Day 3

Today's mission: Wine tasting and Siena

To accomplish this task, we first went to the Chianti region of Tuscanny known for it's Chianti wine. While in the region, I took a stop by a butcher shop. In the basement of the shop a large collection of cheese was being stored. The place was cool and moist, which must be a good thing for the cheese. The one thing I do know was that it was one of the most delicious smelling basements I have ever been in.

From the glorious cheese room, we made our way to the winery. This particular place was pretty awesome. You paid a certain amount (Euros) to a credit-card-type device. Throughout the entire establishment there were bottles of wine to be tasted. To do so simply slide the card in the slot and select the wine of choice. The cost (ranging from 0.50-5 Euro) would be withdrawn from the card and out of a nozzle the wine would flow. I likened it to a soda fountain at any fast food restaurant. Because of the system, I got to try wines I would never dream of tasting anywhere else because of the outlandish price for the entire bottle. Here is a glimpse of the device.

After a few tastes, we grabbed a couple of snacks made available at the winery. They were nothing more than cheese, bread, and select meats, but they were tasty.

After tasting the fruit of the earth, we made the short (but very windy) trek to Siena. It is a similar city to Florence in regards to its style and architecture. The buildings look close to one another, but the streets are much tighter in Siena. Plus, the scene is much less busy with fewer people. The streets are less linear and more maze-like. There must have been at least three side streets jetting out from each other. Before leaving we went to a pizzeria for a quick bite to eat. While this pizza may look like the one I had in Pisa, it is drastically different. First, this pizza had fresh sausage on it. It was different than the sausage in the states. I can't really put my finger on it, but I liked the subtle difference. The other change is the cheese itself. If you guessed mozzarella, you would be correct. However, the truly correct answer would be mozzarella a la buffalo. Funny thing is how my brother and I were just talking about how the best mozzarella cheese is said to come from buffalo milk, not cow. After tasting this delicious pizza, I would concur. Again, I don't know exactly what the difference is, but it was something fantastic. Hopefully your mouth waters as you gaze upon this beauty.

*I hope this post pleases those of you requesting more food pictures. It's really hard to restrain myself enough to take a picture given my nature around food. It is no malice of my own as much as my lack of self control. Also, the three statues were of Leonardo (da Vinci), Michaelangelo, and Donatelli. The names couldn't be seen in the pictures, but I was hoping someone could identify the missing fourth. (A little bit of audience participation)