While my bestie was here in Rome, I took her to see the big mercato near my home. It opens every Wednesday and Friday mornings and here, you could get a lot of household things ranging from fresh produce, kitchen utensils, decorations and whatnots.

The bit that I like a lot would have to be the bancarelle where pre-loved clothes, and sometimes even new branded clothes are sold, usually for 10 euro and below. I got this awesome scarf for example, not too long ago here for 50 cents!

If you’re interested to visit this mercato, it’s located right next to the Tor di Valle stop. And the easiest way of getting here is probably to take the Metro B to Piramide and then take the train heading to Cristoforo Colombo.

So remember the last time when I tried to sew my own skirt, but it turned out to be a disaster? So my plan was to be ala NDAD and experiement with pre-loved clothes. So I was rummaging through the bancarelle when I saw a print that I liked a lot.

Soo purrdy! It looks quite Laura Ashley-ish and it was only 3 euro!

Putting it on, I’m surprised that it actually fits pretty well. so there wasn’t that much adjustments to be done. But it was only later when Cart saw me with the dress on and noticed how roomy the tummy area was and asked, “Is that a maternity dress?”

So I checked the label, and it says, “Something mamma”. Turns out that I got a maternity dress. Hahaha! I’m not pregnant, but no matter. I think the print is really beautiful.

But my only big problem with it was the 80s shoulder pads. So using a seam ripper …

Off it goes! And now I have new pincushions!

I really like the sort of sweetheart neckline, and would like to highlight it. So I got this 5 meter piping for 1.50 euro at the same mercato. Not bad!

Pin it in place before starting to sew …

But sadly all the layers was a tad bit too thick for my sewing machine to handle, so I had to stitch it by hand, and it took a little bit longer than usual. I don’t know if it looks well finished, but you don’t see it anyway from far away! Hahaha!

Some hours later and … Tada! Finished! I can’t wait to put it on!

Yeah! Camwhoring time! I paired my dress with a skinny belt, shoes I got from a sale donkey years ago and a simple bracelet.

The red piping really brings out the dress.

Total cost of dress = 4.50 euro! Yay! I’m so happy!

Of course, I could remove the belt and it’ll still look like a pretty spiffy maternity dress. Although I prefer not to think too much about pregnancy and get my hopes up

So yeah, what do you think of my upcycling project? Pretty awesome yeah? I’m pretty happy with myself! And let me know if you would like to see more posts like this!

Whee!

After we finished visiting the medieval town of San Gimignano we headed to another town in Tuscany called Saturnia.

Saturnia is probably most famous for her hot springs. And as you know, thermal baths are good for you in curing external and internal maladies or just a relaxing place to just chill out. I was there last year, but I really didn’t want to do it alone (Cart flat out refused to join me) so I was glad to have Hema with me this time!

You could tell that you are getting closer to the place when you see loads of people marching in one direction (not the boyband. Please) with their bathrobes on, next to the road. And if you have your car windows down, you could smell sulphur in the air. One of the unique things about the area.

At the point of time, you could park freely right next at the head of the spring itself, although I’m not too sure how it would be like in the future, as when we reached there, it appeared to have the skeleton of a fence already.

Anyway, being there feels like a big family picnic, what with the crowds of families there, and sometimes you might even encounter someone bringing a full BBQ set with them, which was interesting as I know my own clan would do that, whenever we do beach outings.

The Cascatelle del Mulino is sort of divided into two, the small pool right next to the parking, but if you are brave enough, you could climb down the path to the bigger pool area as what you see above. It’s just that the path is very steep and precariously narrow.

(Sidenote : Cascatelle means waterfalls and Mulino means windmill in Italian. So if you ever encounter the Brand – Mulino Bianco – That means White Windmill)

Since Hema was still recovering, we decided to just stay in the smaller pool instead. It was still quite steep to get in there anyway! Moreover we had to step into rubble to get in the water. And the water current was deceptively strong! If there weren’t any ropes attached at some point, I think that we would all been swept away! Haha! Also, there are deep points in the pool where I couldn’t even touch my feet, so do be careful!

Oh, I think I should also add that there are no changing rooms available here. So I advice you to have your swimsuit already on, or … if you’re like me, bring along a trusty sarong and convert it into a makeshift changing room

Also, don’t bring valuables with you, as it is an open space, so I wouldn’t leave my camera, wallet and whatnots just lying around. Which is the reason to the lack of photos for this post. Well … more or less :p

Nevertheless, it was an interesting experience! The water was nice and warm and felt quite relaxing just to soak yourself in. At the corner of the pool, we saw a group of people with mud on their bodies. And of course, when you are in Rome, do as the Romans do (Even though we were in Tuscany) and we managed to scoop some, put it on ourselves and wait for it to dry and let the magic begin.

Ahh … This is the life. To just relax … let the negativity dissolve away and soak in the goodness and happily chat with random strangers here.

You would have noticed by now that I’m spamming this post with less pictures than usual. It’s only because my camera died on the first day as soon as we reached the bed and breakfast (which is an irony as I charged the battery overnight the day before) and we took so much pictures that even Hema’s camera was dead too by the end of San Gimignano.

It was about to be nightfall, and it was almost time to leave, but of course, we couldn’t go without a memento so this is the last picture of us in beautiful Tuscany together.

RAARRR! Mud monsters are coming to get you!

