N Shiva Guru

Tuscany: A Road Trip to Remember Delicious food, the best wines from vineyards and medieval towns whose names you will never get right, that’s Tuscany for you. Apparently, the wines are so good that people drive after getting drunk without the slightest care in the world. So, be careful, you never know what kind of driver your fellowman on the next lane is. Customary warnings aside, this place in central Italy covers 23,000 kilometres and so thank God for travel blogs. Else, you might well be stuck drunk in a vineyard in medieval Italy and never go back to where you came from. Bread, cheese, calzone and pasta are going to be breakfast, lunch and dinner, for sure. Anyway, if you are on a road trip, you got maybe 4 to 6 days. Obviously, first thing you do after you land is rent a car. The first place to visit in Tuscany should ideally be your hotel. Unless you want to visit a small town which would roll back the timeline to the 1600s. A place like San Gimignano should be a great visit if it is enroute to your hotel. In fact, a lot of Luxury Villas in Tuscany are located in and around San Gimignano. Visiting the town is like an appetizer for the vacation. You get a bite but obviously you are far from being full. (Here’s a tip: while selecting a hotel, make sure you have that Tuscany vibe and a view to kill for.) Heading to Siena Travelers in Tuscany have Siena as one major ‘been there, done that’ destination. The best part of a road trip is that you can make little stops on the way in beautiful Italian towns which look ancient and act modern. Much like that aunt at thanksgiving who thinks she’s a big deal because she can pronounce quiche right. If you are done laughing at that hilarious quip, we can get bacl to Monteriggioni, a town surrounded by a medieval wall surrounding the entire commune. While this offers vantage points for some amazing selfies to annoy, ahem, impress your Instagram followers, you can easily guess that this wall guarded the commune at some point in time. Also, the town has got a museum which is as quaint as that wall we spoke about. With 4 rooms, you can roll back the years and be a knight in shining armor (literally) to some poor soul who is playing damsel in distress. If you made it through Monteriggioni without the occasional fight to the death (yes, jesting on the ‘medieval times’ idea), Siena should not be far off. Piazza del Campo, Torre Del Mangia, espresso, Siena Cathedral, more espresso, Il Bandierino, mashed potatoes, wine, this is how your day will look like in Siena. After a couple or more hours in Siena, the next stop for you is the birthplace of Renaissance, Florence. Before you get to Florence, remember to browse the web and read up on the challenge to find a good parking spot. (Yes, the struggle is real!) Now, Nenni-Torregalli works great with parking spots around it. Once you’ve done that bit, you got to head to the tram stop. This tram journey is a life saver, making the journey in and around Central Florence a walk in the park. In 15 minutes, you cross the Arno river and arrive at Alammani Station. Florence Florence, the capital city of Tuscany, boasts of a rich cultural heritage. History has it that renaissance started here. There is a poem by a certain Greek poet and philosopher who was booed in his times for his thoughts. This piece of parchment was discovered in an old library by an assistant to the Pope or so rumor has it. This sparked off a chain reaction which ultimately resulted in the renaissance. Some choose to spend days here thanks to the museums, cathedrals, town squares, architecture and above all, an electrifying wave of energy. If you wander around, you could easily end up in an antique store, a quaint book shop or a Pinocchio store (not kidding!) You would definitely have to visit the sculpture of David. There are, of course, other marvelous and mind blowing art work all around Florence, if you can find the time to visit. It’s like the wise man said, ‘art is long and life is short.’ There’s a Pizzale Michelangelo with a stunning view and some amazing restaurants to get your pizza from. There’s Ponte Venuccio where you will be dazzled by the jewels on display. After some fabulous window shopping, you can head back to the tram and then to your car. Wine Tasting No journey to Tuscany is complete without the customary wine tasting. There are olive trees and vineyards side by side. The wine tanks are actually made of concrete. The wine for tasting is served with Chianti (yes, made infamous by Hannibal Lecter from Silence of the Lambs) and cheeses. You can choose to spend the remaining days driving to Pisa and back or you can choose to spend it in the innumerable small towns which might suit your whims and fancies, like Casole D’elsa. The views are unbelievable, it’s like you’re a part of history almost. Anyway, that about does it: have a great, enjoyable, memorable trip, Arrividerci!!