Oh snap, there's a gelato festival in Florence!

We went back into Florence to go visit the "David" by Michelangelo at the Academy. Our appointment at the academy was not until 2:00 p.m. so we had most of the day to as we pleased. Most people went shopping but I decided that I was going to visit some more museums and churches. I started my day at the Bargello National Museum, most of the collections are statues, included Donatello's Davids. Photos were not allowed in that room but I took some pictures in the courtyard area.

On top of the arch in Piazza Republicca. 

L'ANTICO CENTRO DELLA CITTÀ

DA SECOLARE SQUALLORE

A VITA NUOVA RESTITUITO

                                              (The ancient centre of the city / restored from age-old squalor / to new life)

 Map of the city of Florence

Visiting St. Lorenzo church. This is the cloister area with an orange tree in the middle.

A visit to the Academy to see Michelangelo's David. Pictures were not allowed inside.

But they have a consolation prize David in hot pink and orange outside beyond the gift shop.

Then off to the Cathedral Museum...

...to see another one of Michelangelo's Pieta

 ....and a bunch more of Donatello's statues

Then I spent the rest of my afternoon at the Gelato Festival! Yay!

Reggello

We took a nice walk to a local olive oil press and winery. This is the place where Casa Cares takes their olives to turn them into olive oil since the olive oil press at Casa Cares is no longer functional. Olive oil is the number one priority in this region even though there are wineries around as well. Here, wine is kind of a dime a dozen so unless you have some really spectacular wine, it's just not worth as much as the olive oil! Tuscan olive oil is known for it's quality and they can make a pretty penny on it because it is premium! The olive trees here grow smaller than other places so the olive are picked off the tree by hand, therefore affecting the acidity of the finished olive oil. Other places, the olives get a chance to ripen more so that they will easily fall off the tree when the tree is shaken/hit/comb so the acidity is different.

There's a little old church not far from Casa Cares and we went in to see the old church. It's pretty neat. They have a beautiful garden out back full of fruits, vegetable, herbs and flowers. Roses are blooming everywhere I've been in Italy and here in Tuscany, wild flowers (a lot of poppies) are also everywhere!

Wild peacock!

Old olive oil press!

 New Olive oil press.

This is where they used to store wine for aging.

 This is where the wine would ferment. These are no longer in use!

The white peacock showing off...everyone is taking pictures!

This place has beautiful garden outback!

 White peacock!

 These are cherries! Wild cherries just along the side of the road.

This is the whole complex where the oil press (and winery) is.

 This is a vineyard.

The road leading up to the old church.

 There's a little old church not far from Casa Cares and we went in to see the old church. It's pretty neat. They have a beautiful garden out back full of fruits, vegetable, herbs and flowers. Roses are blooming everywhere I've been in Italy and here in Tuscany, wild flowers (a lot of poppies) are also everywhere!

This is an old olive oil press in the basement of the church...no longer in use.

The sign on the old olive press: it means no cursing! Our guide said that there was probably a lot of cursing going on because making olive oil is hard work!

It's a beautiful place. I look around and the view is just breath taking! As my roommate said, " I feel like I'm living in a postcard!"

Siena

It started out as a rainy day. It was cold and wet. I'm just glad that I've packed enough long sleeves and jackets for the trip. It's been cold most days. We had a tour guide to lead us through the town today.

 

This is Piazza Salimbeni

 Eventually it cleared up into a nice but still pretty chilly day. Far away on the right is St. Catherine's Basilica...where they keep her relics (her head and her right thumb) unfortunately, no pictures were allowed inside the church. It was very interesting.

Walking up the stair to Siena's cathedral (Duomo), you can notice the spot where St. Catherine fainted, fell down and lost her teeth. They have marked it on the steps.

Inside the Duomo. Notice the more muslim motifs! 

 Siena's Cathedral (Duomo)

Piazza del Campo where they have the horse races! 

 The fountain in Piazza del Campo

 Roommate picture! So...as I was walking around today a bird decided to poop on my head. Thank goodness one of my roommates had some wet wipes and the other helped me cleaned the bird poop off my hair. I decided that I deserved to eat gelato twice today.

 It ended up being a really nice day in Siena, even with the bird poop fiasco and all.

Greve & San Gimignano in the Chianti Region

Well. Our day had a rocky start. First off, I don't think I've conveyed the road condition here.....we are on the mountain with super curvy and skinny roads. The driving situation is crazy, let alone being in a hugh tour bus!! We were not in an accident but there was an accident at one of those scary curbs in the road and the tour bus had to back up a good way up the mountain. We eventually found a place to turn around and we were on our way. Secondly, thank goodness for anti-motion sickness medicine.

We stopped in Greve (pronounce gray-vay) for their open market in the middle of town. It was like a flea market with lots of food. I thoroughly enjoyed my panino con porchetta (pork sandwich) and a coke for lunch. Yes, I finally broke down after 10 days of only water and coffee. Oh Coke, how I've missed you.

This was my lunch. Yum!

 Fresh fruit everywhere!

We're in Chianti wine region. 

Vineyard take the place of olive groves....although there are still olive trees around.

Wild boar is the specialty meat of the region.

 Chianti wine is the only wine that is wrapped in these little grass basket thing. Cute :)

The meat! Notice more of the "moldy ham."

Wild boar salami is the specialty here!

At 12:30 p.m. we hopped back on the bus and headed out to San Gimignano. This was probably the most beautiful drive I've seen since being here even though the drive was stomach churning. We finally got into San Gimignano and it started raining. Boo.

My first stop in San Gimignano was the gelato shop. I had read up about this little town in my Rick Steves' Italy book. Even though it's a small town with not much to do or see other than the town itself (another well preserved middle age town thanks to the black plague), they have a gelatoria that won the gelato world cup! Whoa! Who knew there was a gelato world cup ?!?!Gelato was delicious. 

The piazza in middle of town.

 Hello friends!

 Notice the creepy metal man on the left.....he's all over the town. 

I have no idea what the significance of the metal man is.....

More Chianti wine and moldy ham....these ones are still hairy!

 The beautiful handmade pasta. So colorful!

It was raining pretty bad and my pork sandwich was not heavy enough, so I ducked into a little pizza place and had a slice of pizza and waited until the rain subsided. I didn't get to see too much but I was happy that I did get some pictures of the town.