One last tip, I think is to bring along a large bottle of water with you to rinse away the water of the hot spring, we still had to reach Rome and had to go for about another one and a half hours of driving and I had a headache after that, most probably from the lingering smell of sulphur.

And thus that’s the end of my blog post about about our short vacation in beautiful Tuscany. I do hope that you’ve enjoyed reading about them! So do comment and let me know!

For the next blog post, I think I’ll blog about my latest upcycling project

Sidenote : Check out this blogpost by Natalie!

And of course, I cannot get over how pretty the sights are, with the abundance of wild spring flowers on the rolling hills.

It was too bad that we couldn’t stop on the road, as it was too narrow for cars to takeover so it was a dangerous risk. But I would have really liked to have a picture of us lying in the yellow daisies or the red poppies. It would have looked so lovely.

What a wasted chance! But oh well. There wasn’t anything that could have been done any differently (Oh! Unless we went there with scooters instead … heh heh heh)

Eventually, we reached a medieval town called San Gimignano (and this is how to pronounce it). This place is unique for its medieval architecture, as well as its tower houses, making San Gimignano part of a UNESCO world heritage site. Another UNESCO site that I’ve visited is in Villa Adriana, 45 minutes drive away from Rome.

Anyway! When we reached there, there were hardly any parking to be found, which was quite interesting considering that it was 1. A Monday, and thus a working day and 2. You had to pay 2 euro per hour for parking, which is quite pricey.

Cart suggested that we not spend more than 3 hours in the town. Haha!

Here is the entry to the town! Obligatory photo! And look, I have a modella below! The interesting bit was, the sidepath was clear for the longest time, but just as I readied my camera to take a shot, this lady below walked past by, and at the exact moment, turned around and posed like this! Like a model! With one leg out, perfect!

Okay lady, because of this, you get a spot in my blog. Hehehe

Even though it was around lunch time, there were quite a number of people roaming around in the gothic like buildings.

Here is Hema towards the entry of the town.

And here I am on the other side.

Walking through the path, it was easy to visualise how life was back in the medieval period. Here is a link of a medieval fair that I went to back in 2010 and if you are in Italy and have the chance to visit one, do go! I think it’s an interesting thing to experience.

(It’s strange looking at a video of myself 2 years ago though, I look … different)

We walked past a number of shops, and here is the entry of one of the Torture Museum there.

Hema and I were just talking about visiting one when we researched about places to visit and thought that it would be interesting to go to one. But when we finally reached there, I could not find the strength to even see the displays near the entrance, especially reading the explanations next to it. It was just too much for me.

Heck, I didn’t even have the heart to take a picture of the torture devices – and these two are the more PG rated ones.

For example, there was a metal device with spikes that is chained to your neck and you can’t turn your neck or even talk properly or you risk having your throat punctured. It just made me very very sad

So no. Not for me.

So we continued walking! And this shop – selling salami (of course) and wine and the likes caught my eye.

Look at the boars welcoming customers to the shop! Nope! It’s just Chuck Testa!

And here is where I realised something. Tuscany … sounds a lot like TUSK-any. As in Tusks from a boar. So are wild boars a mascot for Toscana? Like the wolf for Roma? Cart doesn’t seem to agree, but hmm.

I see a lot of wild boar logos in the souvenir shops anyway – on cups, on t-shirts and the likes. And they are so cute. And I couldn’t resist getting myself a pair of t-shirt (it was the last piece!) with this wild boar riding a scooter. Cute isn’t it?

Vroom vroom vroom! My mum is going to kill me. Hahaha!

Oh speaking of last piece, I thought that I could try to get a discount for 10 euro instead of 12 but I must have approached it wrongly. Visualise this conversation in Italian :

Clerk : Would you like to get this t-shirt?

Me : Yes please! 10 euro right? (Hint hint)

Cart : No it’s 12 euro.

Me : (Smile fading) 10 euro please?

Cart : No! Look. It says right over there. 12 euro.

Sigh. As soon as we left the shop, Cart and I had a passionate discussion about what had happened. It wasn’t that I’m so hard pressed for the 2 euro, haggling is a game and I failed the game .. FAILED! In the end, I agreed that I should have been more direct, and say, “Because this is the last piece, can I please have it for this price?”

To change the mood, I’m putting up these nice pictures of me on Sam the scooter, which has absolutely nothing to do with this post :

We walked past this interesting shop selling aprons and caps and whatnots where you could embroider your name on it. Not sure if you could read it as it’s quite tiny, but I see my name there : Marina, a great lover in the kitchen.

And here, Cart – king of the grill!

We continued walking, and at length we reached the Piazza Della Cisterna. This area was interesting as it was sloping up rather than being flat.

There were towers at every corner of the square, and they used to be houses rather than for being outposts.

We rested here a while, while Hema made a quick trip to the ladies room.

And that was where I saw this well. I was sure that it would be empty, with concrete capped on top of it, so jokingly I told Cart, I’m going to throw a coin in there and make a wish!

Oh my goodness! Who knew that it wasn’t completely blocked. And who would have known that there were already other people who had the same idea and threw in their coins!

So much coins! And random locks (Which doesn’t really make sense here as there wasn’t any river nearby where you could throw the key away)

I’m not sure if you notice it in the picture below, but there is a coin with the words “Taiwan good” scribbled on it. Most of the coins I saw were euro coins though.

