We’d like to think of ourselves as rather savvy when it comes to Italy, having married in Tuscany and having visited a dozen times throughout the last decade. But when a friend recommended we visit the Maremma region during our 10th anniversary trip to Tuscany this past autumn, we were intrigued. Maremma? Seen it on maps, never really paid it much mind.
Names like Pitigliano, Sorano and Manciano don’t usually roll off the tip of one’s tongue when talking Tuscan hill towns. Same goes for wines and cuisine from Maremma.
But that’s what motivated us to visit – unknown, hidden, maybe even a little bit wild.
Check out the audio slideshow below to find out what we found: Continue Reading »
- Panorama of the Week: Pienza, Tuscany — A UNESCO Site Worth Getting Married In
- Eat Your Heart Out, Tuscany!
- Life Lessons from A Tuscan Wedding
- Panorama of the Week: The Makings of a Great Brunello di Montalcino
- From Hilltowns to Harvest: Tuscany in Autumn
- Accommodation Italy: Participating vs. Spectating
- Maremma: Hidden Tuscany (an Audio Slideshow)
Filed Under: Audio Clips, Europe, Italy, Travel by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
10 Comments | 9 December 2010
Filed Under: Europe, Italy, Travel by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
10 Comments | 23 October 2010
As autumn advances, the sunflowers fall, the golden soil is turned for the winter. Grapes, too, are ready for harvest. People celebrate.
Tuscany’s poetry is packed in the fields, the hills, the history, the food, and the people who make it all possible.
Earlier this month, we returned to Italy’s Tuscany region ten years after we were married there in September 2000. Time can do funny things to one’s perceptions; we wondered if our memories had been unfairly overcome with nostalgia.
When we were married in Tuscany, it couldn’t have been that beautiful, could it?
So we returned to investigate. And this is what we found. Continue Reading »
- Panorama of the Week: Pienza, Tuscany — A UNESCO Site Worth Getting Married In
- Eat Your Heart Out, Tuscany!
- Life Lessons from A Tuscan Wedding
- Panorama of the Week: The Makings of a Great Brunello di Montalcino
- From Hilltowns to Harvest: Tuscany in Autumn
- Accommodation Italy: Participating vs. Spectating
- Maremma: Hidden Tuscany (an Audio Slideshow)
Filed Under: Europe, Italy, Travel by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
15 Comments | 21 October 2010
How do you like our wild pig?
–- A cook in Tuscany’s Maremma region pauses to ask us one of life’s burning questions.
When we think of Italy, we think of vineyard orchards populated by wild boars, happy cows and people who talk with their hands and sound like they’re yelling at each other all the time even though they are really just talking about how great the tagliatelle is.
Continue Reading »
- Panorama of the Week: Pienza, Tuscany — A UNESCO Site Worth Getting Married In
- Eat Your Heart Out, Tuscany!
- Life Lessons from A Tuscan Wedding
- Panorama of the Week: The Makings of a Great Brunello di Montalcino
- From Hilltowns to Harvest: Tuscany in Autumn
- Accommodation Italy: Participating vs. Spectating
- Maremma: Hidden Tuscany (an Audio Slideshow)
Filed Under: Europe, Food, Italy by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
21 Comments | 15 October 2010
Have you ever read about or quaffed a famous wine and wondered how it was made? The terrain where the grapes were grown, the hands of the winemaker, or the transformation the wine has undergone from harvest to dinner table?
These were just a few of the questions piquing our curiosity about the great wines of Tuscany during our recent visit there. So we paid a visit to several wineries to get a feel for the land, the people, and the craft behind the great wine traditions of this region. Open the panorama below for a clue on how Brunello di Montalcino, one of Italy’s most prestigious wines, is made. You’ll find two important components: a charismatic winemaker, and large Slavonian oak barrels.
Panorama: Learning about Brunello di Montalcino at Capanna Winery
For best panorama viewing results, press fullscreen (four arrows) and navigate around with your mouse.
Continue Reading »
- Panorama of the Week: Pienza, Tuscany — A UNESCO Site Worth Getting Married In
- Eat Your Heart Out, Tuscany!
- Life Lessons from A Tuscan Wedding
- Panorama of the Week: The Makings of a Great Brunello di Montalcino
- From Hilltowns to Harvest: Tuscany in Autumn
- Accommodation Italy: Participating vs. Spectating
- Maremma: Hidden Tuscany (an Audio Slideshow)
Filed Under: Europe, Italy, Panorama, Wine by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
6 Comments | 11 October 2010
Nearly all the best things that came to me in life have been unexpected, unplanned by me.
–- Carl Sandburg
“Are you visiting Tuscany for your honeymoon?” Lorenza, our wine tasting hostess at Avignonesi winery, asked over a swirl of 2007 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano.
“No,” I laughed. “We’re actually here for our 10th anniversary. We were married just down the road in Pienza in 2000.”
Even as the words came out, I thought: Ten years? Really? Continue Reading »
- Panorama of the Week: Pienza, Tuscany — A UNESCO Site Worth Getting Married In
- Eat Your Heart Out, Tuscany!
- Life Lessons from A Tuscan Wedding
- Panorama of the Week: The Makings of a Great Brunello di Montalcino
- From Hilltowns to Harvest: Tuscany in Autumn
- Accommodation Italy: Participating vs. Spectating
- Maremma: Hidden Tuscany (an Audio Slideshow)
Filed Under: Europe, Italy, Personal Growth by: Daniel Noll
33 Comments | 8 October 2010
Filed Under: Italy, Panorama by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
14 Comments | 3 October 2010
