The town of wine

Tuscany, in my humble opinion, is the most beautiful region of Italy. Its landscapes are surreal, like something from a dream. Although, be prepared for the Tuscany roads. They are not for the weak stomachs. They are wriggly and go up and down over the many hills. There are many tricks besides pills that can help you if you start to feel sick. I don't get car sick, but my friend who does told me that chewing gums helps her a lot. I guess it makes sense because it turns your attention to something else.

This is a story about wine and a small Italian town that is famous for it. This is a story about Montalcino. I have visited this place with my friends with the organization Erasmus Land. They called this trip the Wine Tour though we didn't drink wine in this town, that would be a different story. As usual they divided us into two groups - one that would have a guide that speaks in English and one that would have a guide that speaks in Italian. We chose to listen in Italian in order to get as much information as possible. It turns out that in the time of Etruscans, Tuscany had a problem with water supply - there wasn't enough of it. However, there was an abundance of wine. We were shown a well which was probably the only one in the town at the time and I learned the Italian word for it - „pozzo“. I don't know if I will ever need it, but still I found it interesting.

http://www.fattorialapalazzina.com/Tuscany/en/19/the-local-wine/the-wine.aspx

I imagine that in towns like this tv shows like Game of Thrones are being made. It looks like it had not changed in several centuries. When you see the palace Palazzo dei Priori, the fortress Fortezza di Montalcino, cathedral Santissimo Salvatore or when you walk through the narrow streets you feel like you have arrived in a place that has stood still in time.

I like these Erasmus trips because besides the amazing places they take us to I also get to meet a lot of interesting people from all over the world. If you have just arrived to Erasmus and don't know anyone, I would definitely recommend to join one of those trips. By the end of it you will meet a bunch of very interesting people that just might end up being your best friends. Or at least you will hear some interesting stories and advices from various people. What places are worth visiting, where you can eat for a small price, where are good parties and so on.

On this particular trip I have met a German couple that had the most unfortunate experience on Erasmus. They were robbed. But not in the street or anything like that. They have found an apartment online and paid the deposit for it only to find out that they were deceived. The apartment in question was not available at all. In fact it had been rented to five other clueless people. Therefore, this nice German couple has had a very bad start of the Erasmus year - homeless and robbed. It is from this moment on that I started truly to appreciate my crappy apartment.

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