We then continued to Piazza Duomo – the heart of the town where the Collegiate Church of San Gimignano is.

This is the Palazzo comunale – which is sort of like a town hall.

I really liked looking at the buildings. It looks so majestic and just standing there, you feel like you are standing in a part of history.

We walked in the courtyard nearby …

And we saw this lady playing the harp. It was so relaxing to listen to.

We decided to go to the church to see the fresco and artwork inside. If you are there, I’d advice you to take the double pass to the church and the museum, rather than paying for it separately.

I find the artwork interesting to see, with the use of colours and the ‘flat’ style which was unique during that period.

Unfortunately, you cannot take any pictures inside the church – there are old fresco dating from the 14th century depicting scenes from the testament. I liked looking at the artwork, so it’s a shame about the no photo policy, which I reckon is to protect them (a lot of tourists keep using flash) but I guess that you could check out wikipedia if you’d like to see some of these fresco.

We then headed to the museum next to it. There wasn’t any signs prohibiting visitors from taking pictures, so of course, I got trigger happy. Hahaha!

Woah! Check this out!

There’s a crystal staff here! Cart was joking that a high level magician used these powerful robe and staff set and you could cast lightning bolts with them.

We had a bit more time, so Cart and I contemplated on climbing one of the towers (Hema was exhausted at this point of time) but as soon as we were done climbing the first storey, we just couldn’t make it anymore. It wasn’t like a regular apartment steps, climbing up one floor was like walking up a a two storey apartment and there were at least 5 stories for this particular tower!

There were also other places of interests like the archeological museum, the modern and contemporary art museum, the bird museum as well as the wine museum. But we were all already quite tired.

So the three of us slowly walked back to the car and stopped by to take some pictures. There were some points where you could admire scenes like these :

This is such a beautiful view. The people who live here are so lucky to be able to wake up to this pristine view every day.

And here I am with my dear friend

And that was our trip to San Gimignano! Next and final post up about Tuscany : Our trip to a natural spa!

Firenze is the capital city of Toscana (Like Roma is to Lazio) and I was most excited to explore the area (more like stumbling in, but I digress) as I’ve never been there before.

What can I say about Firenze? (Or Florence, I tend to use Italian and English terms interchangeably) While it is a city-center area, it has a different feel compared to Rome. As soon as we started entering the heart of the area, the roads begin to narrow and then is completely cut off and it seems the only form of vehicles that was active then were the 2-wheelers and the occasional cars.

Which means that it was great for walking around safely. And while we were there, even though there were a lot of people strolling around like us, it doesn’t have the same chaotic feel like how it is in Rome.

It was already nightfall when we reached there and not so great for taking photos, it was still lovely for a going for a stroll.

We started by walking on Ponte Santa Trinita and I enjoyed the breeze in my face, accompanied by the lively music from the buskers. And across the bridge, you will see Ponte Vecchio, which we will get to explore later in this blog post.

I also spotted these couple sitting on this oh so very narrow perch and oh so very close to the edge. You don’t see it in the photo, but the bridge is very tall, and I would feel nervous if it were me there!

We continued our walk towards Piazza Santa Trinita where the huge obelisk is.

And look at what I found! Salvatore Ferragamo! SHOES! SHOES! SHOES! Apparently, there is a museum near here showcasing the collections of the famous designer. I would have liked to see that! I probably can’t afford his shoes, but I’m sure that I can see his babies instead! Hahaha!

Speaking of which, did you know that it was in Firenze where one of my favourite designer, Valentino started to get really famous to become an iconic brand today. Like Milan and Rome, Florence is a fashion capital too! Oooh!

And as we walked past the obelisk, we passed through a lot of windows with high end labels. The area It reminded me so much of Via del Condotti, the long stretch of road in front of Piazza di Spagna in Rome which housed a lot of luxury brands, but without the chaotic conglomeration of people.

Anyway, here is Hema, posing with one of her favourite brand, Gucci.

I was peering through the glass to see if any of the bags she bought from the outlet were still in there. Hehehe.

And here is another label that I adore – Dolce e Gabbana. They make such beautiful and feminine designs which will sure to make you feel like a movie star when you put them on.

I don’t know the brand of the dress below, but I like the design and colour combination anyway

And in no time, we reached the Duomo di Firenze. It looks magnificent and majestic – with the black and white stripes. It was nothing that I’ve ever seen before, for a church.

So beautiful!

We walked towards the duomo and passed by the battistero (which is like a smaller version of a basilica) next to it. By the way, the golden door that you see below has murals and was dubbed by Michelangelo as “The gates of paradise”

We reached the steps at the duomo to rest our feet a while, while I went to look at the carvings a little closer.

There are SO many elements to see, that it can be quite overwhelming if you try to take everything in. But just take into consideration the amount of work and dedication that was put in making them, and putting them together. It was impressive.

Every scene has its own story depicting an important event.

At it was then when I noticed something really funny!

When you’ve been living in Italy long enough, you’d see that this gesture is actually quite rude (alright, he should have made his hands into a fist but it looks similar anyway!) and I was amused to see it immortalised here.

The whole row had such expressive statues, I think the artist had a lot of fun doing it! Hahaha!

YOU! HEY YOU! FLICK OFF!

GASP! OMG! WHAT DID YOU SAY?!

That was rude! That’s not very nice of you.

