Greve in Chianti - the Chianti region of Tuscany

The medieval procession in Castellina in Chianti Xavier at the local barber

As we prepare to leave Tuscany we can reflect on a wonderful 2 week tour of the area. We have thoroughly enjoyed our first experience of Italy as a family, having met many locals, practiced our Italian, driven to many lovely locations and explored interesting, pretty, sometime breathtaking sights. To put our experience into words would not be sufficient - our photo's show a much better insight into our travels - so here we go:

We arrived in Italy - in Greve in Chianti, after flying from London (Stanstead Airport), hiring a car then driving to our home to find this - our home for 2 weeks:

We visited the local market place which was set up in the main piazza of Greve to purchase our fruit and vegies, cheese, bread and ham:

We ventured on walks to the top of the hill behind us to the tiny hamlet of Greve called Montifiorelle:

We bought gelati (many times):

We had a history lesson via Scott and the staff at the museum in Castellina in Chianti on the Etruscan times (approx 800 - 600BC):

We hired bikes and rode then (twice) around the walls of the city of Lucca:

We took cheesy photo's at the Leaning Tower of Pisa:

We played on many, many playgrounds:

We swam in the pool in Greve in Chianti:

We climbed the duomo in Florence, saw the statue of David and explored the streets of Florence:

We went to mass in the Cathedral of Saint Catherine in Siena and went to the Sienna Piazza:

We made friends with the local green grocer Ricko and the lady and man from the delicatessan:

At times we felt a little grumpy:

We watched a medieval procession in Penzano in Chianti and another in Montifiorelle:

We made friends with other people staying at the same place as us:

We sampled local wines:

We bought from the market:

Scott, Xavier and James had haircuts at the local barber, Elizabeth at the local hairdresser:

The food was great - we think because the raw ingredients were locally produced by small farmlets nearby:


We had a great time and sadly now we must leave for Rome and the next part of our adventure.