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5.31.17, Rome
I had thought that my last blog post about my trip would be written in Düsseldorf, where I was going to catch a connecting flight to Boston. Well, this morning I got an email from airberlin saying that my first flight had been delayed. I knew that I'd miss my connecting flight, so I call the airline and see what they could do. Well, all things considered, they pretty seamlessly transferred me on to a partner airline, so I flew from Florence to Rome, and am now flying to Boston. And I'm only arriving an hour later than I would have originally - not bad! I can't wait to get home! Partly because there's going to be a shower and a comfy bed waiting for me, and more so because I haven't seen Shadow for a month - I can't wait for the whole 30 seconds that he'll be excited to see me, because then all he'll want to do is play! I'm also looking forward to seeing my parents again. I actually miss them! And my friends, and normal life. I'm actually excited to get back to my life, which is saying something. And it's good to know that I'll be planning and traveling again in the future! So, ciao Europe! I'll be seeing you again soon. And thank you to everyone who kept up with this blog while I was traveling. It was so nice to know that people I love were keeping an eye on me! Xoxo Maggie
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And a video of part of the Corsini estate!
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Internet was too slow to post this yesterday. Video from the top of the Duomo!
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This was the personal garden and views from the owners of the Montemaggio winery. Definitely personal goals, someday!
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Some wooden storage barrels, and terracotta vats for olive oil from the Corsini estate
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This is the kind of scenery I got to look at while we drove!
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My tour group at the second winery, Montemaggio!
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View from my seat at the restaurant we stopped at for lunch
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5.30.17, Florence
So I was too tired yesterday to write about the Tuscan wine and food tour that I took, so I'll write about it tonight! First of all: The tour was AMAZING. It was seriously the best part of my time in Italy, and one of the highlights of my trip. I was trying to think of some constructive criticism to write when I leave a review for the tour, but honestly couldn't think of anything. The tour was that amazing. I'd recommend it to anyone and everyone who is visiting Florence! Our tour guide, Martina, was lives a few towns over from Florence. She was amazing - full of energy, funny, warm, and knew what she was talking about! There were maybe 15 people on the tour, and mostly families and couples. I was the only solo traveler, but that wasn't a problem. One of the couples was from St. Petersburg where I went to college, so that was pretty cool! The premise of the tour was that we would go to a couple wineries, learn about how wine is made and get a behind-the-scenes look at what a winery is actually like. Some of the wineries make olive oil, too, so we learned about that process as well. And then we stopped for lunch with a view of vineyards and the Tuscan countryside, but I'll get to that later! And then our last stop was in a town, Greva, which is in Chianti but off the beaten path. The first winery belonged to the Corsini family, which was one of the ruling Italian families whose lineage goes back hundreds of years. Martina said that the couple is considered royalty - a prince and princess. And the winery and vineyard is right outside of their home, so why we were touring a busy-looking man bustled by, and Martina stopped dead in her tracks and whispered, "That's him! That's the prince!". So, I got to see someone royal, too! It was so cool to see an authentic winery, and an Italian one, too! These places are hundreds of years old. We learned got to see the machines they have for crushing the grapes, and even the different storage barrels, wood ones and concrete and so on. Then we got to the best part: The wine tasting. We left at 9 in the morning, so it was more of a day-drinking marathon. We had some bread and sliced deli meats to go along with our Chianti wines, and it was all so good! I lucked out, because I haven't drank much red wine in the past. I'm more of a Pinot Grigio girl myself, but the red wine that I have liked has been Chianti. And this trip was in the Chianti region of Tuscany, so the majority of wine that we drank were different variations of Chianti. It was awesome! Martina was full of fun facts while we drove to lunch. She asked our tour if we had noticed how Tuscan bread is very plain, and it was something that we had all noticed, but never questioned. Well, Martina explained that back in the days when Italy was compromised of states that were constant warring against each other (Italy was only united in roughly 1861, same year as our Civil War), Florence was at war with another state, Siena, I think, although that might be incorrect. Anyways, the state that they were at war with cut off their salt supply. So, Florence had use salt only for necessary things, like food preservation. So, not salt in bread anymore. But the best part was, that Florence got their revenge. Eventually they'd go on to beat the state that had cut off their salt supply, and forbade them from using salt in their bread, just because they