After spending a spectacular day filled with culinary adventures, today we were in for something extra special. Riding a Vespa scooter! I was super excited. But let’s be honest, I could really have use some liquid courage. Since that wouldn’t be a stellar idea before driving, I went with the next best thing. Espresso! 

When you think of Italy, you think of scooters. And there is no brand of scooter more popular and more Italian than a Vespa. There are several agencies that offer a Vespa tour. We chose to go with Tuscany Cycle tours because they took you outside the crazy cheating death type of scooter riding that the Florentine people are known for and into the Tuscan hills. 

After checking in with the host, we climbed into a minivan along with 6 others and the tour guide. The guide was a super fun Spanish student studying in Italy, and he kept us entertained the entire day. He took us about 40 minutes outside of the city on winding curvy roads. Not going to lie. I got very nauseous, so if you ever go on this tour, take some dramamine!  But, we finally made it! And, when we arrived, we were greeted with a view of vineyards, olive orchards, and the beautiful Castello Del Trebbio.

We quickly met up with the owner of the castle in the courtyard and got a fascinating private tour of the castle. The castle was first constructed in 1184 by the influential Pazzi family. If you read our blog post from the first night in Florence, Pazzi and the Medici family didn’t quite got along. When the Pazzi family tried and failed at killing both of the Medici brothers, the Medici family brought upon their wrath onto the Pazzi family by wiping away all traces of the family name from everything they owned. However, by some magic, there was one coat of arms of the Pazzi family that was left undestroyed and is now proudly displayed in the Castle. Our host took us through the dark alleys of the castle and showed us the cellar which is now used to make some of the best Chianti wines in the region. 

Next up was what we had all been waiting for. Riding Vespas! Before they let you out on the open road, they give you a quick lesson in a parking lot, and then make you pass a driving test. It is super easy. You just have to be able to go in a 360 degree circle without putting your foot down, and you have to be able to start and stop. My biggest advice is to not think about it too much. Look in the direction you want to go, and you’ll go there! 

And then we were off! We wound through the olive orchards and quaint little towns with narrow streets and took in the gorgeous views of vineyards and rustic houses and castles. It was an absolute perfect ride, and by the end, we were pros! The only thing that I wish we had was a GoPro to record the whole thing. Next time!

When we arrived back at Castello Del Trebbio, the host welcomed us back with an enormous lunch waiting for us. We had pasta, salad, bread, cheese, honey, olive tapenade, prosciutto, coffee, cake, and more. It was scrumptious, and the atmosphere was perfect. We were all still on an adrenaline high from the vespa ride, and we were all chatting about our favorite parts of the ride. Good thing there was some excellent Chianti wine from the Castle’s cellars to mellow us out.

We were all a little sad when the meal was over. None of us wanted the day to end. But there was one more surprise waiting for us! Our tour guide took us out on the courtyard and brought an extra special bottle of sparkling red wine and showed us how to open it with a sword! More wine! Wohoo!

Our tour guide was a good sport and posed for a picture for all of us tipsy tourists. Don’t worry. He didn’t actually take a sip! 

We got back to Florence in the late afternoon, and we were pooped! But, since it was our last evening in this beautiful city, we wanted to take full advantage of it. We went back to the hotel to freshen up and then headed out for some more exploring. We didn’t have a goal in mind, we just wandered down the streets, found some cute little markets, and took in all the sights. 

After a couple hours of walking around, we were ready for a nice sit and a long dinner. One of the girls on our Vespa tour had studied in Florence a few years back and highly recommended eating at Osteria Santo Spirito. So that is where we went. It was cramped, cozy, and a perfectly Italian. We started with Aperol Spritzes (of course), bread, and tapenade. Then I had a cheesy baked gnocchi dish that was probably one of my favorite meals in Italy. Nisheet had a spaghetti dish with olive oil, garlic, and peppers that was equally amazing. 

Neither of us wanted our time in Florence to come to an end. So after our late dinner, we once again wandered the streets. We came across some amazing street musicians, so we sat listening to them late into the night just soaking in the atmosphere. Aaaah…what a night and day to remember!!