooooo good. One thing I noticed about the Italian food we ate was that it tasted cheesier but less greasy than Italian food in America. I really must explore Italian cooking.

Whether I'm having it at the moment or not, tea is never far from my mind, so during our wanderings I was tickled to find these pretty lace curtains with teacups and kitchenwares hanging from one of the windows in Chianciano!

Bright red geraniums were all over the town, spilling off ledges and out of window boxes everywhere you looked.

The other feature I absolutely loved about the old part of town was all the intimate little alleyways. I loved seeing the bricks and cracks and weathered metals. So, so charming.

And did I mention all the window boxes? Yes. I believe I did.

This was a pretty church we had passed on our trip up into the hills.

And all too soon, we were back at La Pietriccia having our final dinner, and this was the scene as we prepared to say goodbye to lovely, lovely Tuscany.

Tomorrow: Winding up the trip in Rome … and another small giveaway!

10 comments:

  1. Beautiful! All the flowers, wow! And those sweets...but I think I liked the teacup curtains best of all! Looking forward to your next post.

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  2. So lovely! Wonderful pictures, makes me want to go back. Ciao Bella!

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  3. Thanks for sharing your wonderful Tuscany trip! Only a tea lover could 'instinctively' find a tea room without even trying! ;-)

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  4. Ohhhhhh! I do love a good Margarita pizza and this looks delicious. Al the more better for being served in a tearoom. Loved your second photo framed by blossoms, but each and every photo was wonderful. What a very special way to experience Tuscany. The red geraniums and window boxes too! Wow!

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  5. Such beautiful memories of a fantastic trip! Love all the photos - reminds me of Spain! Must be that Mediterranean influence!

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  6. I've always wanted to visit Tuscany and seeing it through your eyes is wonderful. The agriturismo seems like a great way to stay there.

    Your photos of the scenery and foods of the region are beautiful.

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  7. Anyone who enjoys tea would love those lace curtains! Pretty Pretty! Tuscany does look divine. A tea room visited too -- wonderful!

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  8. Lovely.
    I suspect the cheese had something to do with the less greasy, etc. I wonder if it was buffalo mozzarella? My local Italian market gets that in from time to time and it's wonderful.

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  9. Great post today Angela - such beautiful photos! That pizza looks so good and those pastries, wow!
    Joanie

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  10. Absolutely beautiful scenery, Angela! I am getting caught up on your travels. I read the Rome post and then this one. The food would be out of this world, wouldn't it? Would love to try that pizza! Thanks for sharing with us and safe travels back home.

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