Tour de Toscana

The Tuscany region of Italy is associated with marvelous wine and beautiful countryside. After spending three days in Tuscany I can say that both of these associations are true...especially in the snow!

After Rome's major snowstorm the school-sponsored Tuscany trip was canceled, but luckily, it was rescheduled for the following weekend. I had been looking forward to this trip since I heard about it at one of the Rome information meetings at Loyola. We planned to experience four cities: Siena, Arezzo, Pienza, and Orvieto. (February 12-14, 2012)

Siena

In front of the Duomo of Siena.

After three long hours on the bus we finally arrived in Siena. Siena is the home of St. Catherine of Siena and the beautiful Duomo of Siena. After getting our typical theology and history lesson from Dr. Dawson about the city we walked through the city to find the Duomo of Siena. This is my favorite church that I have seen in Italy so far. The outside has beautiful colorful detail and the inside has spectacular black and white striped columns (black and white are Siena's colors). The ribbed barrel vaults had beautiful detailing and reminded me of a starry night.

Afterwards we had some free time to get some lunch and try some of Tuscany's signature cuisine. Dr. Dawson reccommended we try the wild boar sauce, which was very similar to bolognese or ragu, just a bit saltier. We then met up with the group to look at some religious art, went to mass and headed to our hotel in Arezzo for a delicious three-course meal.

Arezzo

Some wine and food at Castella del Trebbia.

Our second day in Tuscany began with a walking tour of Arezzo. We once again looked at some religious art in a church and had a lot of free time to explore the city. We managed to find a french park that revealed a spectacular view of Arezzo and the Tuscan countryside. We spent most of our time there until our assigned time to visit the church. Afterwards we found a delicious resteraunt that served amazing lasagna. We were then off to the most anticipated activity of the trip: the castle wine tasting!

The wine tasting at Castella del Trebbia was located in the beautiful countryside with vineyards and mountains in every direction. This private estate was surrounded by some of the most stunning scenery I have ever seen. We had a tour of the family-owned castle and of the wine cellar. We then had the opportunity to learn the proper way to enjoy wine and taste one white wine, two red wines, and one dessert wine followed by a delicious three-course meal.

Pienza

The Tuscan countryside as seen from Pienza.

The last day of the trip was spent in the cities of Pienza and Orvieto. Pienza is a beautiful, small city that is famous for pecorino cheese. After Dr. Dawson's theology lecture in one of the churches we were able to explore the quaint city that was blanketed with snow. Everyone stumbled upon one of the most beautiful views of Tuscany. Mountains dusted in snow and a bright shining sun warrented for beautiful pictures and an opportunity to simply take in the beauty of Tuscany.

Orvieto
Orvieto, a city in the Umbria region of Italy, was the last stop of the Tuscany trip. It was surprisingly difficult to find a restaurant to eat lunch at, but after an hour of searching side cobblestone roads, we finally found a place where I ordered a delicious pesto and chicken pizza. I toured the city with some friends and eventually met up for the final church tour of the trip. Before heading home some of us decided to warm up with some hot chocolate, which was basically melted chocolate, that was absolutely delicious!

Once it was time to head back home to Rome, everyone was excited to return back to their homestays. For the first time, I felt as though my homestay was really my home here in Rome. There was nothing more enjoyable than walking into my apartment with my host mom waiting with a large smile on her face.