I'm Practically Diane Lane : Tuscany

Tuscany: It's magical, beautiful, and the food is mighty fine.

Our trip to Tuscany was a mandatory school trip. Instead of rushing to get to the Termini train station at the crack of dawn, we were lucky enough to step out of our dorm onto a huge bus, worry free. It was great, still early, but easier to sleep. We slept a lot.

First stop on the tour was the city of Siena. Siena was stunning. It was the quintessential Tuscan city. There were hills, dusty brown buildings, and the most striking church I've seen in a while, a huge black and white striped building made to reflect the crest of Siena.

The next stop was my absolute favorite day in Italy! San Gimignano was the most beautiful Tuscan town, complete with medieval towers and walls. It was situated on a beautiful countryside with rolling hills sprinkled with farms and vineyards. To start our day, we went to mass at a smaller church. To our surprise, the mass was in English with about ten other people. Then we were free to go off on our own and enjoy this tiny treasure.

Naturally, we found gelato, it won several awards for being the best in the world. I got a scoop of cinnamon and a scoop of almond. It was absolutely amazing.

After our adventures in San Gimignano, we headed deeper into the hills. This time we were off to a castle near Florence. Castello del Trebbio is a beautiful vineyard where we got to learn about the castle's history as well as the process of making wine.

After wine and a delicious Tuscan meal, we were all ready to relax and make our way back to Siena for a good night's sleep.

Orvieto was the final place we went on our fantastic trip to Toscana. Orvieto is where the feast of Corpus Christi originated. The Cathedral is beautiful and extremely ornate. It houses a piece of fabric which is said to have the blood of Christ on it, the blood that poured from a piece of consecrated Host.

The town was also very scenic ans picturesque. The interesting thing about this city was it's location. It is high above the surrounding area, situated on a tall plateau. We were given much more time to explore the narrow, winding streets and take advantage of the shops all over the town center. By the time we got back on the bus it had begun to rain, signaling a good time to make our way back to Rome.