With our bellies full and a comfortable coach we started out on our longest drive of the trip. This was the only time we had enough time to show a movie. Troy and Marco chose to show Monsters University for the drive, which was fun to come full circle since that was the movie we had seen when we revealed the trip.
I’m not sure most of us actually saw the movie as most of us ended up looking like this tired junior adventurer! Other than that, the drive was uneventful and we arrived at the Tuscan Hotel.
As we stepped off the bus we were met by the proprietor of the hotel, Max, who can only be described as a bundle of energy. We were greeted with ‘Welcome! Benvenuto Disney! We are so glad you’re here!’. It was one of the best greetings I’ve ever received at a hotel, that’s for sure.
We were led into a small courtyard with some super comfy looking furniture. This is my dad looking awkwardly relaxed, haha!
Quickly, they laid out a small feast. It was really well decorated. Along with some fruit salad, a caprese salad, and other small munchies they had some water and prosecco. I think everyone enjoyed the welcome, but we were all also ready to get in the room and relax a little before dinner, so no one really stuck around for very long. It did give the guides a chance to check everyone in and get keys without everyone getting too antsy.
Our room was quite large and I thought it well appointed. We had plenty of room to move about and the bathroom was nice. One thing to note about the rooms here is that they are not all alike. So, some families would get one style room and another would get something completely different. It did not seem to matter what size family you had, so I’m not sure how they put families in each room. Probably luck of the draw. That night dinner was separate for adults and junior adventurers.
At 7:00 we met in the lobby where the adults then parted ways with the junior adventurers. Since neither Kathy or I were junior adventurers I do not have much information about their night. I do know that they did an Italian soda tasting, played Italian lawn games, and watched a movie. I can tell you that they had a great time together. Anyone was invited to either option.
The adventure guides went with the juniors and left us in the capable hands of Max where we made our way to the restaurant for what we lovingly call ‘the fastest wine tasting ever’. Sorry for the blurry pic.
Of course, there were a few antics along the way! Once everyone was seated we began the tasting, which was presided over by Max.
On our table we found a small plate with tasting spoons and small tastes along with a list of the prices to ship wine across the pond. There was a 10-year balsamic, a piece of parmesan, a honey, a pepper jam, a honey mustard, and a white Nutella to go along with the wine.
In a period of about 20 minutes we tasted about 5 different wines: 1 white, 1 rose, and 3 reds. I am not sure this is because it always goes this way, or because we were late due to moving the schedule back after Orvieto.
Max told us about the different types of wines. He goes around to vineyards all over Tuscany to find good wines that he then stocks in his cellar. Max gave us a rundown of the different types of wines you will find in the region as well.
We started with a white wine. I am not a huge white wine fan, but my sister is. She thought it was pretty good. Our next wine was a rose. My family really enjoyed this wine and we actually bought some to take home. I am a fan of a good rose, and find it is a wine that doesn’t get as much love in the wine world. You can find some refreshing rose wines and this was a good one. From there we moved on to the reds, of which there were 3. I believe there were 2 chianti’s and 1 sangiovese blend. I like Chianti, but they generally run from dry to very dry, so you should be aware of that. Along with the wines we had the chance to try a few different tastes sold at the hotel. All of the tastings were good, but the pepper jam was different and my favorite. It wasn’t too spicy and had a bite at the end.
Once we were done with the ‘fastest wine tasting ever’ we had the opportunity to purchase some wine and local products. The cellar was also open for us to peruse the many wines they house at the hotel. I thought the hotel had a great cellar and I could have spent a lot of time in there. It’s open most of the day, so we were able to go back if we wanted later in the trip.
For dinner, we all went on the patio and took up 2 long tables. It was a leisurely dinner that allowed us to continue to talk and get to know one another. The hotel is home to one of the best rated restaurants in Tuscany and the patio offers a wonderful view. We were served basically family style and did not pick off a menu.
For the main course we had pork in a gravy, chicken, rosemary potatoes, and some greens. I thought the food was delicious. I could have eaten a whole plate of pork and potatoes. The potatoes were seriously some of the best I’ve had and I’m sure it was the simplest of recipes. Tuscany serves more of a farm-to-table homestyle fare where the specialty is meat and potatoes in addition to the pasta. Speaking of pasta, I do not have a picture, but we started with a ravioli and a roasted red pepper penne. We shared a couple bottles of Super Tuscan wine with a couple of families. This was my first time trying a Super Tuscan which is typically dry and full-bodied. I would recommend giving one of them a try if you get the chance.
Dessert was a chocolate ganache and panna cotta. The chocolate was very rich, so I did not eat much of it, but I know the chocolate lovers thought it was great. My sister doesn’t like nuts, so they brought her out a strawberry panna cotta that she really enjoyed. She said it was one of the best desserts ever, and ended up ordering it later in the trip again. It was light and creamy with a nice strawberry flavor. Panna cotta seemed to be somewhat of a specialty in this area.
Around the time dessert was served the junior adventurer’s came around to meet up with the adults and we started to disperse for the night. Most of us found our way to the pool area where we spent a while relaxing and talking with one another for the remainder of the evening.
The weather was gorgeous and the evening was beautiful, though, I’m not sure how the kids were swimming because I thought it was chilly (oh, to be 12 again!).
They had clearly bonded during the junior adventurer night and were singing the Lizzie McGuire movie anthem at the top of their lungs with Troy and Marco. I don’t think they had fun at all…
All in all, we had a pretty good first day in Tuscany. I think by the time the night ended we were all ready for our relaxing Tuscan pasta-making holiday the next morning.
As we left to go to our room we ran into Max, his wife, and his adorable little girl, Gabriela! She was super cute and has definitely inherited her daddy’s personality as she was babbling and making all kinds of happy noises in the lobby. It was neat to spend some time talking to them and you can tell Max just loves both the hotel and spending time with his family.