NO! I DON’T CARE! *stares* PISS OFF WILL YOU?

HUH? SPEAK UP SON! WHAT DID YOU SAY?

Hahahaha!

We walked around the duomo and Cart asked us if we felt that it was bigger than, or was the same size as the San Pietro in Rome.

It was quite hard to tell, considering that San Pietro has a huge Piazza in front of it, making our perception different.

We continued walking, and I feel as if I’m walking in history – with all the renaissance style buildings everywhere.

Anyway, where ever we walked, there were little artistic touches here and there. Blink and you’ll miss it.

Another thing that I thought was cute was that a lot of their street signs were decorated too!

Wow! Who thinks of such designs and are able to incorporate them into street signs? So adorable! I’m sure that we would have seen more, if we had more time to roam the area.

At length, we find ourselves in Piazza Della Repubblica and admired the charming nightlife there.

And now, I’ll insert pictures of these sweets for no reason at all!

How sinful!

Om nom nom nom!

If you recall, the biscuits above are the biscuits that you dip in Vin Santo wine.

So colourful! Quick! Without googling it, would you call these Macarons or Macaroons? Hmm.

After our quick stop at the pastry shop, we continued walking to burn our sweets away to which I spotted this :

Shucks! There’s a Dali exhibition? I would have liked to see that too as I love surrealism.

Of course, being night time, a lot of museums were already closed. We managed to see this anyway! Haha! Definitely a replica, but it was something, at least!

I snapped this picture because I liked the name “Beautiful Art Square”

We eventually walked to the back of the Basilica di San Lorenzo and by this time, we were getting a little tired to explore more and continued to the other side to complete our path.

And we reached Piazza della signoria! There are a lot of statues here in this square!

But probably the most famous one would be this one of David by Michelangelo. It’s a replica though, as the real one is housed in Accademia di belle arti some 10 mins walk away from the “Beautiful Art Square”

Next to David is the entrance to the Museo di Palazzo Vecchio. You don’t have to pay to enter but it was just about to close so we didn’t explore inside. I’m impressed that it was still open even though it was close to midnight.

Now that I’ve thought about it, a lot of funny images has been inspired by David! Some of the memorable ones are those boxer shorts I keep seeing in those touristy parts of Rome with David’s bits. As well as how David would look like after eating a lot of Italian food.

But nevermind that we didn’t get to explore inside the museum as next to it is the Loggia Dei Lanzi where you could see a number of interesting sculptures.

Wow, it’s impressive how Firenze has open air gallery where everyone could come and see, as and when they liked.

And at the stroke of midnight, we said goodbye to David and his friends.

Bye bye David!

And at length, we walked along the Galleria degli Uffizi and walking past the statues, I could spot out some names that I recognize.

This is Giotto, Italian Painter and architect. Also a famous brand for coloured pencils in Italy.

Donatello – Italian sculptor (And one of the member of Teenage Mutant Ninja turtles)

Michelangelo – Sculptor, painter, architect, poet, engineer … In short, a very very smart person.

Dante Alighieri – Beloved poet and author of The Divine Comedy

We are almost towards the end of our relaxing stroll and I tried to take in as much last minute atmosphere before I leave.

And there was something about the area that made me realise how different it was compared to Rome … all throughout our stroll, I didn’t see any graffiti! Not even one! This is most impressive.

It seems that it is a major crime here to deface the walls and when caught will be charged very severely. I appreciated the lack of graffiti. It made the place look more refined and pristine and classier.

We walked towards Ponte Vecchio. Not sure if you could see it well, but someone managed to attach a lock away from the ledge. I couldn’t even reach them with my hands. So how on earth does anyone do that without falling into the river below?

Oh and this was something that we stumbled onto.

There was a bad flooding in Firenze in 1966 and the water went all the way up to the red line there! Oh my goodness! I cannot imagine how anyone manage to get through that. I had a little bit of flooding in my neighbourhood and I’m already freaking out.

At last, we finally reached Ponte Vecchio. Cart explained that this bridge was famous because there are a lot of jewellers on the bridge. As it was night time, it was closed, but I would have loved to see some bling! I wonder if the prices were cheaper here though, as the shop owners were said not to have to pay too much rent here.

The area used to be owned by butchers but now the bridge is full of jewellers, art dealers and souvenir sellers. But look at the door below, it looks so medieval. And it was not difficult to visualise if anyone wants to do a medieval fair like how it was done in Bevagna.

And that was our little tour in the heart of Firenze!

To end this post, I’m putting up a picture of me in front of the hotel where the Jersey Shore cast supposedly stayed while they were filming their season. Not that I’m crazy about the show (personally, I think it’s stupid) but the idea amuses me.

And here is the end! Next post up will be our trip to San Gimignano – A beautiful Unesco heritage site.

I never realised how much I love the countryside. I feel so completely inspired by this trip, that I totally wouldn’t mind going on a scooter trip, like how I did to Pengerang and Malacca some years back.

Anyway, today we head to a winery and olive oil maker called Fattoria le Corti which is owned by the royal Principe Corsini family. (Speaking of Princes, I was telling Cart of a *cough* Rome prince *cough* that was in the bachelor some time back)

Just a precaution, it would be best to check opening and tour hours beforehand as we only knew later that there are a lot of places that are closed on Sundays. So don’t take it for granted that places are open all the time! We were lucky that we got the chance to crash into another tour group or our journey would be for naught!

