Yoga, great food & Tuscan countryside, what more could you want from an escape away from the city? A couple of weekends ago I went on my first yoga retreat weekend in the rolling Tuscan hills. The getaway was organised by one of my beautiful friends Shirley who made a life-changing decision to move to Florence a couple of years ago after falling in love with the place when she came on a yoga retreat herself - and it's not hard to see why!



I had never done yoga before so I was a little bit nervous as I am also the most un-flexible person and although I would like to think that one day I will be a little gym bunny it's probably never going to happen because I just hate sports. Hate. Them. I do not see the fun in running around and getting all tired and sweaty and hating life whilst doing it. Every fitness program I have ever started has shortly ended after a few awful weeks and although abs are nice, so are my morning lie ins and eating pizza so I thank the gods every day that I was blessed with fast metabolism. Anyway, yoga was a type of exercise which I had always thought about but never actually gotten into - it didn't seem as rigorous or heart-attack-inducing and has a bunch of other health benefits as well so I was excited to try it out!

Over the weekend we had two yoga sessions a day, each of them different, and it was so interesting to do. Shirley was such a wonderful teacher because although some of the practices were a little more advanced, she offered alternatives for the beginners (me lol) so that we didn't strain our bodies too much. By the end of the retreat my arms and glutes (as well everything else) were aching so much but this just meant that my body had been well-exercised. My favourite part of the sessions was the end part called shavasana which is where you get to lay down, with blankets, and relax afterwards. One of the sessions actually included a guided meditation which is where I fell asleep hahaha... but hey, I must have been really relaxed then right?

Although it was a yoga retreat, my favourite part of the trip was probably the food. Shirley had a chef there for us who cooked everything and it was honestly the most incredible food. All of it was vegetarian and most vegan. There were these phenomenal lentil "burgers" with guacamole and a quinoa salad with aubergine, courgette and carrots which I will definitely try to recreate and put on here. Besides all of the amazing food which was prepared for us, we also had an Italian cooking lesson, which involved lots and lots of vino rosso of course.


We learned how to make two types of fresh pasta: fettuccine and strozzapreti, which literally means strangle the priest. One had a simple tomato basil sauce and the other had the most wonderful creamy roasted pepper sauce. You need to have a machine to make them but it's actually surprisingly easy, just time consuming because you also have to wait for the dough to activate etc. etc.





We also learned how to make what we, English speakers, call biscotti, which actually just means cookies in Italian. They're called cantucci in Italian and are the best things ever. The ones that we made were wayyy better than the ones I used to buy in Starbucks back in England and we made two different kinds: one vegan version and one "traditional" version which uses eggs. To be honest I couldn't really tell the difference other than the fact that one had raisins and lemon zest and the other didn't so if you're vegan or don't have any eggs lying around you can easily substitute them with a plant-based milk & vegetable oil mix.





The smell of these wafting out of the oven was actually incredible and some of us couldn't wait to tuck into the cookies before they were even ready - you have to bake them twice, once when they're in rows and then after this once again when they're cut into individual pieces which is what gives them their distinctive texture.

The place that we stayed had breathtaking views of the Tuscan countryside. It's called Borgo Iesolana (i'll put a map down below) and the Bucine station in Tuscany is the closest one to it. They had beautiful vinyards, a lake, two swimming pools and a hammock which I would have quite happily spent all day in.





On the last day we decided to go for a little adventure to another Tuscan city, Siena which I already spoke a little bit about in one of my other blogposts: A Weekend in the Medieval City of Siena. We walked up the Facciatone for breathtaking views of the city (with our new local tour guide Tamara) which was a similar experience to walking up the Cupola in Florence, however it was less tight walk and there were less stairs to climb.







Tuscany is honestly so beautiful and if you're ever visiting you must go to the countryside. Florence is a nice place but you need to venture into rural Tuscany to really experience it - Chianti is much closer and it's the perfect excuse for a wine tour as well. The yoga was also really incredible and such a wonderful, eye-opening experience. Shirley hosts a couple of yoga retreats per year and I would definitely recommend going on one. It was so so relaxing and just what I needed, not to mention the fact that she is the most beautiful person inside and out. You can find more details of her retreats here - link!

