I could only imagine what I might find in Tuscany on this trip, and everything I found exceeded what I could have dreamed. It was a place of adventure, where I pushed myself beyond what I thought I was capable of, learning things about myself that I needed to hear.
I left the U.S. on March 30, and arrived the next day. Then I had two days in Florence (actually less because of an unexpected stop in Pisa), and I was gearing up for my Tuscany adventure. I traveled to Tuscany from April 2 to 10, 2022 with Alchemy Adventures.
April 1, my dad and stepmom came up by train to Florence (they live in Rome), and we had lunch and saw an amazing exhibit on Donatello. We walked around Florence a bit—the hotel I stayed at, Il Guelfo Bianco, was perfectly situated!
Montepulciano
April 2, we met at the train station in Florence, and after being gifted with a beautiful rose from the tour leaders, we boarded the train to Montepulciano.
After a short car ride to the hotel, we stood in Montepulciano. What a beautiful little town! All in one day it rained, sleeted, and was windy and cold. I definitely didn’t bring enough warm clothes. Three of us from the group went out exploring and found a museum, a chocolate shop, and a pottery shop. But then Kate and I turned back because of the weather.
It snowed the first night we were there, on the way to dinner at a local restaurant. What an amazing dinner! I had risotto, and tried some other dishes, such as wild boar. Not my favorite, but I’m glad I tried it. I am not a drinker, but I figured, when in Tuscany…so I did have small amounts of wine throughout the trip.
In a workshop the next day geared towards self-discovery and learning, I came away with something I truly needed to hear. “No matter how many mistakes I have made, I am still loveable.” I said that after writing a short story about three different tarot-like cards I picked up. It involved a honey badger, G-d, and a warrior woman.
I did some shopping that day and had a lovely lunch with two people from my group outside in the sun overlooking the beautiful countryside. We went to a winery for a tour, and then, lucky us, we stumbled upon a classical music concert in a local church: Concerto Di Primavera, with Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. Amazing!
Pienza
If Eric, one of our leaders, had told me our first day of hiking would be 10 miles and that there were a lot of uphills, I might not have gone on this trip. In fairness to him, he did tell me it would be strenuous, which sent me into a tailspin as is.
We hiked to Pienza, and I had dinner with Celeste and Kate, two of the people on my tour. We ended up finding this pizzeria, and we weren’t sure about it, but we were starving. It turned out to be an excellent choice. I had lasagne, wine, and of course we had dessert. I wished we could have stayed there longer.
What a cute little town! We did some shopping there. Celeste found a pottery store and bought a bunch of things to ship back to the U.S. And the hotel was incredible. It was a suite with a jacuzzi tub.
Bagno Vignoni
The next day was an almost eight-mile hike to Bagno Vignoni, where I finally got some gelato! We soaked in the hot springs, then came back to our rooms to find a gift bag with very thoughtful gifts from our leaders. They declared that night was “date night,” so Kate, Celeste, Angie, and I took ourselves on a date together at the hotel restaurant. I wore the scarf (beautiful blues and greens) they had given me and bought us a wonderful bottle of wine—a Brunello.
The second day there we did a visualization exercise and an art activity. I am not a creative person (I am very logical and practical) but I managed to create something I will always treasure. Then Celeste and I had our mani/pedi (I had a mani and Celeste had a pedi), and massages that afternoon. And more gelato!
That night we had a cooking lesson at a house right near the hotel with a professional chef. We learned how to make pici and sauce, which I fully plan on making at home for friends. It was so much fun to learn and have such a great experience with the group.
Montalcino
The next day was an almost five-mile hike from Bagno Vignoni towards Montalcino. And Eric had said he wasn’t feeling well, and he needed to stop at a farmhouse up ahead to use the bathroom. Surprise! It was a beautiful lunch at a winery, where they made their own olive oil as well. I did buy some. It was delicious, and since Montalcino was too far away, we got picked up and driven the rest of the way.
One thing I did during the hikes was have some amazing conversations with members of the group about religion. Mary Alice and Tom are Catholic, so I talked to each of them about their faith and asked a ton of questions. It was fascinating to learn more about Catholicism from their point of view. Celeste and I talked about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, but more on that in the Rome article to come. And I talked to them about Judaism.
Siena
On April 8, we did an 8.5-mile hike to an abbey, Abbey of Sant’Antimo, where we got picked up and taken to Siena. Siena was a much bigger place, and of course, another beautiful hotel!
April 9, we did a short group session and wrote out our next chapter of our lives. I am looking forward to letting go of certain roles I have played in my life, and getting rid of any negativity. Eric gave us a tour of Siena that day and we saw the beautiful Duomo. That night we had our good-bye ceremony and exchanged gifts (we had picked names to surprise a group member). I had Eric and bought him a flag from Siena, with the goose on it (since Kim (another one of our leaders) and Eric’s puppy is named Goose).
April 10, Celeste and I boarded a train to Rome. What a wonderful experience!
Total number of miles hiked: 30. Total number of friends for life: 7 (I’m number 8). Total bottles of wine consumed: too many to enumerate (not all by me). It was an experience beyond compare, and I’m so fortunate to have done something like this.
Stay tuned for the next installment: Trip to Rome (after Tuscany) with Celeste.