Francesco's Kitchen, Certaldo, Italia

Francesco's Winery, Certaldo, Italia

Whilst in Certaldo we stayed with one of Alma's good friends, Francesco. Francesco's family own a winery in Chianti, and so they produce a lot of wine using Sangiovese. We were treated to a tasting at the cellar and shown around by Francesco himself. It was great to be taken through a proper tasting of a Chianti wine by the winemaker himself, as well as taste some pretty amazing Vin Santo, a popular sweet wine of the region. I also really loved his Cabernet Sauvignon, which although packed a punch on the palate, was a wonderful wine which I think has a lot of potential to develop over a couple of years.

Me, Alma and Francesco

Francesco at work

The winery

Sienna, Tuscany, Italia

On Saturday we had an incredible barbecue at Francesco's house, cooking the traditional fiorentina steak. That is also something I love about Italy, the cuisine changes so much as you move from region to region. Tuscan's tend to eat a lot more meat, especially game such as wild boar. The hunting season starts pretty soon (end of September if I'm correct) and so I want to try see if it is possible to go out for a little hunting stint with someone. But back to the fiorentina. The Tuscans pride themselves on the quality of their meat, and so the steaks here are always amazing quality. But they don't mess around in the size department either. I don't know if the photos will actually do it justice. It was enormous!

After lunch we headed off to Sienna. Sienna is the other major city in Tuscany next to Florence, and the two towns have been fiercely competitive since their inception when it comes to just about anything. I wasn't really sure what to expect when we headed off, but it was beautiful. Sienna's duomo is magnificent, and the late afternoon sunlight that hit the main piazza was also magnificent. They have just recently run the Palio in Sienna, which is an ancient horse race which takes place in the town itself. Incredibly dangerous but a massive tradition. Saturday night we attended a birthday celebration in the winelands of Chianti Classico. I'm pretty sure that night I was speaking fluent Italian, as it tends to happen after pints of red wine.

Main piazza in Sienna

Sienna's Duomo

Typical Tuscan cypress

Another Tuscan sunset

Sunday Stroll, Vorno, Italy

On Sunday I decided to take a stroll around the little town of Vorno. We've been having the most amazing weather here, as most days are sitting around the 35 degrees celsius mark. There is this dog here in the village who I have named Lupo (Italian for wolf) who seems to pop up when ever I go walking. It's really peculiar. His eyes are so human like, and I often find myself speaking to him like her understands me (first signs of insanity???). Everytime I try take a photo of him it's like he knows what I am doing and avoids the lens. So the only shot I have of him is when he ran past me on Saturday. And just as magically as he appears, so he disappears, as halfway through the walk whilst he was behind me he was suddenly no where to be seen.

Lupo the dog

An old water mill

Horses at the foot of the hills at an equestrian school

Cinquecento, Vorno, Italy

Cycling Lucca's Walls



The tree lined avenues on the walls of Lucca.

The town of Lucca is about a ten minute drive from the villa where I am working, and every now and again we get the opportunity to pop in for a breath of fresh air. Fortunately for us, our guests at the moment have some young girls that were keen on cycling the walls of Lucca. Lucca is completely surrounded by a massive wall built in the 16th and 17th century, and the original gates used to allow people and traffic in and out of the city centre in the past are still intact and used today. We hired bicycles for the day, and cycled in the shade of the plane and chestnut trees that line the streets.

Will the Kiwi.

Old men on the wall.

An old Lambretta.

Me and my bicycle on the wall.

Summer Solstice

This picture is looking out of the back garden of the villa toward the town centre. The old church bell tower is next to the villa, and the bells peal throughout the day. I really like how you can see the light on inside the bell tower in this shot.

Alice in Wonderland...

This is Alice. She was working at a villa close by, but has unfortunately left for Napoli today and is moving onto Berlin.

I feel like this picture doesn't really do her style justice. I wish she was around for longer. A very cool person to have met on the travels.

Villa Michaela's Garden

Reminds me of the story The Secret Garden...

Tuscan sunset from the observatory

The lads: Drew, Will and Oliver.

Villa Michaela, Vorno, Tuscany

So I now am officially in Tuscany and living here for the next two months. I am working at a place called Villa Michaela, a beautiful old property in a village called Vorno here in Tuscany. I think my time here is going to be really interesting. Here are a few photos of the Villa which I snapped quickly today!

The morning after, Firenze

I got the blues, Firenze

Whilst in Firenze I met a man by the name of Tommaso. He is probably one of the most inspiring humans I've spent time with. His passion for music, food, wine, love, life and happiness was completely infectious. I spent three days in his company and left a new person after it all. He is from Firenze and is crazy about the blues. So, at 5:30 in the morning, after a long night of vodka and dancing the zorba in our underwear, we sat down and shared the blues together. Absolutely brilliant...

Tuscan countryside, Firenze



I literally blacked out with my camera in my hand for about half an hour the afternoon I took these photos. I took so many of this field just outside of Firenze with the light setting on it. I couldn't choose only one or two to put on the blog so I just did a whole bunch.