Alexandra x

Sometimes life hurls unexpected obstacles at you and you have to learn how to overcome them. One of the best ways, I think, is to clear your mind and explore a new place. Luckily for me, one of my friends is also on her year abroad here in Tuscany, in the medieval city of Siena.

Only a short train ride away (note: it should normally be around an hour and a half, but I had the unlucky experience of being an hour delayed in the middle of nowhere, luckily I had a book with me!) Siena is one of the most visited and interesting places in Tuscany.

When I finally arrived in Siena we were planning on going out for a nice dinner and then perhaps seeing what nightlife there was on offer, however when we looked out of the window just before leaving it was pioveva a catinelle (raining cats and dogs, literally: raining from the basin, ha). And for some reason the prospect of getting into fluffy, cosy pyjamas and watching a movie whilst eating nutella out of the jar with spoons seemed much more appealing. And that is exactly what we did, leaving the exploration of the city until the next day.

The next morning we got up, bright eyed and bushy tailed and headed towards the historic centre. For October it was actually a glorious day (yay Italy) and after walking around for a while we spent some time in the Piazza del Campo, the main square. This is probably the most famous view of Siena and one of the most famous Italian events happens here: the Palio.


The Palio is a horse race which happens twice a year in the summer. Ten horse riders and horses represent ten of the seventeen contrade (city wards). Each of the contrade have their own colours and their own animal or symbol, which you will see later on in some pictures. The race is around the Piazza three times, bareback and it never lasts more than 90 seconds. Apparently it is an amazing experience, although the race is very dangerous - jockeys often get thrown off of their horses and sometimes the horses crash into the walls of the city... in 2004 a horse even died because it had been trampled on which has recently raised questions about animal rights and whether this historic event should be continued.

After bullfighting was criminalised, the contrade organised races first riding buffaloes, then donkeys and finally horses in 1633. It's actually really interesting because it's not the jockey who wins the race, it's the horse. Which means that horses can win by themselves if their rider was lost somewhere along the track and the horse which comes last isn't the loser - it's whoever comes second!

Here are a couple of videos so that you can have an idea of what it's like:
The most recent Palio & One of the bad crashes




Here you can see what I mean about the animals for each contrada - this is the Leocorno (Unicorn). The Sienese people are very proud of where they are from and according to some they feel more proud of their contrada than of the city that they come from which is what makes the Palio such a competitive and often violent event.


We also had a look at the Cattedrale Metropolitana di Santa Maria Assunta, Siena's cathedral. The façade was finished in the 14th Century and it always fascinates me how skilled people were at this time. Look at the detail! It's much smaller than the cathedral in Florence but that is just something else.




After some more exploring we ended up back in the Piazza and soaked up the sun whilst enjoying some pizza (obviously). Pizza a taglio is really popular in Italy. It's basically takeaway pizza that you can get by the slice, but these are massive. My friend was telling me how this pizza place is open into the early hours of the morning so they often get a slice on their way home from a night out. And it's proper pizza! Not the greasy things you can get in the places that are open that late in the UK.

When walking around Siena we also noticed that there were loads of mini statues of what appeared to be Romulus and Remus with their wolf mother (you're probably familiar with the story but if not, put very very simply: the god Mars' twin sons were abandoned and a wolf found them who raised them. When the boys grew up they founded Rome but had an argument with each other and Romulus killed Remus). At first we didn't know why they were all over Siena because it's a legend which is related to Rome, but after a little bit of research I discovered that according to local legend, Siena was founded by Remus' sons Senius and Aschius. After their fathers death they brought the statue of the wolf with them to Siena and it became the symbol of the city.


Siena is definitely one of the beautiful Tuscan cities that you can easily visit for the day when you're staying in Florence or another nearby city. Head up to the Fortezza Medicea if you want some pretty views onto the historic centre, you can spot the cathedral from here! And if you fancy something a little bit different you can also find the most beautiful views of the Tuscan hills. But please remember that if you're still at university you shouldn't walk up the bell tower in the main piazza (the Torre del Mangia) because it brings bad luck for your exams!! I didn't want to risk it hahah.

Getting here is quite easy as there are regular trains from Firenze Santa Maria Novella and at around 18 euros return it's not too bad, I just hope for you that you don't get delayed in the middle of nowhere like I did. Enjoy!

Alexandra x