Over the weekend, we had the pleasure of going to a yoga retreat slash wine and food weekend in the hills of Tuscany outside of Siena. To get there by Friday night, we stayed in Bologna the night before, where we met up with my friend Ali that lives in Parma. That night we arrived late, checked in quickly and headed out for some much needed wine. After one bottle we had to have another and didn't end up getting home until about 2am. It just gets late in Italy quickly and you don't realize it since so many people are out and about. Bologna was full of young University students enjoying the warm night drinking in the streets. We tried to join the crowd and went to order some wine for the road, but the waiter reminded us that you couldn't drink on the street past 10:30...hmm guess a lot of them were breaking the Italian law, probably not a first, "it's italy."
We slept well, and in the morning we headed out to explore the city before leaving for Siena. To get the best view and enjoy the nice weather, we climbed to the top of a very tall tower, 498 steps total. From the top, you could look out on the whole city, all terracotta tiled buildings. The surrounding Emilia Romagna hills were covered with greenery and beautiful old buildings. After our mini hike, we had a great lunch in a cute place recommended to us the night before called Capriata. The waiter was excited to have four girls join for lunch and immediately thought we were sisters. Sally and I are really starting to find this question comical, because it happens so often. At lunch, we had an amazing cheese plate with fresh parmesan, percorino cheese with honey, fresh goat cheese and something like asiago. Sally and I had a artichoke salad with bacon and we think asiago. They love their artichokes here and serve them so differently...usually raw. To accompany our great meals, we had a nice, light Pinot Grigio from Piemonte. From there we started our journey to Siena, happy to have the GPS telling us where to go. After driving for a few hours we took a gelato break and stopped in a little Tuscan town called Tavernelle. In the summer of 2008, a few of us came to Italy and took a cooking class there. It was ironic that we passed it on our drive and I was quickly able to locate the restaurant where we learned to cook a Traditional Tuscan meal. After a beautiful drive through Tuscany, and a quick stop at a gas station with one of the most stunning views you've ever seen we arrived at the town of Sovicille, about 20 minutes outside Siena. Our villa was located right outside the town and we had very specific directions to follow to reach it correctly. After a few wrong turns and a trip up a very curvy road for exactly 7 minutes we reached the dirt road we were told about in the directions. Arriving at Roccia di Cerbaia, our excitement about the weekend only multiplied. Roccia is an adorable 12th century villa situated on 100 acres of fields, forests and groves of olive trees. The structure was crafted from beautiful stone. It all centers around the farmhouse or main house. The inside was also amazingly decorated with wood beams and detailed tiles and we had the master bedroom, with the BIG bathroom! The entire villa sleeps about 25 people, but for this special yoga weekend there were 16 total. Besides the four of us, there were a few couples and a couple of single men that we think came mostly because of the instructor who they met in Cannes at the Film Festival. Most of them were from Luxembourg, but there were also a few from Monaco and Italy (Milano). The woman who was taught the yoga, also recently started managing the villa. She is a single woman in her 40s actually originally from Massachusetts, but she's been living in San Francisco. One of the funniest parts was that when we signed up she was assuming that we may have been lesbians, since we paid together. She also thought we were Swiss, since we had said we were coming from Lugano. We straightened all that out quickly!
Friday night when we arrived and got situated the evening began with a cocktail hour with Prosecco of course. Before dinner we had our first gathering to talk about what we expected for the yoga classes and Gayle, the teacher, had an assortment of quotes on the table that she wanted us to review before the end of the weekend and choose one that resonated with us. That night we had a magnificent 4 course dinner, with a great salad, some type of spinach pasta, chicken, and a tasty dessert of carpaccio pineapple filled with ricotta cheese with a splash of balsamic on the side. Different, but really yummy. Afterwards we stayed up and the other guys, or men started a dance party in the living room of the main house. Not exactly what we were expecting, but we joined in after a lot of good wine.
Saturday we awoke to the smell of fresh crossaints baking in the oven. After having a light breakfast, we met outside to have our first yoga class. The sun was shining, and a light breeze was blowing, so we made a group decision to have our first class right out on the grass. Talk about being one with nature...couldn't get much closer. I liked it except the time I went to put my hands down for downward dog and noticed a huge pincher bug crawling through the grass. I don't think I was as relaxed after that encounter. After some free time after the yoga class, we had a nice lunch of fresh salads and some wine of course. We had a few hours to spare, so we headed into Siena for a little sightseeing. Getting there was easy, but finding parking was a little more challenging. In Italy, the parking is just unique...From the car, we walked up to Siena on the hill and unfortunately didn't really pay attention to where we had left the car. We had a nice coffee and checked out the Piazza del Campo. As we were heading back to car, we realized we really didn't know where the car was and by this time a thunderstorm had rolled in. Of course the three umbrellas we had we back at the villa. Finally we found out way and heading back to Sovicille.