could. And thus, that's why Tuscan bread is very plain and has no salt in it! The restaurant that we ate lunch at was literally off the beaten path. We took winding dirt roads, and were thankful that our bus driver knew what he was doing! And the food - oh my God, it was the best lunch I've ever had. There was fresh bruschetta, and pasta. I didn't even question what I was eating, just loaded up my plate and dove in. The first pasta dish had some meat in it that was absolutely delicious, and I found out after I had cleaned my plate that it was wild boar. I would definitely have it again! As I mentioned before, the restaurant overlooked vineyards and hills, and made its own wine and olive oil, which we were able to enjoy at lunch. It's big claim to fame was not so long ago, George Clooney ate there! Apparently he arrived with his wife on a little Vespa, and the waiters are so professional that the waitress treated him just like she would anyone else. So at the end of dinner he said, "Oh, by the way, I'm George Clooney." Sort of joking. And the waitress shakes her hand and says, "I'm Cecily." He came back for dinner again the next day, and I can see why! Then after our lunch stop, we set off to another winery. This one was smaller than the Corsini estate. Luck was in our favor, because the estate manager herself, the woman who oversees and makes the wine, was there, and she gave us a personal tour of the winery! She knew so much, so it was amazing to hear her speak. This winery was organic, so she went into a lot of detail about the soil and conditions that are optimal for grapes that make good wine. She really knew her stuff, and you could see how passionate she was talking about wine. And that's what I think was really cool about this tour. The people that make and drink wine are passionate! We got to tour the vineyard a bit, and she took us to the winery's vegetable garden, and then the beautiful personal garden of the estate owners. As Martina said, most people who go into wine-making business are not doing it for the money - it's because they have money to spend! The second winery's wines were amazing. I think we had four or five samples? I drank them all, and enjoyed every last drop. It was a hot, hot day, too, so it was nice to be in the shade and sipping on a good drink! We were all getting pretty tired at this point. Turns out a day of drinking, eating, and learning about wine is actually decently exhausting. We stopped in a small town though, Greva, where we were able to get gelato and some people shopped a little. Then it was back to Florence! And, oh, the scenery as we were driving back was just incredible. It was everything that you'd ever imagine about the Tuscan countryside. Rolling hills, shades of green and brown, vineyards, monasteries and stone houses that looked as old as they actually are. Martina made sure to stop at the most picturesque places so we could take pictures if we want, but pictures couldn't do it justice. I just stared out the window the whole time, and tried to soak in what I was seeing, and feeling. Once again, I got a little tears eyed. It was so beautiful, and not to toot my own horn, but I'm so damn proud of myself. I did it! I made it to Europe, and enjoyed myself! The Wine and Food tour was just the icing on the already perfect cake. It was the perfect way to end my month long trip in Europe. I had today, to rest and pack and get my thoughts together before I go home. I thought I would be sadder about leaving Europe, but I'm actually looking forward to going home. I think there's a reason (other than running out of money) that vacations don't last forever. I'm looking forward to going back to a routine, and saving up and planning my next trip!
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5.30.17, Florence
Well, tomorrow I fly home. My month-long trip in Europe is coming to an end. It was an amazing trip. I saw so many, and did so many incredible things. But the best part was that I was truly able to enjoy everything because I was HEALTHY. I didn't have any panic attacks, or spend days crying in my room. Not that my journey didn't have a bump here or there, which is just a part of life and part of living with mental illnesses. But I'm so much stronger and healthier than I was years, or even just months ago. I know myself, and respect my boundaries and limitations. And working within my own parameters, I think, was the key to the success of my trip. I knew that I wouldn't be able to travel miles and miles a day, sight-seeing from 9 in the morning to 7pm at night. I would have crashed and burned. So I took my time, and had days where I did nothing but walk around for as much as I was feeling up for, ate, and took naps. And what an amazing difference it made. I wish I had learned to accept myself, and my strengths and weaknesses, a long time ago! But that's alright. Because I had a blast on this trip, and am looking forward to getting home and planning my next trip :)
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And a view from the top of the Duomo, overlooking Florence! It's the highest point - and I did and up-and-down of the Bell Tower for scale. Definitely worth the climb, even with my cough!
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View of the inside of the Duomo! The paintings were incredible.
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I also had one of the best, most authentic sandwiches! The prosciutto was SO GOOD! Got it from a deli where meat was hanging from the ceiling. And apparently Lenny Kravitz ate there, too, and he seems like a guy with good taste!
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