An essential part to traveling abroad is shopping for local products.
Locally produced items and gifts we buy on our travels abroad help extend the experience of visiting Tuscany just a little bit longer once we are back home.
Tuscany has a long tradition of skilled craftsmen in many areas that create items now considered "typical products" of Tuscany. These include the fine craftsmanship required to make exquisite gold jewelry found on Ponte Vecchio in Florence as well as the red terracotta clay tiles from Impruneta we find across the region on roofs as well as inside in the floors. Fine blacksmiths continue to create iron creations such as the wrought-iron beds and tables we find inside our hotel rooms, rental apartments or gardens.
Carpenters continue today to hand-carve the rustic wood tables and other furniture found inside farmhouses across the region. Then there is the fine Italian leather jackets and leather bags found across the center of Florence and around the Arno valley. Admire the translucent creations carved out of alabaster stone in Volterra or the colorful painted ceramic plates from Montelupo. The craftsmen from Scarperia in the Mugello valley are well-known for their skill in crafting knives and other cutting tools.
Then let's not forget the gastronomic delights that make Tuscany famous across the world. Its red wines such as Chianti Classico, Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano are as appreciated as its tasty, peppery extra-virgin olive oil. Then there are the numerous pecorino cheeses as well as cured meats such as the Cinta Senese, salame toscano or those made from local cinghiale (wild boar) that make Tuscan cuisine simple yet tasty.
On your next trip to Tuscany don't forget to take a little part of the region back with you in the shape of special gift or wine or olive oil bottle!
