The drive to the horse ranch was absolutely stunning but also terrifying. The roads were extremely narrow and winding. You literally couldn't see if a car was coming around the same curve you were turning. To make it worse Leo [our tour guide] was driving pretty fast in a stick shift van that sounded like it was going to fall apart with every shift in gear. Thankfully we made it there and to other places safe and sound.
The horse ranch was so cute. Everyone there was really friendly. It was like a family. They even had a little dog that actually came up to us! I was almost convinced the dogs here were trained not to like tourists. It smelled like shit of course but since my parents live around horses, it was a familiar smell. My horse's name was Frank. Frank and I definitely had an adventure. The tour lasted for about an hour and Frank was not having it. He kept stopping and trying to eat grass so I had to fight to pull his reigns but he was so stubborn that he didn't even respond to my silent demand to keep it moving. This happened multiple times. He also kept tripping which I thought was pretty funny and scary because that has been my life story while here. At one point, I think he started to mentally give up on the walk because he just started to slow down like he was going to stop. With a little kick, a neck rub, and a few soothing words he picked up the pace again. It was really nice to see the Tuscan countryside on horse. The sites were definitely breathtaking. However, the bugs were ridiculous and my pelvis is still killing me.
After the horse riding portion, we went to a winery. We got to walk around and learn how wine is made. It's actually a very interesting and complicated process that goes into making it. I wish I enjoyed wine a little bit more so that I could have had a deeper appreciation for the things that I was learning. Leo then took us to a quaint little town where we had some gelato [of course]. The town was mainly locals and it was very quiet. I loved how dead the streets were. It was a nice breath of fresh air after the daily hustle and bustle of Florence.
Last we finally got to do a little wine tasting and eat dinner. I'm not a huge fan of red wine. Because we are in southern Italy, the wine they made there was red and not white. So needless to say, I didn't enjoy it too much. Dinner was superb though. I really enjoyed it even though I didn't finish. Like always I was starving so I stacked my plate high with food just to get full quickly. What I did finish eating was delicious. Then we headed back.
I am really sad that this is my last weekend here. I didn't expect to be this heartbroken that this experience is coming to an end. I have five days after today to do everything that I haven't been able to do so far. That means no taking three hour naps in the middle of the day, no going to sleep at a reasonable hour, no wasting any time. It's time to make these next 120 hours count.
Smooches,
The College Natural
 |
| The winery |
 |
| Couldn't have been blessed with better roommates! |
 |
| Everyone meet Leo |
No pictures of Frank?
ReplyDelete