Tales of a Tuscan Tour

Kait and I had a fantastic weekend, with all its ups and downs. Friday morning at 7:30 (still too early for us) a large group of us departed on tour buses to the Tuscan countryside to explore a few of the smaller historic hill cities, and take in the area surrounding Florence, called the Maremma. It was beautiful, but very difficult to fully enjoy from the uncomfortable and motion-sickening vantage point of a crowded bus.

After making a few unfortunate turns, and finally managing to navigate properly, our bus arrived in the small hill town of Pienza, found in the southern part of Tuscany. Our time was cut short there, but we managed to tour the main plaza and cathedral, as well as take in a panoramic view of Tuscany, and sample a regional specialty, pecorino (cheese made from sheep’s milk), a very savory white cheese that Tuscans will drizzle with honey for dessert, or eat with pears for breakfast, or eat on unsalted bread with prosciutto (Tuscan cured ham) for lunch. Delicious! (except when suffering from a travel-unsettled stomach like I was…) The first picture is where our cheese sampling took place.

We left Pienza (in a bit of a hurry) to make our scheduled wine tasting near another small hill town a ways north of Pienza called Montepulciano. We didn’t get to see this town, but we did spend the afternoon at the beautiful Bindella vineyard and cellars. They brought out trays of bread drizzled with olive oil, salami (another Tuscan favorite), and pecorino to eat with the wine sampling. They let us try 3 different red wines, all very dry. After touring the vineyard’s fermentation facilities and cellars, we got back in the bus (oh, joy) for the two and a half hour ride north to our resort near Massa Marittima for a supper buffet and sleep.

Saturday we set out from the resort to the beautiful hill town of Pitigliano, carved into a giant mountain of tufa stone surrounded by Maremma forestland. We were given a tour of the town’s historical focal points, and then given free time to wander and find lunch. Kait and I loved our time in this peaceful hideaway. There are three pictures here; trying to capture its beauty and charm. We then got back on the bus for a very short trip to Sovana, the capital and burial site of the prehistorical Etruscans. This tiny village was interesting to hear about, but there wasn’t much to see beside the church. Seems like that’s the case in most of these tiny Tuscan towns. If you’re going to see anything historical, it’s the church. I felt very strange admiring these places as secular tourist sites full of historical significance, rather than as beautifully ornate sacred spaces designed to usher those who enter them into an attitude of worship. An odd experience.

Saturday night we hung out some more at the resort, (pool picture) enjoying some down time with our friends from Seattle Pacific, and planning a really fun Thanksgiving dinner to keep from feeling too abominably homesick during the holiday. Kait and I spent a lot of time with Brie, Meagan, and Carmel this weekend, especially because it seems like we (plus a few others we’ve met) stick out as being very different from the majority of our study abroad peers. More on that later…

Sunday we spent the day on the coast of Tuscany, soaking up some sun at the beach. The five of us went on an adventure as we tried to find lunch; after getting very worried we wouldn’t find a place, and becoming very hungry and frustrated, we stumbled down a narrow back gravel road onto a pizzaria bungalow. Great prices, no tourists, and amazing food! It was so much fun! Then we made our way back to the beach, found some incredible (and incredibly cheap) gelato, and walked in the surf collecting ocean-smoothed pebbles. Then, back on the bus, back home to Florence.

The weekend was very fun, and very exhausting, but well worth the hours on the bus. Who’s going to complain about a free tour of Tuscany??? Thanks for your prayers as we continue to adjust, and thanks for your comments and emails of encouragement. We love hearing from you guys!

Prayer concern: We find it very trying and difficult to be around our fellow abroad students here. Most of them seem only very interested in partying and like behavior. We spend a great deal of our time overhearing their tales, usually beginning with statements such as, “I don’t remember anything that happened last night.” We’re not complaining, and we don’t mean to lump everyone into the same pile, but we’ve noticed so much greed, entitlement, immodesty, and lots of crude, disrespectful, and what they call “Ugly American” language and behavior from many of our peers. We could shun everyone and make sure we keep our distance the whole time we’re here, OR, if we’re thinking about this situation in a loving way: pray that we can learn not to be judgmental and to learn what God wants from us in this situation. We’ve never been so surrounded by worldly young people who need something more in their lives. We spent an entire bus trip hearing two girls sitting behind us telling their life stories: drugs, abuse, alcohol, threats, etc. Pray that we can love. We’ve known of these hurting people of our generation but they’ve never been so close to us. We wonder, how can we minister to them and be taken seriously? We didn’t and don’t live lives like that. How can we relate? What does God want us to do?

At the vineyard.



Wine Tasting with our friends. Josh, Brie, Megan, and Carmel.