We had some time before the next optional yoga class, so I went for a quick run to check out the surrounding area. The villa was on a dirt road that had a few other structures, but nothing compared to our compound. I did manage to see a snake, but luckily it was dead. I even said to Sally as I was leaving, "do you think there are snakes here?" YUCK! The afternoon class was vinyasa, more movement than the morning class, and more my kind of yoga. It was challenging and it was a great class since there were only 8 of us she was able to come around and adjust each of us individually as we completed sun salutations. By this time, the thunderstorm had really rolled in and the thunder and lightning added great ambience to the yoga session. At the end, the sky was filled with a beautiful rainbow, something I am getting very used to living in the rain/sun land. Dinner Saturday night was a bit more casual, a buffet. It was still great and after dinner we went to a tea room/bar/coffee shop in Siena. The owner there makes homemade desserts everyday. Lindsay and I decided to share one with bananas and strawberries and a chocolate cake. Both were to die for! We also had some unique teas, that came with your own huge tea pot. The group had planned on going on, but that night the thunderstorms had returned and they were pouring down at this point. Instead we walked back to the cars quickly, trying not to get soaking wet.
Sunday we had our last breakfast, last yoga session, and last yummy lunch. This time, since it had rained all night, we kept the yoga on the pavement outside. Gayle had me go in front, so the begginers could see the poses as she went around to adjust people. The guy from Monaco was cracking us up the whole time with his comments. He was definitely the clown of the group, but entertaining for sure. After our last delicious lunch we let for what we hoped would be about a 4 hour drive, but since it was a holiday weekend, we were very mistaken. Instead it took about 8 hours. Sitting in traffic through Firenze, Bologna, Parma (where we dropped Ali off) and then Milan took forever! We entertained ourselves with good music, great conversation, and lots of bubble blowing!
Saturday we awoke to the smell of fresh crossaints baking in the oven. After having a light breakfast, we met outside to have our first yoga class. The sun was shining, and a light breeze was blowing, so we made a group decision to have our first class right out on the grass. Talk about being one with nature...couldn't get much closer. I liked it except the time I went to put my hands down for downward dog and noticed a huge pincher bug crawling through the grass. I don't think I was as relaxed after that encounter. After some free time after the yoga class, we had a nice lunch of fresh salads and some wine of course. We had a few hours to spare, so we headed into Siena for a little sightseeing. Getting there was easy, but finding parking was a little more challenging. In Italy, the parking is just unique...From the car, we walked up to Siena on the hill and unfortunately didn't really pay attention to where we had left the car. We had a nice coffee and checked out the Piazza del Campo. As we were heading back to car, we realized we really didn't know where the car was and by this time a thunderstorm had rolled in. Of course the three umbrellas we had we back at the villa. Finally we found out way and heading back to Sovicille.
We had some time before the next optional yoga class, so I went for a quick run to check out the surrounding area. The villa was on a dirt road that had a few other structures, but nothing compared to our compound. I did manage to see a snake, but luckily it was dead. I even said to Sally as I was leaving, "do you think there are snakes here?" YUCK! The afternoon class was vinyasa, more movement than the morning class, and more my kind of yoga. It was challenging and it was a great class since there were only 8 of us she was able to come around and adjust each of us individually as we completed sun salutations. By this time, the thunderstorm had really rolled in and the thunder and lightning added great ambience to the yoga session. At the end, the sky was filled with a beautiful rainbow, something I am getting very used to living in the rain/sun land. Dinner Saturday night was a bit more casual, a buffet. It was still great and after dinner we went to a tea room/bar/coffee shop in Siena. The owner there makes homemade desserts everyday. Lindsay and I decided to share one with bananas and strawberries and a chocolate cake. Both were to die for! We also had some unique teas, that came with your own huge tea pot. The group had planned on going on, but that night the thunderstorms had returned and they were pouring down at this point. Instead we walked back to the cars quickly, trying not to get soaking wet.
Sunday we had our last breakfast, last yoga session, and last yummy lunch. This time, since it had rained all night, we kept the yoga on the pavement outside. Gayle had me go in front, so the begginers could see the poses as she went around to adjust people. The guy from Monaco was cracking us up the whole time with his comments. He was definitely the clown of the group, but entertaining for sure. After our last delicious lunch we let for what we hoped would be about a 4 hour drive, but since it was a holiday weekend, we were very mistaken. Instead it took about 8 hours. Sitting in traffic through Firenze, Bologna, Parma (where we dropped Ali off) and then Milan took forever! We entertained ourselves with good music, great conversation, and lots of bubble blowing!
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