Chianti

Yesterday nearly all of the ladies from Smith and I took a trip into Tuscan wine country: Chianti.  The trip was organized by a group called Florence For Fun, which organizes day trips and long weekends for students studying in Florence.  

The bus ride from Florence to Chianti was about an hour, maybe an hour and a half.  The views on the way up were phenomenal.  Everything was so beautiful.  When we arrived in the town of Greve, we first stopped at a small bar for some coffee. (Obviously).  We then started our hike towards the vineyard.  Upon arriving, we were greeted by a man named Pietro.  Pietro had very curly honey colored hair, and a large beard that looked much the same.  He was dirty from having worked outside all morning, perhaps a little tired, but honestly he was one of the happiest and most at peace people I've ever seen.  Pietro explained to us our job for the day: cutting grapes.  He showed us what grapes ready to be picked looked like, and which ones to leave.  It was a short explanation, and then we got to work.  

The event description provided by Florence for Fun did mention hiking and grape picking, but for some reason I didn't expect it to be that intense.  But it was.  Nearly all of the walking to the vineyard, and afterwards all of the walking to where we ate lunch, was uphill.  I was definitely inappropriately dressed.  But this is me we're talking about.  If you're surprised by that, then perhaps you don't know me very well.

After maybe an hour or so picking grapes, we started walking towards the villa of Lorenzo Sassolini.  Lorenzo's family owns the vineyard we were on.  His family has been prominent in this region for over 800 years, and they've been making wine for most of that time.  Every step of the process is natural- there are no chemical additives in their wine.  Their wine cellar is in the same place it's been for hundreds of years- right across the street from his villa, which provided the scenery for our lunch and wine tasting.  Lorenzo's villa is impeccable.  I imagine that with the exception of modern appliances and the swimming pool, the house is much the same way it's been for centuries.  There are portraits of past members of the Sassolini family all around the house, as well as a lot of antique hunting paraphernalia.  And of course, what centuries old house in Tuscany wouldn't be complete without a suit of armor.  Lunch consisted of typical Tuscan salumi, some bread and olive oil (which the Sassolini family also produces), two different kinds of pasta and dessert.  During our meal we tasted three different wines, a dessert wine, and some grappa, all made right across the street from where we were eating in much the same method as when the business began.  Before starting, Lorenzo explained the proper way to taste the wines.  

The first wine we tried was a Chianti Classico, made from predominately Sangiovese grapes.  It was a tiny bit sweeter than I normally like (you could detect a hint of berries upon smelling it), but it was smooth and definitely refreshing after all that walking.  We then tried a white wine called Sulpizia which was much too sweet for my tastes.  (I still drank it, though.  Let's be real here).  We then tried another red called Ferdinando III, which was my favorite.  It was a heavier, spicier red with a much fuller feel to it.  We then moved onto the dessert wine, which tasted like church.  Not terrible (I drank it), but nothing I would ever crave or go out of my way to have again.  We ended with the grappa.  I took one little whiff and then decided that I didn't need to try it.  I've heard too many stories about the friendship cup being passed around the Gambardella family dining room table.  

After eating, some friends and I decided to take a little walk.  We walked up a small hill to a beautiful church, and when we looked over to our left, we saw the most beautiful panorama.  We all just stood there and stared out at it, not really knowing what to say.  When we got control of our awe again, we began to speak about how sometimes we wish our program were located in a smaller place like this.  A place much smaller and much more authentic, with way fewer tourists and more opportunities to actually speak Italian with Italians.  Florence is great, don't get me wrong.  But it's difficult to completely immerse my mind in Italian when I hear plenty of people speaking English every single day.  It is why I don't plan on going on another trip with Florence for Fun.  Even though it was a great price and the tour guides were a lot of fun,  all of the other participants come from the stereotypical American program in Florence.  Programs that have very lax or nonexistent language requirements before arriving, programs that house their students in dorms or apartments with other English speaking students, and programs that send their students here for a few months to take easier than normal classes and to take advantage of the lower drinking age.  I do not want to spend my time here with people like that.  They're not bad people or anything like that.  But it isn't to my benefit to spend my time with them.  The girls we met were shocked to hear that we were staying with host families and that we sign a language pledge to speak in Italian 100% of the time, and that all of our classes are in Italian.    

Things will hopefully get better soon.  Orientation is over, and the semester officially begins tomorrow.  I'm looking forward to being an actual student again (finals at Smith were the first week of May).  I'm excited to take all of my classes in Italian.  I think it will be immensely beneficial, and i think it will inspire us to work a little harder with our language skills.  

I'll let you know how it goes.