Siena day two

8/6/2011

Today we decided to venture out a bit into the surrounding country side and see a bit more of Tuscany. Our first stop was ‘Castello Di Brolio’ (Brolio Castle). This castle was for centuries involved in bitter rivalries between Florence allied with the Papacy and Siena, a partisan of the Empire, Based in Germany. Built about 1000 A.D. The castle was owned for a while by the monks of Badia Fiorentina but in 1141 the Ricasoli’s family traded it’s property near Badia a Coltibuono to the monks in exchange for Brolio and it’s surrounding fields. The Ricasoli family have been at Brolio ever since. We were fortunate enough to be able to get see around the castle grounds and to also have a wine tasting afterwards. Much of the castle interior is still lived in by the family and not open to the public. Every were you go you can see the deep family history but no more so than in the family crypt. The chapel inside the castle is adorned in fine wall paintings and the grounds are pristine. When we finished looking at the castle we walked down from the castle through the wooded road of cypress and conifer trees to our wine tasting. The lady that served us was very knowledgable and lost us both not long into her explanation of the wine differences. At this point we nodded polity and smiled false understanding smiles. The wines tasted ok, but at a beginning price of 50 euro upwards, for these kiwis, the 5 euro bottles we’ve been buying tasted just fine.
Next we decided to go and see an Italian lake that was about 1 hours drive away called ‘Catiglione del lago’ in Umbria. This was a large lake but not as clean and clear water as we are privileged with at home. The shore is sandy and they seem to treat it more like a beach with umbrellas and volley ball nets set up. Above the lake is another walled town that are common in Italy. We did a little shopping here and bought more wine and cheese. We found a nice little Taverna for an early tea before heading home. This time taking the shortest quickest route via a motor way and avoiding many of the small streets of the towns.
Tomorrow we leave Siena and head for Florence.