Chianti

17/06/09
Had enough of Florence and so decided to join the hostel organised wine tour of the neighboring Chianti region. Chianti is between Siena and Florence and is home to wines of the same namesake. The tour was hosted by Irene (pronounced Irina I think) who is a local from there and so we walked to the train station to hop on a coach to get there. There are 3 grades of wine from this region, table wine being called super Tuscany or IGT, the good stuff is graded DOC (has document of originality and manufacture) and lastly DOCG (same as before but guaranteed to an higher standard).
First stop was an sampler plate of the local cheese and ham with some IGT reds and whites. Then a stop at Greve before heading to another winery for some lunch where we had more DOC and DOCG wines. Lastly we went and had some Grappa (spirits made from the skin of the grape) which you have in small sips of 40 and 60% alcohol before a sweet version to finish the day.

Chianti

Unfortunately my day was not done as I had to catch a train to Pisa for my accommodation that night. When I got off the train in Pisa I bumped into a couple of Ozzies (Connor and Chris?) and their Irish friend Fenton, the two from Oz play in the Irish National Soccer League for Belfast and the trio of them had no idea how to get to see the leaning tower of Pisa. Luckily I showed them where to get the prepaid bus ticket and also where to get off, "kids" thesedays. After having dinner together they went on their way back to the train station to catch a train to Rome, their leaning Pisa photo mission done. I had to trudge to my campsite cabin with no a/c and no window too!