castelflorintino.market

the morning market vist to castelfiorentino was a little disappointing. it's a fresh produces market but it's really very local that it only caters for local community. you did enjoyed your browse but the small scale market doesn't take too long to explore.
you explore the town for awhile and return to montespertoli where you take time to explore the city. the small scale farmer market here is more interesting than the on e in castelfiorentino. still with the on and off drizzle of rian you decided to go back to your farm residence.

san.gimignano

san gimignaon stands 334m above sea level, the town takes its name from the cannonized bishop of modena.  this town is famouse for its towers, originally 72 medieval towers but today only 14 remain.

 you enter from porta san giovanni and along mia san giovanni you see only touristic shops...

 the first impression is, this city exists for tourism, it may not be so from the past but it's certainly now...

 with the arrays of souvenirs, regional products and delicacies.  you couldn't pin point if that's bad as you did enjoy your leisure stroll and browsing, though deep in your heart, you yearned for a little for real san gimignano.

 at the end of mia san giovanni, you're in this main square, it's quite touristic but more towards european and domestic

 you try to count the tower and if you recalled correctly, you didn't even counted till 14 (remaining towers).... but who's care, that's not the purpose of your visit here...

 it was a very warm and hot day, you're seeking refuge under the shade just opposite the wine musuem

 both local and regional wines on display and available for wine tasting. you didn't do that since it's a hot day and you just cannot afford to get tipsy with the excursion, so better be safe than sorry!

the outlook from one of the viewing platform is quite spectacular from here!  you hang around, trying to settle your lunch here but couldn't reach agreement among yourselves...

so you decided to have a gelato as lunch. a sweet ending from san gimignano, a gelato from gelateria dondoli. a gelato world champion for many years even though, you just had two basic flavors, they're really good, burst with natural sweetness and fruit flavors (grape and mango).

star.dinning

dining in a star restaurant ^^

 first come the amuse bouche, watermelon slice infused with martini and among many ingredients another fruit infused with vodka.  next time you must bring a notebook to note down the ingredients...

 the beautiful  mini tartelettes, elegant one bite appertizer with a hint of autumn mushroom and pumpkin

 such attention to details and delicious palate

 the assorted bread and salted butter

 hamachi sashimi, soft shell crab, burrata, beef lardo,

 braised beef entrecote, tartare,  onion, peanuts, black garlic, dark soy sauce

 pre-dessert with caramelized banana, spiced apple ice cream

 a beautiful plate of dessert, intense in taste and sublime beauty to your eyes

 with such a beautiful meal, you need a cup to close the dinner

the playful petite fours, the black chocolate coconut praline, apple marshmallow, white chocolate raspberry and red pepper bonbon

you went for a michelin star restaurant week dining with a few friends. it's a delicious meal in a beautiful setting and let alone the great company and chatters that compliment the entire evening, made the evening a beautiful girls night out.

::siena::

 piazza del compo and palazzo comunale. this is siena's civic and social center. this piazza site was a former roman market place,

 the design of the square is like a curve and wave where the square and the buildings blend into one harmony.

 it's alive and kicking, many people sitting on the square, chatting and resting, you follow suit to rest your legs...

the city was busy preparing for some events, later you found out it's the annual horse racing event that's taking place that evening.  no wonder the flags are flying every corner of the city

 as you depart, you saw people dressing up in their traditional costumes... you believe it's going to be a spectacular event but sadly you'll have to give it a miss...

just as you walk further towards the city gate/wall, you quickly pop into one of the many bakeries in the city and grab a piece of famous siena panforte to sample later...
siena is a nice city, clean and of decent size and although it's hot that day but you actually feel quite chilly all the time especially when you're walking around, other than the piazza del compo,  palazzo comunale and the cathedral area, most city's sunlight are blocked by the buildings... it's an interesting experience strolling in the city...

sun.play.siena

you sat opposite the cathedral di siena and marveled at the architecture of the cathedral. tuscan's sun comes to play with the glistering mosaic.  it stood in glow and the facets radiant the light as the late afternoon sun shines on it.
at that moment you stand in awe, not because of the beautiful architecture but you feel the presence of God so strongly that He is with you, watching over you. it's an assurance that sealed in your heart, it is a covenant with God.
this is just so tuscany, you're charmed at this moment, you don't know if you'll be back again and neither if you've chances to discover its inner beauty of the city but this very moments, you're contented as you sit here (next to the tourist information center) while waiting for him.

