To read about and see some photos from my recent travels to Tuscany, click “Continue Reading” below.

After two amazing days in Florence we rented a car and drove up into the Tuscan hills, to the small town of Vinci (yes, hometown of Leonardo). We had arranged a stay in an old stone bed & breakfast and arrived fairly quickly from Florence, especially considering the rain and a first-time Italian driver (me!). Once we were all settled, we decided to take a walk outside where we came across an old church that had a beautiful view of the Tuscan hills from its outdoor foyer. As we sat down to take in the view, we noticed some large clouds heading our way and within a couple of minutes we were standing in the middle of one of these clouds, with zero visibility.  We realized at this point it may start to rain and decided to head back, but we were a little too late. Instantly, it started to pour and Chad suggested we go wait it out under the covered foyer at the church instead of walking back in the rain. The downpour lasted nearly two hours and it did get a bit cold, but I think we both enjoyed sitting there in the middle of those clouds.

Dinner in Vinci that night was one of our favorite meals of the trip. At Ristorante Leonardo, a quaint family-run restaurant, we had this raviolli-esque stuffed pasta with pear and cheese inside, which was covered with a white vodka cream sauce.  This may be totally wrong, but I think it was called “fagatellini” – regardless, it was deeeelicious!  We finished our first night in Vinci back at the B&B with a glass of wine and an amazing conversation with the two other couples staying there. There was another young couple from New York and an older couple from Pennsylvania, Phil and Sharon. Phil and Sharon were the sweetest, most-inspiring couple. That night they shared stories of their wedding after 10+ years of dating, as well as Phil’s very recent and very tough battle with cancer. Their love for each other exuded in their presence.  Their appreciation and gratitude for life was so genuine and so real.  We all were fighting the tears as we listened to their stories (I definitely lost that fight) – they were incredibly honest and open and I am so grateful that we were able to meet them and listen to their stories.

While the clouds brought in rain our first day, the weather the second day was absolutely perfect. It was nearly 70 degrees and sunny.  We explored the Tuscan hills in-depth, spending hours in the car, jumping out at every spectacular scenic point to take it all in. Chad would take some photos and I would pick some flowers, and then we’d hop back in the car and do it all again at the next stop. The beauty in these hills is so entrancing. The colors, the warmth, the clouds…I am at a loss for words when trying to describe it. I was nearly dumbfounded at the level of beauty that we were consuming at the time, as I found myself not taking many photos, just to be able to try to comprehend the beauty and fully take it all in. It was a perfect last day in Tuscany and we were a bit crushed to leave the next morning, although we were heading to Cinque Terre and knew that view would not be too bad either.

I’ll post my photos from Cinque Terre later this week. For now, scroll below to see the photos from our travels through Tuscany. For the previous stops on our trip, you can see the photos from Florence HERE and the photos from Rome HERE.