Anyhow La Fattoria le Corti is such a charming looking place. The tour started at 2pm, so we had a bit of time to explore the outside.

It’s been a while since I’ve seen fuel dispensers like one below (Probably when I was a little girl going back to Tekong before it was taken over to become a military base)

Part of the vast vineyards that they own.

See the two orange tractors there? These will carry the packed wines from the holding room opening, as you will see soon.

Oh, and speaking of tours, I didn’t see it from the website, but it costs 7 euro for only the tour and 12 euro for a tour and wine/olive oil taste respectively. Hema mentioned that she went to a free wine tour while she was in Australia, but finds that this one more comprehensive.

Here’s Hema looking excited for the tour to start!

That she couldn’t wait to try the wine samples! Hehehe!

And in no time, the tour started proper. We joined a group of people from Holland and I was quite amazed at how they were wearing tshirts and slippers, while I was still feeling cold, and needed my jacket.

First we were introduced area that was owned by the Corsini family.

And then we were shown the holding area where the wine will be distributed later.

My gosh, the barrels were impressively huge! I can’t imagine how much work and grapes it would take to collect to make all these wine. There were so many barrels of them.

See! You could have a rave party in one of these barrels.

I don’t remember what this machine is, but I reckon it’s what was used to separate the grapes from the stems. We were in such a big group, and when I can’t hear what was being said, my mind goes wandering :p

Next we walked down the steps into the cellar where we saw loads of wooden barrels of wine resting and being fermented.

We were told that each barrel costs a lot of money! I think it was 8 hundred euro each. My eyes almost popped out when I heard it. They use quality wood that will affect the taste of the wine and once aged, the barrels will not be used by the factory any more.

The cellar has a constant 12 – 18 degree celcius temperature and there is a water mister above which is used in case the temperature gets erratic.

Look at all the money! Show me the money!

Next the wine are moved into another container, to aid with the maturing process.

The wines are separated by types and at La fattoria, they specialise in Chianti Classico which uses 80% sangiovese grapes (the other 20% is either colorino or caniolo or both) 95% and 100% which is the most expensive one and is produced in very limited quantities. I think the guide said less than 100 bottles a year?

These containers are made of stainless steel

At this point of time, I wished that we were here somewhere end of September or October when it is grape picking time. I would have liked to see the grapes being harvested and juiced! I’m sure that would be a lot of fun!

The fermentation smell is very strong in here! For some reason I am reminded by the smell of cheng theng. I have no idea why!

And once the wine has aged, 6 months and above, they are packaged and here is where the packaging are made.

And ready to be transported all over the world!

Next is the olive oil tour. Again, I would have liked to see the process from the start – the picking of the olives followed by the pressing. I think it would make it more complete. But again, olives are seasonal too. Oh well!

Anyway, we were shown the containers where picked olives are stored.

These containers are huge! One could fit an adult in here. If there were 40 of them, we could do a Ali Baba and the 40 thieves play. They are each made of ceramic.

In making olive oil, time is of the essence. Unlike wine that takes time to mature, for olive oil, the fresher the better.

These machine processes the olives into oil.

And then filters it.

And then finally weighed for packing.

Did you know that olive pits are collected to become a form of fuel?

It’s a very musty smell though – so it’s not for everybody!

And here is how olive oil was made traditionally!

After our tour, we got to see a view of the garden. It’s gorgeous! Royalties live in the most lovely places. Wouldn’t you love to wake up to a view like this?

This is the villa which is now converted into a bed and breakfast. It would have looked prettier if not for the lack of grass, trampled by wedding guests last week.

Anyhoo! I felt so princessy just looking at the view, that I was inspired to take a picture here (Too bad I wasn’t wearing anything pretty!)

But of course Murphy’s rule says that anything can go wrong at any time – and my phone camera did something funny and suddenly I have this unwanted faded 70s like picture with border effect -_-”

Oh well!

At the end of the tour, we went upstairs to the dining area and got to get a taste of their wine and oil. Here are the types of wines that was sampled.

This is the cortevecchia which takes 20 months of ageing in the barrel.

This is the Don Tomasso which is aged for 15 months in the barrel.

And this is Le Corti which is aged for 12 months.

Since Cart and I don’t drink, I have no idea how these wine tastes like or appreciate them. My friend looks very pleased with herself though. Hahaha!!!

Cart and I tried their olive oil instead. There were two types – on the left is the Le corti extra virgin olive oil where the olives are hand picked and pressed within 12 hours. The one on the right is the organic one which is hand picked and pressed within 7 hours. It has won 3 olive slow food award in 2010.

We tried them both with Tuscan bread – which as you know by now, is tasteless since no salt is added to it. I even had to salt the bread after pouring out the oil on the bread. And everyone who knows me, knows that I don’t like too much salt on my food! (I love Tuscany, but I don’t like their bread)

It’s hard to see in the pictures, but the organic one has a darker colour.

In any case, the organic one was amazing! It was intense and rich. Think of the best olive oil that you’ve ever had and imagine the taste more refined and pure by ten folds. And for some reason, when you taste it, the scent comes right out of my nose (sort of like the wasabi effect without the heat) It was most peculiar. I told this to Cart and he said that this was the mark of high quality olive oil.