::ammirabile::

you try to get to castello sonino but it's not to your avail, so you resort to the 3rd winery on the list azienda agricola ammirabile.

this is a small vineyard, family run as you expected it to be. but the hospitality you received from the owner grazia is warm and welcoming. you've the chance to enter the winery working area, seeing the barrel, the bottles and boxes, distiller all at one workplace. she explains with passion and patiently the wines (5 types they produced. aminirable only produced 5000 bottles yearly. you tried the re ammirabile 2012 red wine that made of 50% sangiovese and 50% merlot. it's nothing chianti as you don't like chianti wine in general. as such, this bottle was good and you got 2 bottles.

all wines and olive oil are made exclusively from their own grapes, grazia (the lady boss) even give you a small bottle of their own produced olive oil.

although the wineries are not as grand as those in france, you actually appreciate the down to earth aspects of the winery in tuscany, they're not intimidating and they're approachable. it's a chianti  tuscany dream come true now that you have the chance to try on the wine and olive oil. what else could you ask for? you're truly thankful for your God who provide you more than what you'd have ask for.

castello.di.popiano

an established castle and wine grower in the area with a massive castle on top of a hill and extensive vineyard.

 this's your second up close and personal encounter with vineyard, the last time was at burgundy but due to the prolonged the grapes were small...

right here you have plump and juicy grapes....

you didn't plan for the wine tasting nor the tour of the castle. as you have come to conclusion that chianti wine is not your cup of tea. instead you had a glass of grappa reserva which taste like port from the first nose and taste. it's very high in alcohol. then you had a taste of the raw and extra virgin olive oil which burst of green and fragrance of grass, an aroma of green field ...
at the end you hauled a bottle of high grade extra virgin olive oil as you walk out of the tasting room.

***
autumn is here, it's officially second day of autumn and you can feel the drastic change of the weather, the sky is now getting cloudy, a tad more rain than usual and it's getting darker earlier too as the sun set now before 8pm.  it's another autumn season that you will try your best to embrace.  you need to get your autumn/winter wardrobe ready too as in no time you're going to really need them.
***

the.florentine

you started late as it's not in your agenda to venture out of your farm stay but he insisted. you took the country road to florence, it's just 22km away from where you stay.  you follow the advised and parked your car at piazza micheangelo which is the only free car park just outside the city.

you arrived  at noon, welcomed by the saute of david, among many tour buses, tourist and car that seeking for a free parking space. you're thankful you manage to get one space within minutes of waiting.

at the viewing platform of plaza michelangelo, the florentine skyline unfolds to you.  it's the scene you remember from 2 decades ago. the spetacular city panorama in front of you with the replicas of david behind you.   .the view of florence from here is superb, you marvelled a the florentine's sky line from the piazza  you could see florence duomo clearly from here.

from here you stroll down slowly, crossing ponte alle grazie with ponte vecchio on the other side, and you enter the city center of florence. the duomo, cathedral was your target bt you decided to get lost and let the city surprised you.

so you walked through endless streets, piazza and historical monuments, some you don't even know their existence but they are charming anyway.

you queue for the duomo and get in to see the interior of the cathedral.

this is some thing new to you. inside is bare but with a  few ceiling window that allow the light to flow in. an interesting frescoes painting of the dome.  florence is a lot pleasant to visit compare to pisa.  both cities probably have the similar density of tourist but florence is definitely pleasant.

from here, you look for the archaeology museum that he wants to visit, on the way en-route for a quick lunch, a cold platter and probably the cheapest lunch for just 5 euros.

some street artist works as you slowly venture out the city towards the piazza micheangelo.