Our morning began with us packing our bags and jumping on the motorcycle for the Tuscan border. Jennifer was a little nervous for her first ride on a motorcycle, but she was confident in Sam’s riding ability (regardless of the fact that the last time he was on a motorcycle he crashed on the 91 freeway and broke his scapula). 
Getting out of Florence was a little hectic, but once we were on the main Tuscan road it was smooth sailing. We road through numerous small villages, stopping to see some of the churches and castles along the way. We grabbed lunch at one of the villages in the Chianti region and then headed on south towards Siena. 
After our experiences navigating through the big city of Florence, we chose to avoid the city center of Siena and head into wine country. South of Siena, we were able to enjoy our hair blowing in the wind (except for Jennifer who’s hair looks shorter than Sam’s in the helmet). Sam liked to scare Jennifer a little bit by racing down the straight-aways, but we safely made it to our destination of Castiglione de Orcia. 
We were pleased to find how beautiful the views were from our Bed and Breakfast and took some time relax and enjoy our surroundings. After relaxing for a couple hours, we headed off to the nearby village of Rocci de Orcia.
It was a little early for dinner, so we walked around the quaint village and admired the amazing views of the surrounding countryside before heading to dinner. We stopped at a bar to enjoy some beers and Jennifer found herself with a new friend who wouldn’t leave her side. 
Immediately after being seated at the restaurant, we were served with some “foreign” appetizers that turned out to be herring with oranges and salami marinated in olive oil. While the salami was delicious, we both had a difficult time stomaching the strong flavor of the herring. Sam tried to hide his gagging reflexes as he finished Jennifer’s share of the herring and all he could think of was how much his dad would be enjoying the complimentary start to our meal.
We needed some serious coaching through the ordering process of our meal (for translation) and were excited by how delicious our entrees tasted. The waitress/owner of the trattoria recommended a nice wine from the region to complement our meals. It was a treat to enjoy a true Tuscan meal in a small village less traveled by the throngs of tourists that have followed us through our journey to date.
After dinner we jumped back in our Peugot and stumbled across a small market and grabbed some gelato and wine to take back to our country villa. We cracked open our bottle of wine, enjoying the evening on our lovely porch, and reflected upon our lovely travels under the Tuscan sun. 
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