Fattoria di San Donato, San Gimignano

One of my favorite places to be is the countryside, to be surrounded with lush, green vegetation; a place with lots of trees, plants and flowers. After being in the city of Florence for so long, I was glad to have a break from surrounded by all the concrete and stone.

Vineyards of Tuscany, some with the Vernaccia grape, others with the Chianti grape.

For my Food and Culture class, we took a day trip out to San Gimignano in the "heart of Tuscany" with a wine and food pairing class, to a wine farm owned by the San Donato family. We got to take a tour of the facilities and see where the grapes are pressed and made in to wine, and also where they store it.

 This is one of the largest barrels that the San Donato's have, made from Austrian oak, and it holds over 1,000 bottles of wine. The smaller barrels are made from French oak, and they contain about 600 or so bottles of wine.
We also were able to tour the grounds where they rebuilt the old village, and turned some of the buildings into apartments and Bed & Breakfasts. They had a pool, and a small farm with a humongous pig and a few goats, and an amazing view of Tuscany from the hill that they are located on.

Because we were paired with a wine and food pairing class, we got to taste wine and food! We had a white wine that went with the bruschetta (minus the tomatoes to emphasize the flavor of the olive oil),and red wine to go with the assortment of delicious cold cuts placed on the table.

I ended up buying two bottles of the reserve wine--not because I like wine, because I really don't--but so I could give them as Christmas presents. These Italian wines wouldn't have any sales or import tax on them because I was buying them from the source, and they are organic and made without sulfates, so they don't give you a headache the next day if you drink the whole bottle, haha.
I returned to San Gimignano over break, but instead of visiting the countryside, we walked through the small town of San Gimignano and it was just as beautiful. This was probably one of the most peaceful, most beautiful places in Italy that I have seen so far, and I would love to spend an entire day exploring rather than only having a few hours.

Green Life

Upon my arrival in Florence, I spotted this little gem of a store whilst sitting in a classroom for orientation, across the street.

I was curious as to what they sold in there, so I dragged my roommates in the hopes that they had something like a Brita filter for us to use in our apartment so that we didn't have to constantly buy giant plastic water bottles, as pictured below.

To our surprise, it was an "Upcycled" clothing and accessory store! All of the products that they sell are products made either by locals or by environmentally friendly companies, like the organic brand Monkee Genes. They have bags made out of recycled rubber, old coffee bags, they have shoes made out of cork, made without animal products, but still organic. They have very fashion-forward (err...interesting-looking) styled clothing, and then they have every-day wear like sweaters, t-shirts, jeans, etc.

Every Friday the owner, Paolo, his brother, Fabio, and his sister-in-law, Vanna, debut a new part of their winter line, and they offer aperitivo (appetizers) and free drinks. Fabio makes everything himself, and all the food is organic and either vegetarian or vegan. He makes different kinds of pizza, risotto, mixed veggies, fruit dishes, and sometimes dessert. Fabio grows his own vegetables and has a dream of opening up a shop in New York City, as he says he "loves America" and shows it with his iPhone case.

Fabio during aperitivo with his USA iPhone case

One Friday night, Paolo asked my housemates and I if we could model for the store in a fashion show. We would be wearing part of the new winter line--pants, jackets and shirts made from men's recycled trousers, ties, and jackets. My housemate Lauren, my friends Margarita and Horthense, Horthense's friend Constance, and myself, were all in the fashion show. We had our make-up and our hair done, and then we each had two outfits to show off throughout the night.

First outfits (from left to right) Lauren, Constance, Margarita, Me, Horthense.

Second outfits (from left to right) Me, Margarita, Lauren, Horthense, Constance.

 It was a little warm, but it was so much fun. We were able to meet a bunch of nice people, eat some fantastic organic vegan/vegetarian food, hangout in the store, and practice our Italian. It was a once in a lifetime experience, and we were able to help out our friends at Green Life. They appreciated it so much, Paolo invited us to come to Pisa the next day to check out the store there and join them for aperitivo. Lauren and I were the only ones who weren't busy that Saturday, but we went and spent a few hours in Pisa. We saw the Leaning Tower, visited the main strip of shops, and joined the Green Life gang for some snacks.

Lauren and I

It was a fabulous night, and I will always remember how much fun it was to pretend to be a model. The heels were so comfortable too! I could have worn them forever... they were beautiful, haha.
If you're interested in learning more about our friends' store, or want to look at all of their amazing products, please click here. There is an icon in the top right corner to choose your language preference if you cannot read Italian. These guys are doing an amazing thing, selling upcycled, recycled, sustainable items, and it would be fantastic if you could show them some support.

We got a little souvenir :) one of the advertisement posters from the Fashion Show!