Today was a lot of fun! My roommate and I decided to go on a wine tasting/horseback riding tour of Chianti. Chianti is the region of Tuscany that is close to Florence where all of the wineries are. We were shuttled from the tour company's office that was close to my apartment, to a villa that was in the Tuscan countryside. An Italian woman helped us get on our horses and briefly taught was how to ride the horse. After the quick lesson, we rode the horses through the vineyards. It was so much fun, since I love riding horses and the view was so pretty! We saw the grapes where the wine is made from and the olive trees from which they make olive oil. My horse was being difficult and kept stopping to eat the grass and plants along the way, it was very funny.

We took the horses to a winery where we were given a tour of how they make their wine. The winery is owned by a well known family. The owner of it now is apparently a prince and is extremely wealthy because he owns almost all of the wineries in Chianti. The family crest is also apparently on the Trevi fountain because of their influence at the time when the fountain was being built. I will definately look for this when I visit Rome.

The tourguide explained the different ways they make their wine and we were showed the different rooms of the winery. At the end of the tour, we were taken up the stairs to some tables where they served us our dinner. There was a selection of food that we could eat. We were also able to have a tasting of some of the Chianti wines and olive oils that they made right in their own winery. Both were delicious!

After we ate and had the wine tasting, we were took back to Florence. They took us back by a scenic route so that we could get a good look at beautiful Chianti and Tuscany. Before we reached Florence we got out of the bus and saw a beautiful view of Florence.

When we got back to Florence, I went to the supermarket and made my own Caprese salad. Yum! After I ate, I started planning this coming weekend. I am now planned and booked to go to Naples, Capri, Pompei, and Rome next weekend! I am so excited!

Today was a lot of fun! The tour was great, but my overall favorite part was definately horseback riding through Chianti. Tomorrow I am back to class! Be sure to check out all my pictures from this weekend!! XOXO