Vintage Fiat tour in Florence with sassy Paola

written by Tiana Kai
Fiat tour in Florence

Meet Paola. She’s one hot 46 year old Fiat 500. In order to drive Paola you must know or quickly learn how to drive a doppietta, double clutch. Luckily, my husband Nicco is a stick shift pro, so happily took on the challenge while I jumped in the passenger seat for a full day zipping around the Tuscan countryside!

Fiat 500 tour in Florence

Piacere

Vintage Fiat tour in Florence

500 Touring Club Florence

I was invited on this unique tour by the ultra friendly husband and wife team who runs and owns the 500 Touring Club in Florence. Giuseppe or Beppe for short (a Florentine man of all trades) and Andrea (a backpacking Australian) have been the proud owners of eight adorable Fiat 500 machines for two years now.

Their hilarious staff of one, Lindsay, also joined Nicco and me along with four female writers and their dates for an amazing day in the countryside.

Fiat bloggers

The Take No Prisoners Fiat 500 Squad!

Meeting Paola

driving Fiats in Florence

love at first sight!

The meeting point was at the 500 Touring Club’s clubhouse about a 25 minute bus ride from the center of Florence. Lucky for me, we showed up first so got first dibs.

I saw Paola sitting there, soaking wet in the rain. Like Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, she looked lost just yearning to be loved.

Fiat tours in Florence

strangers in the night…

Was it her red color that caught my eye? Was it her obvious need for attention? Was is the fact that she would be the perfect prop to take our Holiday pictures with? Who will ever know.

Maybe I chose Paola because she’s so outspoken and driven…Paola loves a good pun. 😉 She soon proved to be quite the macchina and model.

Driving to an olive farm

Fiat tour Florence, Tuscany

what a fun road to cruise on!

The initial plan was to pick olives at a nearby farm, but due to the morning rain we moved right to the olive oil tasting. I couldn’t complain!

Funny enough, Domenico, the owner of the olive orchard is my husband’s grandfather’s nephew. So, would that make him my second cousin-in-law?? A brain cell just died.

I never meet Domenico before, so it was really funny being introduced to him on the tour. He took us on a walk through his olive farm showing us his rambunctious geese, Livornese chickens and bee hives. The man does not have a bad view either!

olives in Tuscany Italy

Nicco in between his 2nd cousin and Beppe

olio nuovo in Tuscany

We were able to soak our slices of Tuscan bread into a fresh bath of olio nuovo—fresh extra virgin olive oil. The oil was out of this world and a few bloggers even bought large bottles of Domenico’s olio nuovo for just 10€. Great deal.

Paola was so upset that she wasn’t able to taste any of the EVOO, so I promised her a photoshoot, just the three of us at the next stop.

Touring an olive press

Fiat and cypress trees

isn’t this totally Pinterest worthy?!

We were now on our way to Agriturismo Inalbi the frantoio, oil press. Once we parked our priceless gems and walked through more rows of cypress trees the olive oil smell grew stronger and stronger. I could have waved some bread in the air and eaten the scent right up.

The frantoio was a well-oiled machine…oh there slips another pun! It was a decent sized room where the olives roll through washing, grinding, separation and draining stations.

making olive oil in Florence

making olive oil in Tuscany

Green gold

this neon liquid is ready to drink, eat and even bathe in — olio nuovo, A.K.A. Green Gold!

Paola’s family photoshoot

Once the green gold part of the tour wrapped up it was time for Paola to get her moment. What do you think? Isn’t she gorgeous?

Italians driving a Fiat

Nicco dressed appropriately in his Xmas sweater…matching Paola of course!

Nicco and I took a few more funny shots, but we’ll use them for our Christmas card. I wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise now would I?

Lunch at Villa Le Piazzole

After all the olive fun and breathtaking kilometers filled with windy, curvy and sometimes narrow lanes through Tuscany we headed back to the 500 Touring Club’s headquarters. They’re conveniently located down the hill from the ‘I would love to honeymoon here’ Villa Le Piazzole.

As we set foot on the 600 year old premise it felt like it was our own private property for the day. They have a pool where some of the Fiat tours actually end up for a picnic lunch, perfect for summertime!

There’s a gorgeous garden to the side and below the very cool and private cantina was awaiting with Tuscan treats for our hungry bellies.

Villa La Piazzole

this was the moment where I was happy I wasn’t driving 😉

Red wine, white wine, sparkling water were all waiting for us. Plates were filled with bruschetta, crostini, pecorino cheese, parmigiano cheese, prosciutto and salamis. We even had the chance to drizzle Andrea’s private VIP stash of honey. Warning: Fingers were licked during this meal, multiple times.

Amazing Fiat tour!

