Tasting Tuscany

An AAP report by Sarah Pond give a new insight into Tuscany!

She says………..His hand slid towards her bottom, causing the rest of us at the dinner table to cringe as he gave it another little pat.

It was the third night of the Contiki tour, and most of us had noticed their constant groping and decided they were the most annoying people on the tour, just as we’d decided another pair was our favourite couple, and worked out which of the singles had the hots for each other – but we had not shared our observations until this night.

We had started the tour as a group of 40 strangers, but by the end of this night we had turned the Contiki bus into a karaoke disco and were dancing in our seats to the driver’s mixed CD of Latino pop and classic hits like You Can Leave Your Hat On.

Whether it was the beautiful view of the sun setting over the Tuscan hills, or the vino that was going down rather nicely, there was something in the air that made this evening a turning point of the tour – the ice wasn’t just broken, it was smashed.

We were on an eight-day Tuscany tour, and we’d spent the first two days whetting our appetites in Italy’s capital, Rome, and the gorgeous cliff-top town of Orvieto, in the Umbria region.

This was the first day we’d been able to get our teeth into Toscana, the Italian name for the region in Italy’s north renown for its art, history, wine, beautiful countryside and the fabulous cities of Florence and Siena.

We’d spent the morning exploring the famous Chianti wine region on bicycles, which was a great way to enjoy the beautiful scenery of vineyards, stone villas and rolling hills.

I was so enchanted by the views that my frequent stops for photos, combined with my lack of cycling prowess, saw me slide to the back of the pack.

This was no Tour de France, but the 17-kilometre ride was no walk in the park either.

It was made more difficult for me by the fact it was a warm summer’s day and I was still wearing the jeans I’d worn on the plane from Australia. This was because the airline lost my luggage and I hadn’t had a chance to buy some more suitable summer clothes.

I’d picked up an “Italia” T-shirt from a souvenir shop in Orvieto the day before, but it wasn’t until later that afternoon that I eventually found a pair of shorts in Siena and could finally get out of my jeans.

I also bought a couple of tops and a few toiletries, but at that point I wasn’t too worried because I was confident my bag would turn up.

I was not alone: the four other gals who’d travelled on the same flight as me had also arrived in Rome luggage-less after one of those horror journeys which took twice as long as it was supposed to after our flight ended up detouring to two countries that were not on our itinerary due to bad weather.

As it happened, the others eventually received their bags at different stages of the tour, but mine never turned up – and still hasn’t as I write this more than a month after my return.

Luckily, since we were on a tour, there were plenty of people willing to lend us clothes, shoes, toothpaste and anything else we needed, while the lack of wardrobe choice certainly made it easy to get ready in the morning.

So there I was dressed in my new Benneton shorts and top, which became my “uniform” for the tour, as I sat at the dinner table trying to ignore the groping going on next to me, and getting to know my fellow travellers over a few glasses of Chianti.

Our guide, Sabine, was Dutch but lived in Padua, near Venice, and spoke fluent Italian, while our driver, Nicola, was a local signore from Sorrento, south of Naples, owner of the hip-gyrating Latino music we listened to on the bus, who was very patient when I tried to practice speaking Italian and was always up for a game of cards at the end of the day.

The United States was the most dominant nationality among the travellers, making up about half of the group, while the rest were Australian – including a few Aussies who were on working holidays in the UK – plus others from Canada, England, Ireland and Germany.

It had not taken us long to suss each other out. There was the annoying gropey couple, the outgoing Aussie girl who soon became everyone’s mate, the sweet American guy who developed an unrequited crush on the prettiest girl, and that “favourite couple” I mentioned earlier – both so friendly and attractive, in fact I later found out some girls had dubbed the guy “Grape” because he was the “pick of the bunch”.

Most of us were in our mid-twenties (Contiki tours are aimed at people aged 18-35) and there were a few couples, but the majority of people were travelling on their own (either singles or people whose partners had not come along) or with friends.

This was a good tour for solo travellers who wanted the social benefits of a group tour for young people without the drunken debauchery that often plagues tours aimed at this market segment.

Mention that you’re going on a Contiki tour, and a lot of people immediately think of 18-year-olds on their first overseas trip getting drunk and hooking up.

But I would describe the Tuscany trip as one of Contiki’s boutique tours which attract people who actually want to see the sites, learn about the history and experience the culture, rather than just adding notches to their bedposts.

Most of the people on the Tuscany tour had been on a Contiki before – for some it was their third or fourth time – and the general feeling was that this was one of the more subdued Contiki trips they’d experienced.

That’s not to say there was no partying or hooking up, but – unlike the rowdier tours that most of us had been on before – no-one woke up covered in hickeys or missed out on the day’s activities because they were too hungover to get out of bed (which, by the way, was in a hotel, there was no staying in hostels or campsites on this tour).

It would have been a big shame to miss any of the activities on this tour, because we did some amazing things, such as a truffle-hunting trip with the president of the Mugello truffle association, Vanni Spacchini, and his dog, Stella, who sniffed out about a dozen black truffles for us.

Later that day, we got to enjoy the fruits of Stella’s labour at a restaurant just out of Florence, where the chef gave us a pasta-making demonstration before serving us a delicious meal of handmade tagliatelle con tartufi (flat ribbon pasta with truffles) – the very same truffles signor Spacchini had dug up earlier that day – magnifico!

By this time, we were pretty happy with our taste of Tuscany, but the best was yet to come.

We were lucky that our tour coincided with il Palio di Siena, the famous bareback horse race held in Siena every July and August.

Contiki alters the itinerary of its Tuscany tours during il Palio so the tour group can attend the race, which was an experience I will never forget and would highly recommend – even for people like me who aren’t into horseracing.

There’s so much history behind the race – which has been held since the 1600s – and the Sienese are so ppassionate about it, that the atmosphere of the event and the build-up in the days leading up to it is just amazing.

From our base in Siena, we went on some great day trips including Florence – home of the amazing Ufizi art gallery and Michelangelo’s statue of David among many other fantastic museums, galleries and sites; Pisa – where we saw the famous leaning tower; the seaside town of Cecina and the gorgeous hilltown of Volterra, where I could have easily spent more than a day exploring the medieval streets, Etruscan museum and the cute little shops – many selling the region’s local ware, alabaster rock creations.

With its fields of sunflowers, rolling hills, and gorgeous medieval towns, Tuscany is a recipe for amore, the Italian word for love, and – as I’m sure the couple on my tour who couldn’t keep their hands off each other would tell you – Contiki’s Tuscany is a good tour for couples to go on.

But, if you go, it might be a good idea to spare a thought for the rest of your group and limit the amount of bottom-groping – especially at the dinner table … mamma mia!

Contiki’s Tuscany tour costs $A1525pp, twin share (land only) and includes seven nights’ accommodation and most meals.

You’ll also get the benefit of an experienced Contiki tour manager and driver, as well as loads of sightseeing and activities.

The tour runs over the European summer, May to September, and the price quoted is based on 2008 departures.

The writer was a guest of Contiki Holidays.

A Report by The Mole