Day: September 12, 2011

Today we took a tour of the Chianti wine region near Florence. Chianti Classico has come a long way from the ’60’s when everybody had a raffia covered Chianti bottle on their table with a candle stuck in it. Chianti Classico is now strictly regulated by the Italian government and must contain a certain percentage of Sangiovese grapes. One of the wineries we visited today produces small quantities of artisanal wine in a villa once occupied by Machiavelli himself. He wrote “The Prince” elsewhere but they claim he did live here for a time.

Some of the photos from today.

It’s Sunday and Florence is overflowing with people. The streets are narrow and the sidewalks are uneven and many streets have cobblestones making walking an adventure in and of itself. This morning we made our way to the Ponte Vecchio which spans the Arno River and is the only Florentine bridge to have remained standing since the 1300’s. Once home to a foul smelling market, in the 16th Century, the Grand Duke replaced the butchers, whose offal discards caused the foul smell, with goldsmiths. I splurged there and found myself a pair of lovely 18k gold hoops, the only thing I will probably bring home from my Italian adventure.

I should note that from the start of my “Two Broads in Italy” posts, I am no longer making any pretense that my blog is about improving my photography. It has evolved into a travelogue of sorts. I still try to take photos with the correct exposure and composition but I have resorted to Auto settings on more than one occasion and I am using the iPad Photoshop App to tweak most of the pix.

We won’t be going to the Uffizi Gallery to see the marvelous paintings I studied in college or to the Accademia to see Michelangelo’s David because I screwed up and didn’t make reservations in time. But I have had my own David replica that i have cherished for more than 40 years and my own copy of Botticelli’s Birth of Venus so I won’t be too sad to miss then here. Next time I’ll do it right. This time it’s all about the food and the wine.

Here are a few of the pix I took today.