Tuscany a dream to conquer
I happen to come across this article on the florenceinsider.com that speaks of 10 Tuscan Villages that you must visit. So I quickly browsed through to see if our dreamy, quaint, Tuscany village – Greve in the Chianti region is one of them! Aha …for some reason has been missed out . My only guess is that the author would have not visited Greve,
You can only fall in love with Greve in Tuscany
Well here’s our first hand experience on the quaint village of Greve in Chianti region in Tuscany!
Let me first give you a quick glimpse of how we ended up in Greve, it is kind of funny and coincidental. One of those ‘accidental decisions’ that turn out to be one of the best experiences in life , in a very pleasurable manner of course ! When we first made our travel plans our first intention was to cover the places we have seen and heard and mostly which we loved to step in to as well. In the process we realized it was not all that practical given the number of days we had. So we had to opted to drop off Milan for another occasion ,,,,and to spend a couple of days in Tuscany. After all there is no Italy without Tuscany! We were totally carried away by the movies and cTV shows including Giada in Italy that is recorded in Florence itself.
So here’s what we love to share with you, especially if you are a first time traveller to Italy like us.
Countryside in Tuscany is a better option than Florence
Greve in Chianti region in Tuscany is 1 hour drive by road from Florence . A beautiful little city in the midst of nowhere. Not literally though. It buzzes with life with a cute and vibrant City center with stunning landscape that fills with little mountains, wine yards, willowy trees and more so the tiled thatched roofs that you can see from every little hill. It feels like you have gone back in time to a land like no other where time passes by and you may live happily ever after.
Accommodation In Greve in Chianti Tuscany
There are many offering accommodation in Greve. Forget about large commercial hotels and opt for smaller places that gives you the feel of Tuscany and a home away from home. We opted to stay at Antico Pastificio ( look up on booking.com) where we were well looked after by Monica and Marco. It is a wonderful place, 2 minutes walk to the City Center. It has its own swimming pool and plenty of spaces for families to hang around too and equally private for couples or single travelers. We particularly liked the terrace that overlooked part of the town as it is situated in an elevation.
Nothing beats the Tuscany Sun!
Under the Tuscany Sun anything is possible. The sun truly is incredible in Tuscany! Even in spring, the sun has a spirit elevating effect… You can watch the sun for hours, like a new found lover and never get bored by it’s warmth or the brightness. When the sun goes into hiding, you truly feel saddened as if you have lost someone dear and near~
It is about the Wines
Marco picked us from the train station , he is the brightest and the cheeriest of all we met in whole of Italy. His first few sentences to us ( apart from struggling to pronounce my surname that appeared on the booking (:) was to let us know that we would enjoy all the wines. Drink and don’t worry !!!
We did figure out Chianti is a major wine producing region in Tuscany and being in Greve was going to be fabulous, especially when our welcome drink was a bottle of Red wine with a pack of biscotti! Wow what more can you expect from life!
In our previous blog on Italian food train we spoke of wine tasting.. well this is one place to do it. You can do a half a day or full day, where you will be driven around to beautifully located mountainous vineyards . Please click on https://www.winecheeseandhike.com/2018/05/05/italian-food-trail/ to get all the details of the tour.
The food is Unique and fabulous
What’s really fantastic about Italy is the regional twist in flavor and combinations. Tuscany is of no difference. We found lots of meat in Greve, particularly Game meat including wild boar and moose. Game meat is popular in all the dishes including spaghetti bolognese. However if you don’t fancy game meat you can always choose a more conservative option. So not to worry. There are plenty of cafes and restaurants around the little City Center and some more popular than the others. the popularity of course is based on a large choice they offer!
People are quite something
Yes, people are wonderful in all of Italy and Tuscany is no different. We felt the care wherever we stepped into.
Marco was exceptionally great , he guided us to make some of the best choices and the wine tasting tour we did with him was fabulous!
Who said only Milan is for Shopping ?
We met an exceptional entrepreneur who had one of the most beautiful shops in the town. Her shop is called Piccole Armonie and she has the most exquisite Italian Handmade goodies! Its shop no 35, Via Rome, Greve in Chianti. Of course , we had to buy !
Transport required
If you travel by train, you need to get a ticket to Firenze SMN station . ( Note there are two stations and this is the larger one ). The hotel arranged the pick up and the drop. It costed around 85 Euros one way which was fully worth, especially when we were totally taken care of from platform to hotel and vice a versa. However if you feel more adventurous, there are buses that will take you from Florence to Greve and we recon timing would be similar. Cost of buses are relatively cheaper.
About Roosters!
There are roosters everywhere in Greve, We were confused initially to find Roosters in signs and shops and everywhere we went, then voila -we were told about the Legend of the roosters.
Unique eye catchers!
Time to Linger
Remember Tuscany is even more laid back than rest of Italy, nothing happens fast.. You need time to linger. and savor and absorb Tuscany as it is.. The feeling is amazing and at times inexplicable.. So if have not yet been to Tuscany, get ready pack your bags !