We immediately bought a bottle for ourselves after this. And that was the end of our little tour! While I don’t drink, I thought that the tour was interesting and I liked learning new things.

Just for fun, I’m adding in some pictures of another winery/castle/bnb. We thought that it would be nice to roam around the area but unfortunately, the place was closed on Sundays and the only living things that we saw were these sour faced pussies.

It’s a very pretty looking place nevertheless.

And of course, being springtime, a lot of flowers are starting to bloom, making the place look so magical – like a page out of a fairy tale.

I’m surrounded by so much beauty!

That’s the end of my blog post for today. Next up will be a post about our trip to amazing Firenze

So today I’d thought that I’d talk about what we ate, as well as one of the food that Tuscany is famous for.

As many people know, the Bistecca alla Fiorentina is probably the most famous Tuscan dish.

It is basically grilled beef tenderloin and it’s renowned for how thick it is. We didn’t have that though as we all couldn’t eat them because of each of our own personal reasons … Haha! However, if you can, this is something that is a must try if you are ever visiting Tuscany.

Anyway, here are what we had :

Gnocchi con asparagi

So yummy! Reminds me a bit of the one that we had in Castelli Romani. (Speaking of which, asparagus is in season at this point of time. We should get some! And cook ourselves Gnocchi con asparagi! Frittata con asparagi! Asparagi with half fried egg! And others!)

Ravioli Ricotta con Spinaci con pomodoro

I like the parmigiano shavings on top. And the tomatoes taste so delicately fresh. But it’s the raviolo which was quite interesting to me, as I’ve never encountered such a big raviolo before.

Look at how large it is compared to the fork! It’s most probably handmade. By the way, in making ravioli with ricotta and spinaci, there ratio of ricotta cheese should be more than the spinach and not the other way round.

A duo of fresh and cured pecorino cheese for you to taste – they are both essentially the same, made of sheep milk but they both have different maturing stages. I prefer cheeses which are fresh and have a delicate flavour as compared to the tart and rich flavours of the cured ones.

And then for dessert, Cart and I had a cake filled with ricotta and Philadelphia cheese respectively.

While the food above were really good and tasted very fresh, they are not really a Toscana speciality. But as mentioned, we tend not to eat meat when we are outside, so a lot of the food that they are renowned for, like rabbit stew, and grilled wild boar, we couldn’t eat.

But here are the things that we did eat!

Ribollita – Suitable for vegans

Ribollita means reboiled in Italian. This is a soup made with bread and local vegetables such as carrot, cabbage, beans, bietola, cavolo nero and onions. It looks kind of like a minestrone, but this dish takes a much longer cooking process.

Cart and Hema liked this a lot. Although for me, I think I’ll take a longer time to warm up to it because Tuscan bread has no salt in it to justify that you could appreciate the flavours of the dishes better. But to me, I don’t like Tuscan breads as they are a tad too bland … sorry!

Ceci all’olio – also suitable for vegans

This dish is basically by boiling chick peas in water and add a bit of olive oil and rosemary have it boiled till the dish is almost completely evaporated. This is slow cooked also, which is why you’d see the coagulated consistency of the soup as opposed to a more viscous texture for a dish which takes a shorter time to cook.

(Coagulate? Viscous consistency? Hahaha! Geography terms that still stick to me after all these years)

Cantucci e Vin Santo

Remember the wine that Hema bought at the bed and breakfast? That is called a Vin Santo and it is a sweet wine and you could have it as a dessert with almond biscuits which you dunk it in. I wonder how it tastes like. But Hema seems to like it, and this is a rather popular combination that I even see it served outside of Tuscany.

Castagnaccio

We didn’t have this in the restaurant but I thought that I’d just add this just for the fun of it since Cart made this some while back.

Castagnaccio is made of chestnut flour mixed with water and soaked raisins, pine nuts and fresh rosemary on top. It is a very rustic cake and I think it’s good to eat during holidays to help negate the rich foods that we ate.

So, that’s about it for today! I think I’ll blog about our visit to the olive oil produce and winery in the next blog post!

As you know, my bestie is staying with us for about a week and a half and for some inexplicable reason, wanted to visit a town called Greve in Chianti which is in the province of Tuscany.

This is probably going to sound really bad, but for the longest time, I can never hear the name Chianti (nor Fava) without connecting it with Hannibal Lecter.

My ears grate now though with how he pronounces it as kee-ahnn-tee. Ouch!

Greve in Chianti is of course famous for its quality wines as well as olive oils. I think it’s a perfect place for wine tours and I’ll blog about our visit to a wine and olive oil maker in a near future blog post

Anyway, as I’ve never visited the area before, I didn’t know where to stay and didn’t want to spend anything more than 100 euro a night. It doesn’t make sense to spend a lot on lodgings considering that we’d be out most of the time.

So I did some research on Venere.com and decided on a bnb called Pian De’ Noci. I did a booking using a credit card.

The bnb is managed by Il Palagio Winery so we headed there directly after our day trip at the designer outlets, to get our keys.

It can be quite challenging to get there as the road signs are rather confusing, so it’s best to print a road map before you leave as GPS (and even phone signals) doesn’t seem to work so well for me here (one of the biggest reason of my stress for this journey, but it’s a learning experience!)

