I'll be Siena you soon!: Maremma

This past weekend the school took us on an overnight trip to Maremma, Italy. The bus ride wasn't that bad, about 1.5 hrs, and Maremma was beautiful. It's a town to the west of Siena on the water and they have a lot of natural parks.

First, we stopped at the Abbey of Sant' Antimo where we got a very educational and somewhat long winded tour from one of the monks though he was very nice. There was amazing light coming in through the windows and we got to see a little tomb downstairs.

Next was lunch in Montalcino, a cute little town near the Abbey, before heading out to the Banfi Castle for a wine tasting. We didn't see many people there at all. No one really walking around except us but I guess they were all inside taking their mid day siestas. Everywhere we went, the views were fantastic but Banfi Castle especially because there is a lot of surrounding land and large windows. We tried three different red wines that are made in the region and although I'm not a huge wine person, I thought they were all delicious. After we had some time to walk around and take it all in before leaving for the Agriturismo (called Case Cordovani) we stayed at for the night in Magliano (Toscana). The rooms were comfortable and had MTV (including some Italian music videos) and outside each door was a tiny painting of a different animal. I stayed in the horse room.

The Agriturismo the school picked was GREAT and there was even a white bulldog there to greet us at the door. Before dinner we all took a "Turkish/ steam bath" which included a steam room/shower and somewhat cramped but fun sauna which was very refreshing (never done that before). It was a good thing we rested before dinner because it was HUGE. I'm talking like 10 different courses. The agriturismo was similar to the one we stayed at during orientation in that they make all their own cheeses, cured meats, pasta etc. This meal was probably the most food that I have ever eaten in one sitting. I'll just list what we had each so you get the idea: 2 or 3 appetizers including cured meats, wine, cheese, 2 pasta plates (lasagna and other), potatoes with rosemary, home made sausage, lamb, cake. I know I'm forgetting something but you get the general idea. It was basically madness and breakfast was fantastic too including chocolate cake and cookies with home made jam, basically it's okay to have cookies for breakfast in Italy. If you are ever in Maremma I recommend this place.

After breakfast we drove out and before taking a 3.5 hr trek through a park near the sea which was about 8 miles I suppose, we stopped in a makeshift mini aquarium. The hiking trails were kind of weirdly marked and very steep (we all had long pants and jackets because we thought this was some kind of leisurely walk through the forest, we were wrong) but the weather was very warm/ it was beautiful out. We had our packed lunches at the top where there was a panoramic view of ocean and land. The water here is so greenish-blue and definitely beats the Atlantic. It was great exercise and definitely worth it in the end for the view. Even though the water was cold, I had to put my feet in, just because so we sat on a dock after the hike and got some ice cream.

We were all pretty tired by then but the last stop was at Monte Liveto Maggiore, another church but it had a mini museum, an ancient farmacista, and a library with ancient books. Then we all fell asleep on the bus ride home. Such a fun trip.

Sant' Antimo on a beautiful day