HANNAH SHARES

For Thanksgiving, my whole family was able to come for a week to visit! My parents visited once together, and my mom and sister came last Thanksgiving, but they’ve never all been able to come together, so this was a really special trip.

They arrived Saturday afternoon before Thanksgiving, and after getting settled we took them to one of our favorite cozy dinner spots in Vicenza, Antico Guelfo. We spent the next few days strolling around Vicenza, shopping, getting cappuccinos, baking cookies at home, taking family pictures downtown, visiting Monte Berico, and celebrating Christmas a little early since we wouldn’t all be together this year. Lucy got her first baby doll, which was a big hit!

We were also able to take family photos downtown, something we haven’t done in years. Luckily you can’t really tell in the pictures, but it was a pretty chilly and very windy day.

On Thursday morning we drove down to Tuscany for a wine tour my dad set up at two separate wineries. Our first stop was at Castello d’Albola just outside Radda in Chianti. We got settled in our apartment in the villa (which was incredible!), and went downstairs to the restaurant for a wonderful lunch of local cuisine, with wine pairings of course. Our host took us around the property for a tour, including the family’s private wine collection. They recommended a few restaurants in town (Radda in Chianti, only a few minutes drive from the castle) for us, and we ended up choosing Ristorante La Perla del Palazzo for a dinner reservation. We had a great meal with traditional Tuscan fare and of course, great wine!

Friday morning they prepared a nice breakfast for us in the villa before we left. We had a few hours to kill before going to our next accommodation, and looked around the area for something to do. A while back Michael and I watched a Chef’s Table episode on Netflix featuring Dario Cecchini, an internationally known Italian butcher. He is often referred to as the best and most famous butcher in the world. He’s located in the small town of Panzano in the Chianti region of Tuscany. As I was looking for things to do in the area, I noticed Panzano on the map, and realized it was only a 25 minute drive from where we were staying. A perfect opportunity to visit! We drove to the little town and walked around through a few shops and of course to the butcher shop – Antica Macelleria Cecchini. It’s hard to miss – the outside of the shop is painted with big red and white stripes just off the main road. We chatted with the workers and bought (and drank) some wine. Dario was actually in LA being presented with an award at the time we were there! We were a little bummed we didn’t get to meet him. Dario has a restaurant across the street from the butcher shop and a food truck just down the road.

We opted to walk down to the food truck for lunch. This was a really fun experience! The menu is all sandwiches, and wow, they were so so good. Between the 5 of us we tried the beef belly sandwich (which was recommended to us by one of the butchers at the shop), the burger, and the beef hot dog. Honestly, the hot dog was my favorite. We shared small glasses of red wine and little pieces of olive oil cake (yum!) as we looked over the Tuscan hills. It was a little windy, but still a picturesque day. (The photo at the very top of this post is the view of the countryside looking out from the food truck viewpoint. Stunning!)

After lunch we had an hour drive to Rocca di Montemassi. Both wineries are owned and operated by the Zonin family, a pretty well-known winemaking family in Italy. This property looks a lot different than the Castle. While the Castle was tucked high into the Tuscan hills, Rocca di Montemassi sits in the coastal area of Maremma, only 20 miles from the Tyrrhenian Sea, which actually used to be marshland until it was drained in the 1930s-1950s. We stayed in an apartment in the estate. Our host took us through a museum on the property all about the rural culture and history of the Maremma region. The chefs prepared a really nice dinner for us downstairs, along with breakfast the following morning before heading home to Vicenza. The woman who was there for breakfast that morning made us delicious coffees, pastries, and eggs made to order.

We drove home after breakfast and spent their last evening in Vicenza before they flew out very early the following morning. It was such a wonderful week and I am so glad they were finally able to come visit us all together!