And so our long awaited trip to Italy commenced at the end of last month with our entire family and relatives making the journey from all corners of the world for my brother’s wedding. Landing in Rome a week before the wedding, I joined my family on a week’s holiday prior to all the celebrations.
Following a long two hour car journey from Rome airport into the heart of Tuscany (those Italians are maniacs on the roads!), we arrived at our stunning villa at Borgo Poggiardelli for the week. Just out of Montepulciano nestled in the rolling hills of the Italian countryside, we were surrounded by spectacular scenery with an abundance of vineyards producing our favourite red wine of the region.
With so much fresh local produce in the supermarkets as well as stunning wine selling for a fraction of what we’d pay back home, we made some brilliant spreads of food ourselves. I get so inspired in foreign supermarkets trying out new ingredients and incorporating these into meals. From mozzarella, tomato, basil and balsamic salad to juicy sweet cantaloupe melon wrapped in salty parma ham, each day we put together a number of delicious dishes for lunch served out on our terrace under the scorching sun.
Cooking is always one of my favourite parts of holidaying with family as we have the time to spend in the kitchen so everyone does their bit to help out. This isn’t usually something my sister gets that excited about, but this holiday she really did enjoy getting involved with the cooking and I even helped her perfect a potato salad recipe which became her speciality on the trip!
As usual our time at Borgo Poggiardelli was far too short and we could’ve done with staying another week just relaxing by the pool by day and sipping on our Montepulciano wine by night. Given all the family we had to visit before the wedding, we never even got the time to visit the wineries and indulge in a tasting. It was however the perfect mini break in preparation for the wedding which won’t be quite so restful.
My sister, cousin and I have already agreed we will come back to this fabulous region of Italy to properly experience the historic towns and surrounding vineyards offering wine tastings and authentic local cuisine across the high hills of Tuscany.
Dani Aneka 