Tuscany: 10 ways it’s like Northern California... but not

The sun beats down on bone dry river beds and golden hills roll past as if on conveyor belts. Driving past rows of grapevines, the landscape starts to feel familiar. There’s this thing that happens when traveling for awhile, when you need a few seconds to figure out where you are, what day it is and where you need to go next. Here in Toscana (Tuscany as we call it), this process takes a bit longer. It looks like home, it feels like home, but it’s most certainly not Northern California. Here’s why:

1. Tuscany is full of beautiful golden hills, just like Northern California. But take a closer look and you’ll notice ancient castles on top of nearly every hill.
   
2. It’s not uncommon to be passed by a red Ferrari when driving through the winding Tuscan roads (a bit different than a blue Prius in NorCal).
   
3. Tuscany and Northern California are both known for amazing wine. But in Tuscany, they’ve been making the stuff since the 8th century… BC!
   
4. Northern California is home to some pretty awesome small towns. But in Tuscany, medieval hill towns like Siena, Montepulciano, and San Gimignano (all of which are surrounded by ancient stone walls) are the norm.
   
5. Italian Cypress trees line every villa driveway in Tuscany. This kind of real estate would cost millions in NorCal!
   
6. Like happiness in concentrate, fields of sunflowers surround country roads in Tuscany. Who do we have to talk to bring sunflower farms to Sonoma?
   
7. Dating back to the 17th century, the bareback Palio di Siena horse race is held twice a year in the Piazza del Campo. There’s really nothing like it.
   
8. We could live on cheese from Sonoma Cheese Factory. But our mind was blown with the discovery of the Tuscany Mozzarellaria: Literally, cheese shops that make every kind of fresh mozzarella imaginable (including Burrata di Bufala).
   
9. Go wine tasting in Tuscany and it will take you 4 hours, not 15 minutes (pros and cons to both)!
   
10. Traffic never stops in Tuscany, because driving along the country roads means navigating hundreds of roundabouts.

This is not to say Northern California isn’t awesome (it most certainly is!), but more to note how incredibly unique this region of Italy is. Life moves slowly in Tuscany and many of these towns feel trapped in time. We’re spending 5 days here, but had we not booked an apartment in the next stop (Bologna) on our Italian road trip, it could have easily turned into months. Because it really is like a movie - hang out, drink coffee, eat incredible food, sit in the sun, drink wine. Repeat, repeat, repeat.