We rolled up to the hilltop town of Montepulciano on a Sunday afternoon, just before sunset, and climbed to the main entrance where folks were already standing in line. It was the day of the annual Bravio delle Botti, a race in which pairs of 2 runners representing the eight districts of the town compete in…

I will never forget driving through the hilly roads of Tuscany and staring out the passenger side window of our little black Fiat 500 at the beautiful sepia-tinted landscape around us. Neat vineyard rows, the occasional bundle of graceful Cypress trees, a charming stone house atop a hill here or there. We’d park the car…

“It’s rare though, bloody. Don’t ask for it cooked well,” warned several people – our airBnB guy Vigan, a restaurant host, a waiter. Bistecca alla Fiorentina never comes well done, and in most Tuscan restaurants they’ll just tell you to order something else rather than taking it “burnt.” If you prefer shoe leather to a juicy cut of local moo,…

It started and ended with a piadina from La Piadona in Pisa. On the first night of bae’s and my weeklong road trip around Tuscany, we had beer and homemade amaro at a lovely local bar named Sud and were on the hunt for the perfect late night snack to soak it up before hitting the pillow.…