This past week, so much delicious wine! :)

Biking down the hill from our house heading out for a mid-day mountain bike ride

The view from the top of Siena.

We climbed 400 stairs in the center of town.

The piazza below is used for annual horse races.

Me pulling money out of the oldest
bank in the world.
It still functions.

Nate at the Duomo in Siena.

Vegetables from the organic market in Siena

Pouring wine from a concret barrel.
Fresh 2012 Sangiovese vino.

~Swishing the vino to allow it to breath before tasting~

 The most beautiful glasses of wine. Yup the one above is 

sparkling wine. It is almost like a beer, it has spontaneous fermentation...

the most refreshing wine I ever drank!

These are both biodynamic wines grown in the Chianti region.

 A photo with the wine makers of the wine you see above.

An adorable couple that makes delicious wines.

~Photo opp at sunset~

The fall colors are amazing!

Cracking walnuts outside on a beautiful day.

A.C. Siena football stadium. Nate and our Brazilian winemaking friend Fernando.

Smallest soccer stadium in the Italian Serie A, there is not a bad seat in the house.

The italian bakeries are so tasty!

:)  Pizza  :)

The tuscany region is so beautiful, everyday I am in awe of the colors all around me, sunrise, 

sunsets, moonrise, fall leaves.

Again I tell you, I feel so blessed to be living here!

Our New Home

Currently Nate and I are living in the perfect paradise.  Our home 

for the next 7 weeks is 20mins by car to the closest small village.

We are surrounded by the changing colors of the nearby forests, vineyards and

olive trees.  My first few nights here I struggled to sleep because it was too quite but
now I have fully settled into the peace and serenity that is all around me.

The pictures don't do justice but I figured I'd share what I could.

 Nate with a garden harvest.

The morning tea spot that looks over the valley field of vineyards.

Yup this is our driveway

That's our house

A hike through the vineyards out our front door. 

Organic Boxed Wine~ grown and produced 20km from our house.

The expansive countryside filled with fall colors.

~Our personal yoga studio~

Nothern Italy and Switzerland

Lake Como, Italy

Taking the ferry across the lake in order to drive into Switzerland.

Chocolate factory in Switzerland.

Of course you find me at the tasting section of the chocolate factory.

Lunch in Switzerland.

The traditional way to drink your wine in Southern Switzerland.

Out of a bowl type glass.

Nate and his aunt with the Swiss countryside in the background.

:) Swiss flags :)

Our 5 Star buffet breakfast in Bellagio, Italy.

When you stay 5 Star you must wear white robes with matching slippers.

~We travel light~  ;)

Touring small Italian villages

 One of the best parts about Italy is that when you order a beer or glass 

of wine they give you delicious snacks too! There are small Italian breweries 

popping up all over Italy so of course we are drinking LOCAL. 

And another thing I love about Italy is the gelato.

It is everywhere and so delicious!

Biking along the Mediterranean Sea.

Swimming in the Mediterranean for

my first time ever.

The water was so beautiful and clear.

Mountain biking through the Ligurian Alps. 

We climbed up, up, up to go down, down, down straight to the

Mediterranean sea.

Soccer match

Roma vs Genoa

The energy throughout the stadium was amazing.

Italians of all ages were there cheering on their team.

Cascina delgi Ulivi-Working on the farm in Italy

The beautiful, biodynamic and organic farm and winery

Nate and I worked on in Italy.  The people, food and the

place really took our hearts.

Harvesting eggplant and peppers.

Nate with the 2 hectare garden behind him.
Every morning there was a thick fog that would burn off
to give us sunny days.

Harvesting my favorite vegetable!
~Broccoli~ 

The great Italian chef
He would cook lunch everyday for the 18-20 workers.
We would all sit down for lunch together at a big, long table and of course lunch included vino.

The great eggplant and pepper harvest (the last of the season).
Eggplant= melanzane
Peppers=peperone

Garlic field
garlic=aglio

Nate hiking up the hill with the harvest in hand.
The garden was in the valley because the grapes need the
proper sunlight on the hillsides.

The dinner table.
All the workers who lived on the farm (~10) would eat dinner together every night.
We would go into the garden and cut what we wanted to prepare.
So fresh, so delicious.
Fresco e delizioso!