Buongiorno! We have returned from our beloved Italy and are now preparing for our (finally!) move to Maine…. just in time for the cold ☹. Please excuse the slower pace of posts over the next few weeks as we get our lives together in the new house, but I did want to post our itinerary for our week in Italy, Bossoncina.

Why did we spend a week in one spot?

People are often flummoxed when we tell them we are spending a week in Europe in one location, just Barcelona, or Funchal or a villa in rural Tuscany. Matt and I have no problem flying across the world and transferring in major international airports (flying business and having lounge access in fact usually makes travel days the highlight of our vacations), but once we arrive, we are done with the shlepping.

You know the European trips I speak of. The ones where you wake up at 7am at your mediocre hotel to board a bus with highly irritating people to see every museum and church you have never heard of (I have 2 history degrees and I can assure you outside of the Louvre, I haven’t heard of it either) to finish your day in a new city having a wonderful authentic Caesar salad and broiled chicken at your 4-star boring hotel. Hurry off to bed because you must wake up at 6am to see the church of St. Choose a Name!

Once we arrived at our villa in Tuscany we stayed there for a week. Sure we saw some beautiful (and empty with no crowds) churches and we did a few day trips to vineyards, small cities, and spas, but rest assured we returned to the villa each day by 2pm for nap time! With that, let me share our itinerary along with links for those who travel to Tuscany who wish to try some of this out! I hope this inspires future trips to Tuscany and do let me know if you have any questions.

Day 1

We arrived in the afternoon, went to the grocery store, and unpacked. We enjoyed the views and Matt made a lovely dinner of Grilled Tuscan pork tenderloin with lemon potatoes and peppers.

Day 2

Another day at the villa! Today we also drove 5 minutes into Montepulciano and causally walked around the town where we had a glass of wine, a lite lunch and shopped. For dinner I made a more southern Italian version of Ragu as a Tuscan Ragu (which I prefer) was too gamey for some of our guests.

Day 3

We finally left the villa and drove an hour to Siena. Siena is a lovely medieval city that is more walkable than Florence, but similar idea to Florence. While you can go on a walking tour with the irritating guide with the umbrella, being miserable as you learn about stuff you won’t remember by dinner, we walked ourselves to the main square, Duomo and shopped around. We returned to Montepulciano for dinner at ate at La Grotta (review to come)

Day 4

We drove about 45 minutes to Montalcino the hone of Brunello wine. There is really no reason to drink anything else. We went on a tour at our favorite vineyard and purchased a case for our new home. For dinner my mother in-law made her amazing chicken parmesan, which is not Tuscan or Italian, but whatever, it was amazing.

Day 5

We chilled at the villa until a private cooking class at night (I will blog more about this amazing experience soon).

Day 6

Okay this was our big hectic day! We did not return until 7pm! We had a very stressful SPA DAY at the Adler Thermae. This spa will change your life and you must go. My mother in-law made another wonderful dinner of a Mediterranean style chicken.

Day 7

Final day at the villa. We just relaxed by the pool until we went to a local osteria at the very top of Montepulciano with stunning views. The food is always good and the owners are just lovely.

That’s it! We did not attempt to see every city in Italy in 7 days. Instead, we got to really know a specific location, eat amazing food, saw a few sights, and spent quality time with one another. Stay tuned to more in-depth posts about the trip.

Have you been to Tuscany? What are some of your favorite activities?