Our travels are well documented but we rarely take a trip that isn’t dedicated to Gal Meets Glam. For our anniversary and actually for Thomas’ birthday (it’s in May), I decided to plan a 5 night stay in Tuscany with the intent of making the trip about relaxing and taking the time to refresh after a year spent working harder than we ever had. Normally, Thomas is the one that gets into the finer details of planning out our trips, and on this trip, I wanted to do that for him. When trying to decide on a spot, I wanted somewhere that was filled with many of Thomas’s favorite things- good food, lots of activities, a great pool and beautiful scenery. Tuscany it was!
During my research of places to stay in Tuscany I had discovered Borgo Pignano. While a few other places stood out, Borgo Pignano had everything we could want from somewhere that we could stay 5 nights at. It had plenty of available activities, a beautiful pool, nice rooms and most importantly, incredible food. Overall, the food at the hotel continued to wow us. Normally, when we stay somewhere for 5 nights we can’t wait to explore other food options. Whether that’s dinner at another hotel or lunch in a town, but the hotel offered both fine dining and a more casual option with delicious pizza and pastas. At the heart of all of their menus was the fresh, local produce, meat and other ingredients, most of which are actually grown on property. Every time it came down to considering somewhere else to eat, we kept deciding to stay at the hotel and try something else on the menu.
Outfit Details:
Cuyana Dress, Le Monde Beryl Mules, Bobbi Brown Regal Lipstick
On our first full day in Tuscany, we decided to head out in the morning and check out some of the local hilltop towns. The town of San Gimignano is one of the more well known ones. From afar, it has one of the more striking skylines that you’ll see in Tuscany. Medieval towers standout amongst the other structures, surrounded by fields of olive trees and rolling hills of vineyards, making for incredible landscape images.
Outfit Details:
LoveShackFancy Dress, Terrain Scarf,  K.Jacques Sandals, Jenni Kayne Bag
The town is beautiful and makes a great morning trip, ideal in the summer when it’s hot and you want to spend the afternoon at the pool cooling off. That’s exactly what we ended up doing.
Outfit Details:
Gal Meets Glam Collection Dress, Castaner Espadrilles
I mentioned above that one of the reasons why I booked Borgo Pignano was because of the long list of activities. On there was a private wine tasting with local varieties, and since we were in Tuscany, a place known for great wine, I added it to our list. This is one thing we miss from our life in SF. We used to visit Napa all the time with friends and go wine tasting at least a handful of times throughout the year.
Outfit Details:
White Jumpsuit (also similar here), Cuyana Hat, Jenni Kayne Bag, Le Specs Sunglasses, Manebi Espadrilles
Prior to our trip, we knew very little about Volterra, but seeing as we had a view of the town from Borgo Pignano, we decided to go check it out. Sometimes when driving in rural areas Google Maps can think a road is in better condition than it actually is. This was the case when driving to Volterra, a 3000-year-old hilltop town. The road might have been the most direct path but sure wasn’t the fastest. Regardless, we put our station wagon to the test and enjoyed the scenic route.
In Volterra, we walked around for a bit before getting hungry. We saw some happy customers eating paninis at a small shops, so we stopped in so Thomas could get one with grilled vegetables- he said it was one of the best things he’s ever had. The vegetables in Tuscany were amazing.
Outfit Details:
Eres Swimsuit, Le Specs Sunglasses, Cuyana Hat
When we travel, we are explorers. We are constantly moving, utilizing our mode of transportation and the entire length of the days to discover new things. But on this trip, we made a point not to beat ourselves up trying to see everything. Instead, we spent time by the pool, cooling off and reading, which felt amazing in the afternoon heat.
One of our favorite moments from the trip was a romantic private dinner that we had at Borgo Pignano. It was set up on the rooftop of the property with the most incredible views. I saw that a private dining option was available on the activity list, but I wasn’t expecting such a magnificent set-up and view.
Tomorrow we will be back with the remainder of our time spent in Tuscany. Followed by two posts that will round up our time spent on the Amalfi Coast, first with Ravello/Amalfi and followed by Positano!
Outfit Details:
Gal Meets Glam Collection Dress, Hart Earrings,Castaner Espadrilles