The FINE people at Plus Florence Hostel decided to host a wine tasting tour to the wine country region of Chianti. I had been planning on leaving the city early in the day to get a full day at my next stop (Sorry, kids. You're going to have check back at a later time to figure out where that next stop was.), but I figured it could wait for a day of wine tasting.
As it happened, I was very lucky to go on the tour in the first place. I saw the sign posted in the lobby of the hostel and waited patiently in line to inquire as to the status of the tour. There was a group of 3 in front of me, who just by chance, were in line for the same reason. They had the following conversation, as I sat idly by:
"Excuse me. We were wondering if there are any spots remaining for the tour tomorrow."
"Sorry. There isn't enough room for the 3 of you. There's only 1 remaining spot left."
NIIIIIIIICE.
Making sure there was no one lurking behind, I immediately grabbed pen and paper and signed my name next to the only vacant line on the sign-up sheet.
The next morning, the 10 of us met in the hostel lobby and headed towards our day of fun.
A charter bus picked us up and road towards the Tuscan hills and the beautiful countryside. (You don't believe me? Go ahead, check for yourself.) After our tourguide described our itinerary for the day, we learned our first stop was a Tuscan streetmarket.
After driving within the hills for about 20 minutes, we arrived. We were given 45 minutes to wander the streets, perusing the novelty item booths, checking out the meat and cheese specialty shops and sampling some of the best delicacies Tuscany has to offer. A particular meat shop was recommended to us, so we made sure to pay them a visit before anyone else. Inside were all types of precured meats and sliced cheeses, but these were overshadowed by the shop's side room, or more importantly, their sampling room. I definitely overspent my welcome, trying everything from pecorino cheese (a delicious Tuscan specialty), to Genoa Salami, to yummy bread dipped in Italian olive oil, to a fantasticly delicious spicy sausage.
After likely offending the woman cutting and presenting the samples for quite some time, my friends recommended it was probably best we leave. I reluctantly gave in, but not before yoinking another salami and bread sample once they had turned their backs.
We got back on the bus and headed towards the countryside, where our wine tasting lay ahead. We were greeted by an ordable Italian woman, whose English was quite impressive. She gave us a tour of the factory and described the process by which wine is bottled. After 20 minutes or so of walking the premises, we were shown to our tasting tables.
We sampled three wines - 2 reds and a white - all of which were delicious. I made sure to make friends with the woman when she was pouring the wines, asking questions, showing interest and sweet-talking her. Call me manipulative, (probably because that's what I was doing) but the result was her leaving all of the bottles on our table.
After a few glasses of the wines, we were all in a better places than we had been 15 minutes prior. The final sampling (I use the word very liberally in this instance) was of grappa, a liquor made from fermented grapes. It certainly wasn't good, but it definitely did the trick.
And yes, I made sure she left that bottle on the table, too.
Everyone seemed to be in a much better mood by the time we climbed back onboard the bus. Next on the agenda was lunch.
We arrived at a restaurant that overlooks the water and were greeted to a table full of endless caraffes of red wine, bread and olive oil. We sat down, and without seeing a menu, were each handed a huge plate of appetizers consisting of prosscioto, bruchetta, grilled veggies and liver. (i know what you are thinking. trust me, it was good.) After I ate my plate of food, I began to work on the remains my friends had left behind. I was rudely interrupted by the waitstaff, however, who were apparently on a schedule to continue feeding us. I reluctantly accepted their intervening when I realized their next trip to the table would yield more food. About 5 minutes later, these glorious people brought out family style portions of penne arrabiata and cheese ravioli soaked in meat sauce. After a few portions of food and a few more healthy pours of red wine, I was satisfied.
Now that lunch was over it, it was play time. We were given an hour to roam the premises and enjoy ourselves in any fashion we desired. Swimming, running, video games and weight lifting were all options for us; I went with swimming. I love swimming at home and try to do it as much as possible, but Europe has afforded me very few opportunities to take advantage of the pasttime. I figured now was a better time than any to jump right in. And so I did.
45 minutes later, after a refreshing swim (and maybe another glass of wine) we were called back to the bus. We drove the countryside again, only this time around the crowd was somehow a little subdued. All I know is that by the time I woke up, we were back at Plus Florence Hostel.
...Oh, I forgot to mention that this entire day was free. F-R-E-E. Gratis. Libre (No, wait. That's a different "free". Anyway, you get the point.)
No, it's true though. Plus Florence had opened up just 3 weeks prior, and decided to hold their Grand Opening the weekend I was there. While Saturday night would be a night full of Plus Florence-led partying with music and booze (a party which would begin while I was en route to my next stop), Saturday was dedicated to the wine tasting trip. There were only 10 available spots for hostel guests on the tour because of the rest of the bus was allocated for representatives of famous travel publications. Employees of hostelworld.com, hostels.com, hostelbookers.com, Backpacker Magazine and a number of other companies came from all walks of European life to attend the affair. The result was a day of wining and dining to impress the top dogs of the industry...with me just along for the ride.
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