TUSCANY

After a lifetime of spending Easter in West Virginia, Easter 2022 got a glow up as I spent it in Tuscany.

I hesitate to admit this dark truth of these photos being taken while I was on a guided bus tour led entirely in English, but I digress. It feels bad for the brand to be shuttled around in such a large group and have the perception of being a loud and proud tourist with a headset around your neck for your walking history tour. Humiliating.

However I will say, this did make for an easy way to be taken around to see as much of Tuscany as you can in a day without learning how to drive in Italy.

In one day we spent time in Siena, San Gimignano, and Pisa. Bonus - the day was Easter.

I’m having to really check in with myself that I’m whining this much over the inconvenience of a guided tour in places this gorgeous but I feel this complaint is valid: we only got an hour and a half to wander around San Gimignano. Honestly? That’s a crime.

I think some people on our tour spent the bulk of that time in line for gelato, however what I had time for was one glass of wine on the square, a frantic magnet purchase, and a pharmacy errand where I saw a fellow American rush in and just scream “CONSTIPATION” at the pharmacist. Beauty is everywhere, but especially here.

Siena was actually our first stop of the day, and since it was Easter we weren’t able to do the guided tour portion through the town’s largest church. I’m more than ok with that considering the consolation prize was going through the museum built in an old Black Plague era hospital. Can you imagine the energy trapped in that building?

Plus there was a church in there anyway because Catholics are gonna Catholic, so you get it all.

My family and I actually got a little bit in trouble within like 20 minutes of being in town for ditching the guided tour and venturing on our own. I stand by that decision, because what I missed in history lessons I made up for in more time spent in the hospital museum/church and the opportunity to get yelled at in Italian by a barista.

A fun fact I did learn: during the Black Plague, Siena lost 80% of its population. Let that one simmer for a minute.

To close out our day, the last stop before loading up back to Florence was Pisa. I didn’t do any of the research for this portion of the trip, so I was really into letting this all be a surprise and didn’t realize I was going to be seeing Leaning Tower till a few days before the trip. Sometimes it pays to be Type B.

A fact I can’t stop thinking about is that Pisa was largely destroyed during WWII, so the city now doesn’t look nearly as historical as some of its neighbors. Nevertheless, it had its charm. And while others in the group took on the challenge of climbing the tower, we were content to have more wine nearby and rest up from the day.

My family has also requested that I not make another Olive Garden reference when speaking about the tower. But for real…it’s just like the kids menu.