Il Palagio is next to a castle overlooking a vineyard and when you reach there, you’ll be given a sample of their wines. Cart and I don’t drink, but Hema appeared to be enjoying her Vin Santo wine which she purchased eventually. I think it was about 25 euro for a 1997 batch.

(See how the Tuscan air is doing good things to my complexion? *coughs*)

By the way, it seems that they don’t withdraw anything from the credit card but they use the number as a method of security. We paid by cash in the end.

(This is funny as it says, “You shouldn’t be allowed to walk if your mouth haven’t tasted wine” but the irony is that you can’t walk if you’re drunk)

Tuscany is so beautiful. Green is my favourite colour and I never got bored looking at the shades of green from the kilometers of olive trees and grapevines in the horizon. It is so peaceful and tranquil. And I felt so relaxed, lost in the depths of greenness. Somehow the place reminds me a lot of Cameron Highlands with the background looking like a big green carpet.

When we finally reached our bed and breakfast, I think we were all enamored when the caretaker showed us around. The place is so lovely with its rustic charm that I immediately took pictures in its pristine state. It was beyond my expectations. Poor Cart had to carry all the luggages in from the car himself while Hema and I snapped excitedly. Hahaha!

Check out the gorgeousness!

This is what you see as soon as you enter – a dining table and then a working kitchen, fully furnished with everything you need – cutlery, plates, cooking utensils, basic condiments, etc. (You may want to stock up on some things yourself though)

At seeing this, I was so inspired that I insisted that we prepare dinner the next day to eat in (there is a supermarket in the area) and enjoy a relaxing evening there. We just had gnocchi and frittata, but it was nice spending time together with my hearts.

(This post is not sponsored by Coop and Ferrarelle by the way)

There is a circular staircase that leads to the living room. Unlike the bnb in Milan that was warmer, this room is significantly colder due to the rather bad weather when we reached there. But I reckon it will be very refreshing during the warmer seasons.

Interestingly, I didn’t find any Italian channels on the telley and instead saw mostly German and French programs. I suppose this is a sign that a lot of the tourists that visit are mainly German and French?

Next as you walk in past the kitchen is the bathroom with a shower space which is big enough to fit Cart and the standard toilet, bidet and sink. I didn’t find any hair dryers although, I don’t think that it’s included.

And here is Hema asking me to take a picture of us in the bathroom. And me in an expression, asking myself, “Why?” My friend is so eccentric (like me)

And here is our bedroom where Cart and I spent our two nights! I so love the choice of decoration. Very country!

The room is so sweet and cosy and inviting. And I especially like the addition of a cylindrical pillow. It’s called bantal peluk in Malay, but I’ve no idea what it’s called in English. Essentially you use it to hug when you sleep and I’m definitely going to get one to bring back to Rome when I’m back in Singapore. Not going to care if I get strange stares at the customs.

Oh yeah! You’re also given 3 different towels each – I explained to Hema that the smallest one is for the crotch, followed by a face and hands towel and the largest one for the body.

We didn’t have a window so it was very dark when you turn off the lights. So I was very confused when I woke up at about 8 am but not seeing any sunlight. But there is a door where you could open a latch and see anyone at the front door and exit there if you like.

Normally, I need time to adjust when I’m sleeping in a bed that I’m not used to. Perhaps it is the Tuscan air, but I felt so at home and so comfortable that I fell asleep with no problems (also being tired from the long road trip helps too … hehehe)

And here is Hema’s room! She has a lovely view of the vineyard and I imagine that it will be so beautiful when September comes, when the grapes are ripe for the picking.

We snapped these on the second day we were here, when there was a bit more sun out.

Baby grapes!

And here we are looking gleeful at our bnb discovery! Hehehe! Hema said that she’d come here again with her hubby.

And this is how the front of the bnb looks like. Not sure if you could see it in the picture, but there is a swimming pool to the left although swimming is the last thing on our minds as it was really cold at the point of time we were there!

Oh! Before I forget, there is wifi connection here that you could use and we used it to research the places we could visit on our smartphones – although I’ve banned Cart from bringing his laptop with him! He’s a game monster -_-”

After staying there for the past three days, I was actually quite sad to be leaving the bnb. It is so charming and relaxing just to be there and I really hope that I’d be back there again.

Here is a video of the bnb! You can definitely see how excited I was to be there. Hehehe!

Next blog post is about Tuscan food! Or our trip to Firenze! Depends on my mood

And thus, last weekend, we went on a long road trip. About 200km away from Rome and it took us about two hours just to reach an outlet shop. I think that I’d be very stressed out if I had to drive there on my own. So thank goodness there was Cart! You could also take a train+bus/cab combo if you plan to only spend time there.

The first stop that we went to was in a place called ‘The Space’ where it holds the brands Prada and Miu Miu together. And here is a good site on how to get there.

It is a very nondescript looking building, so you’d be forgiven if you’d think that you are in the wrong place. There wasn’t a crowd when we reached there, so I reckon we were lucky as I’ve read that only 100 customers are allowed in the building at a time and the rest may have to wait 30 mins to an hour to enter.

In any case, as soon as you enter, you will be given a ticket, which you hang on for reserving the item that you’ve picked.

In all honesty, I was quite uncomfortable there. It may be an outlet shop, but my heart was jumping wildly, looking at the prices. A lot of the bags were 200 euro and above – they didn’t even list the ‘before’ prices for comparison so that I’d at least feel better at looking at the savings.

