Il Vino

Today was pretty much a dream come true. We went to a wine tasting at a vineyard where they make truly delicious wine. The Chianti wine region is in central Tuscany, and also happens to be where I'm living...no big deal.

Marta showed us around the place a little bit. They keep the grapes in small barrels for eight years and then they combine it into larger containers. She also told us a little bit about how the temperature the grapes are at is super important. Every single piece of the process is significant and must be done precisely. But it results in some truly magical liquid.

This is the vineyard. Even on a rainy day, it was beautiful.

It looks kinda spooky right now, but I thought it was super cool.

These are the barrels that the grapes are stored in. It's super artsy and great. I love it.

And then they go into great big containers that are very closely monitored for temperature etc.

I want pretty displays of wine like this in my house someday. I'm not even kidding. It is so great.

This is one of the wines that we got to try. We sat around a lovely table and ate bread, cheese and meat, and tried the wines. We also had some of the best olive oil that I have ever tasted. I know I'm raving about this oil but it really was that good. Pairing these wines with the food is spectacular. All the flavors together are so rich and Italian, and it's exactly what I was looking for.

When we got back, I went back to my apartment. It was rainy and I was pretty exhausted. I did my homework with my Italian host sisters, and then cuddled with Angelica (the three-year-old) before dinner.

Dinner was delicious as usual, but I couldn't eat as much as I usually do because we had eaten so much earlier at the aperitivo. 

Tomorrow is going to be an early morning. We're heading off to Rome! I'm so excited to see some of the things that we talked about in Latin class in high school. I've been wanting to go for so long! Hopefully the weather will at least be acceptable. I don't mind a little rain but I do want to be able to run around and do lots of things.

Also, thank you for the comments, for those of you who have! I like hearing back from you and getting feedback. I hope you've enjoyed my ramblings so far. There is many more to come.