My Study Abroad

Originally this was a wine tasting, lunching and biking through the Chianti region of Italy. At the last minute however, the program cancelled on us. Days were switched around and the ride as well as the provider were switched to Sunday July 15th.

There were 13 students all together who signed up. Peter, our tour guide had obtained this job through a family friend. He said that, that is how you get jobs here (everybody knows someone). He was young, probably upper 20's and didn't even break a sweat the entire ride!!

We started by being fit into helmets and on bicycles (very good shock absorbers) not far from the center of town. In total, the trip would be approximately 5 hours with lunch and other scenic stops built in.

It was a little scary riding next to the other mopeds & motorcycles, mini cars/trucks, because of their irregular driving. Also, there's the fact that the road isn't exactly even, making for an even more unsettling ride out of the city!! Locals seemed happy to see us riding through town and also up in the country, cheering us on.

The first half hour was a ride up to San Miniato Church- a previous hike we had endured the week before. And if I thought that that was tough, nothing could have prepared me for the ride up. Not even the week I spent b4 coming to Italy, practicing my heart out on my bike's nice cushy seat. No, no, these bikes had small, hard seats and I was saddle soar at the end for at least the next four days!!.

At San Miniato, we had the opportunity to have a coffee break and or get water for the next leg of the trip until lunch.

There are series of hills as you ride through Chianti with breathtaking views. When we rode through our first olive orchard, Peter told us that Italians harvest the olives by laying down nets under trees and picking them by hand, and just dropping them down into the net. (Just like in Under the Tuscan Sun)

For lunch, we stopped into a small restaurant, of which we were the only ones in, and were seated in what appeared to be the basement, but it had an a joining deck with spectacular view of the country side. There were two courses. Cheese and meat platter with bruschetta topped with either chicken-liver paste or artichoke paste. Can you guess which one I had? The meats included two types of prosciutto and sliced sausage. With the cheeses, one was just aged more that the other. Then, the seccond course consisted of a cheese ravioli and a pasta dish with spiral noodles and tomato meat sauce. To drink we had aqua naturale and wine. The wine was a Chianti red wine that was actually quite good. I really don't usually prefer wine at all especially red wine, but you could tell that this one was fresh and airy. ("light" doesn't exactly fit) You can find it in the stores by the reddish-purple label around the top of the bottle. Also, it says Chianti on it.
At the end of lunch, we were all served one shot of espresso in tiny white ceramic cups with one packet of zucchero (sugar) on the side-and a small stirring spoon. I'm not a big fan of strait coffee, but I poured in the sugar, stirred it up, and took a sip. It wasn't half bad. An then I sipped the rest.

The way down through Chianti was much easier as we were traveling DOWN. The hills were a lot less intense and the breeze on a 95 degree F. day was more than anyone could have asked for.

We returned to the bike place, handed in our helmets and bikes and thanked Peter for an amazing experience. We then straggled back to our apartment to rest.

This experience was challenging but worth it. I would definitely recommend tours like this, because it shows you a new side of the country you're visiting. Hooray!!