Plus, a few of their clerks are so snobby. I touched a bag, which looked similar to my purple bag and was about to show how it works to Hema, when I heard a shriek, “Madam!” and she promptly snatched it away from me. WTF?

So I just looked around and admired some of the designs. But I’m not a big fan of Prada when it comes to their designs, as to me, most of them looks a little “old lady”.

But I did see something that I kind of liked. Not sure if you could see it, but it’s green (something I like) and has fairies (something I like) sitting on a lily.

And if I’m not wrong, this is a James Jean design. It was 50 euro which seems reasonable but at the time, I wasn’t sure if I liked it enough to get it. What occasion would I have worn it anyway? Looking back, I should have, huh? ARGH!

Anyway, here are some of the items that Hema got :

Something for work

(Please excuse my unmekaped face)

And something for functions

I think she spent about 600 euro in total, instead of paying full price of about 1200 for both. And on top of that, she’ll get some tax rebates when she claims it at the airport.

How much Marina spent here = 0 euro

—

Our next stop was another 30km up North to another outlet called ‘The Mall‘ and this place holds more Italian designer brands like Balenciaga, Armani and Ferragamo.

There are crowds outside certain shops. Like Tods. It was so long, I reckon that it will take about an hour to enter. Anyway, we stopped at Gucci. We were lucky that we didn’t need to queue up to enter, because when we were done, there was a rather big line outside!

Anyway, like in ‘The Space’ which we visited earlier, there were a lot of Asian people inside buying designer things by the dozens. I even saw someone with thick stacks of 100 euro bills. Wow, super rich people. I felt quite uncomfortable. Scary stuff! I’m only inside because I’m accompanying my friend and I wouldn’t normally enter on my own!

Oh, and before I forget, you need to bring your passport along with you as it seems that tourists have a buying limit of 10 items (if I’m not wrong) and the quota is checked by the passport. And speaking of which, I saw a couple of Singaporean passports being whipped out.

And here are the items that Hema got :

A sling bag for her hubby

A wristlet

And a coin purse

I don’t remember how much she spent in total. Probably around another 500 euro? At this point of time, my heart was racing just at the thought of the amount my friend just spent. I’m really scared to spend the same amount for myself! I could have made a deposit on a new scooter or get another second hand car for that amount or fix my teeth. But it makes her happy, and she could afford it. So why not.

How much Marina spent here = 0 euro

Seems quite sad huh? That I didn’t get anything for myself considering that this brand is very popular among Singaporeans. But no worries, like Prada, I’m not a big fan of Gucci’s designs either. I don’t like too much logo monogramming.. When it comes to designs, I prefer things that are classy and elegant and understated (as you will see soon)

Anyway, we stopped by Roberto Cavalli to have a look see and I showed her how fierce his designs are with bold animal prints. I think his designs are cool, although it’s not something that I’d personally get for myself.

Rawr!

And then we stopped by Valentino to show Hema how elegant his designs are. If I were given money to spend, and can only choose one luxury brand, Valentino would definitely be it. To me, the designs are extremely beautiful, feminine and classic. But most importantly, wearable.

We went through and admired all the beautiful outfits and shoes and then I saw the most beautiful dress I’ve ever seen this year. My heart just skipped a beat when I saw it. It was the 2012 Spring/Summer Red Valentino dress.

Don’t be deceived! It may look very simple in the picture above – it’s your basic A-line dress with a pink ribbon. But this is something that has to be seen in real life. You can tell that this is quality just by touching it. The fabric was the most luxurious silk-chiffon type of material. I gasped as I twirled it. It is a dream! Le sigh!

It’s so beautiful! It’s so beautiful! It’s so beautiful!

It is very rare that I would be so deeply enamored by something. The last time that I felt this way was when I was in Milan and I saw this shoe by Dolce Gabbana. This dress is pure gorgeousness! But it costs 350 odd euro! And I had to fight with myself from getting it. I didn’t in the end because of priorities. But I was so sad

I might try to recreate it at least since I have my own sewing machine or perhaps force my seamstress mum to sew one for me when I’m back in Singapore in August. It may not be a Valentino, but ah well! It’s one of a kind handmade stuff! I’ll earn enough to get something without thinking twice, one day

By the way, did you know that they did a photoshoot for this collection at Bomarzo? It’s an interesting place about 1.5 hours drive from Rome.

Anyway, there you go! That was my experience in an outlet shop in Florence. Have you visited there before? And should I have gotten the Valentino dress? What do you think?

Sidenote : I went to the Castel Romano Designer Outlet in Rome as there is a Valentino shop there. Unfortunately, while they have the series, they do not have MY dress

My best friend Hema was in Rome for the past week and a half and we had such a lovely time together beautiful places in Rome as well as Tuscany and Florence. There are so many gorgeous places in Italy and I sorely wish that I could visit every region before it is too late.

I may blog about it soon, but in the meanwhile here is a toon to tide us by

Rinaz : This Italian exercise is too difficult for me

Rinaz : Would you help me, please?

Cart : Ok. Let me see it.

Cart : Come on! It’s simple! Bla bla bla. Have you understood?

Moral of the story : Teaching others is a noble thing to do. But explaining too much at one go can be very confusing

The middle of April

And now

Spring is so interesting. I love looking at the colours of the leaves as it bursts out after it’s dormancy. It’s like a Rogaine commercial.