Today we went to the Chianti, to the Verrazzano castle and vineyard! We left at 8am from Florence and made a little breakfrast break in Greve, then we went on to the vineyard - it was only about 2 hours away on bus. The ride through the Tuscan countryside was gorgeous - pictures can't show how beautiful. When we got to the castle, we had a tour of the winery - the castle was built in the 10th century and the villa was built on in the 15th. We toured the gardens and the wine cellar. I learned a lot of cool things - for instance, mane wines that are made in Chianti don't necessarily mean that their grapes were grown in Chianti. Verrazzano does both, and also grows olives too. After the tour, we had a wine tasting and lunch. I tasted the "table wine" which is a mix of several different grapes, then we tasted the Chianti Classico and the Chianti Classico Reserve - they have to have at least 80% of the grapes to be the Chianti grapes (I can't remember the name of the grape), and the reserve grapes come from the part of the southernest part of the vineyard where the sun "kisses" the grapes. We also tried a "dessert wine" which was so fermented it was way too strong for me. The vineyard also speacilizes in ham and wild boar - so our lunch consisted of lots of different types of meats, cheeses, and bread with their olive oil. I also tried liver pate... My friend told me it was olive spread - one bite and I knew it wasn't, but I'm glad I tried it. I can honestly say I do not like liver pate now. After that we walked around and took lots of pictures. It was such a great, relaxing day. I could definitely get used to this kind of life. After weleft we stopped for gelato. When we got back, I was feeling a little homesick - so I decided to hunt for some american food - a couple of us found a place called "The Diner" - and it had cheeseburgers and fries. It also has great breakfast so I will definitely be back, especially since they gave me a card I can use to get 10% off! Basically, it was a very good day, minus the homesickness.