La Campagna

The countryside.


Maybe it's because I hail from Kansas, but visiting the countryside surrounding Florence is one of my favorite things to do. Of course it's not the same feeling you get when you walk around the city centre. It's something more natural and pure. Possibly even spiritual. 

Autumn has long since been my favorite season in Kansas City and that holds true here as well. I am fortunate enough to get to venture into the country a few times a week because of my job as a wine tour guide. In a matter of just a few weeks, I've been able to witness the green change to red, orange, yellow and everything in between occurring throughout the Colli Fiorentini, or Florentine hills. Tuscany is 80 percent hills or mountains, challenging you to stay on course and pay attention to where you are going, rather than just stare at the villas and vineyards along the way.

For the wine tour, I take groups of up to about 12 people to Castello del Trebbio in the Colli Fiorentini in the morning, followed by a long lunch, then finish with Fattoria Selvapiana in Chianti Rufina in the afternoon. Through the trip, the landscape changes, but the fact remains constant that no matter where you look, it's going to be beautiful. 

Selvapiana's front yard

Just yesterday, I was invited to attend a gathering at the family estate of a friend. Tommy, or Tommaso, invited about 40 people out to his family's estate, which includes a few gorgeous houses, a wine cantina, and an olive oil mill. The festa was to celebrate the new harvest of olive oil (which is going on as we speak) and to taste the new batch over a 3-hour lunch. 

We arrived and took a quick tour through the mill where you sampled the new oil on a piece of bruschetta while sipping their house wine from a plastic cup. (Side note - plastic is used everywhere at large parties. Five-course meals and fantastic wines are all dished out into sweet little Dixies. Don't be afraid of the plastic. In fact, I'm pretty sure the food somehow tastes better on plastic - more genuine. ) After the tour we gathered again upstairs in the main house for more food - focaccia that Andrea had made that morning and salame and pecorino from Andrea's cousin, Raffa. After chatting a bit, we sat down for pastas, then a variety of quiches and salads, which lasted more than an hour for the first two dishes. After the second course, Tommi took a vote to see if we wanted dessert immediately of if we should all take a walk first to digest a bit before eating again. Only in Italy would a room full of people unanimously vote to go talk a walk together instead of immediately diving into cakes, dessert wines and prosecco.

We started off on the walk and I was immediately struck by the beauty of the entire situation. There were 30+ beautiful Italian men and women all around me, dressed in lovely boots, riding jackets, pea coats and scarves, walking together through the surreal backdrop of olive trees, neighboring villas and hilltop towns across the valley. The fact that it was overcast only added to the beauty of the situation. You can't make this stuff up. 

Along the walk

Beautiful coats, men.

Raffa is the only one prepared 

We came up on an old house on the property (one of many) where we stopped to peek inside at the rubble. Also along the way were hunting huts, cinghiale (wild boar) tracks and muddle little spots where the guys were sure they would find truffles if they only had their dogs with them. After over an hour of all walking and digesting, we headed back to the house for cakes, vin santo and prosecco before getting back in the car for the winding drive back to Firenze, where Rubina and I promptly fell asleep in the back seat. 

Every time I'm out in the country, it's an out-of-body experience. I'm a very lucky girl. 

See my most recent photos of the countryside and a few other things here: La Campagna Photo Album