Italians love their Fiats

the boys were beyond pleased

The day was magical. Nicco had the best time driving a vintage doppietta. The sights were amazing and it was hilarious to honk through a few little towns we drove by…even cyclists were doing double takes when they saw our crew of Fiats whiz by them.

Fellow bloggers—Georgette, Alexandra, Alessandra and Lisa—and their dates made the tour even more memorable, so thanks Fiat crew!

A special thanks to Paola for being so nice to us during the drive and to Andrea, Beppe and Lindsay for their amazing amounts of hospitality. Beep beep!

*Tours range from 65-200€ a person depending on the tour. Find the 500 Touring Club on Facebook and Instagram.

What’s the most memorable tour you’ve been on?

Love this post, share it! Love the pics, pin them! 

You may also like

24 comments

arttrav November 11, 2013 at 11:47 am

wow tiana, you’ve just said it all!! Now what will I write? Love the puns and dry sense of humour.

Reply
Tiana Kai November 11, 2013 at 12:18 pm

Thanks Alex. The second I saw Paola I instantly saw the Audrey resemblance. I am sure you have something clever and great up your sleeve for your post!

Reply
arttrav November 11, 2013 at 2:25 pm

Actually for once i have no idea what to write.

Reply
Tiana Kai November 11, 2013 at 5:47 pm

Photo essay? That’s an easy one! 😉

Reply
georgette November 11, 2013 at 11:49 am

great post Tiana!!!!!

Reply
Tiana Kai November 11, 2013 at 12:17 pm

Thanks Georgette!! What a day, life here isn’t bad after all. 😉

Reply
Ale - Rosaspina Vintage November 11, 2013 at 1:04 pm

It’s so funny, while we approached the frantoio I said exactly the same thing to Alf about waving the bread from the 500 roof window and eating it straight away… only in italian, haha 😀 It was such a lovely day and a pleasure to meet you at the tour, Tiana! Ale x

Reply
Tiana Kai November 11, 2013 at 1:16 pm

Ha, we should have brought a loaf of bread with us!! It was great meeting you and Alf too. I hope you had a great time at the vintage shops downtown…and your stay in your gorgeous villa room!

Reply
Cat of Sunshine and Siestas November 12, 2013 at 9:00 am

So, that sounds fun.

Reply
Tiana Kai November 12, 2013 at 10:22 am

Haha, it was soooo fun! Great to see the countryside just a few km from downtown…in a Fiat no less. Now to practice stick shift…

Reply
Chanel @ La Viajera Morena November 12, 2013 at 2:43 pm

I absolutely love your photos! Especially the photo of you driving Paloa. What a beautiful car and what a beautiful day. Making the olive oil sounded fresh and delicious! Makes me want to jump on a plane and visit Italy right now 😀

Reply
Tiana Kai November 12, 2013 at 6:53 pm

Oh and the smell of fresh olive oil…can’t beat that! Yes, please come on over!!! 😉

Reply
Becky Padmore November 12, 2013 at 3:07 pm

Fiat 500’s are definitely my favourite car, so much fun and they look soo cute!

Reply
Tiana Kai November 12, 2013 at 6:54 pm

They are the cutest tiniest things, love them too!

Reply
5 ways to sightsee with a vintage Fiat 500 | Girl in Florence November 14, 2013 at 10:46 am

[…] way to the clubhouse meeting point at Villa Le Piazzole to meet my fellow bloggers, Alexandra, Tiana, Lisa and Alessandra , plus the  500 Touring club team and … of course – the new love in […]

Reply
I Love Made in Italy 5 ways to sightsee with a vintage Fiat 500 | I Love Made in Italy November 14, 2013 at 11:45 am

[…] way to the clubhouse meeting point at Villa Le Piazzole to meet my fellow bloggers, Alexandra, Tiana, Lisa and Alessandra , plus the  500 Touring club team and … of course – the new love in […]

Reply
BrowsingItaly November 15, 2013 at 10:55 am

Talk about being jealous! Great food, company and vintage Fiat 500. Would love to do this the next time I find myself in Florence

Reply
Tiana Kai November 15, 2013 at 11:44 am

For sure! We were all so giddy, good times were had!

Reply
Travel Tuscany, See THE Best of Tuscany March 3, 2014 at 12:44 pm

[…] in Florence sounds all exciting and romantic, and it is don’t get me wrong, BUT there’s a whole other world just […]

Reply
Bike in Italy like a local! July 24, 2014 at 6:17 pm

[…] loves FIAT 500s […]

Reply
Living in Italy, how to do it the right way! August 7, 2014 at 11:34 pm

[…] I get invited on blog tours and get to experience amazing things in Florence for FREE, like vintage Fiat tours, bike tours, rooftop aperitivo events and Segway […]

Reply
Fun Ape Tour in Tuscany August 25, 2014 at 10:00 am

[…] has about every tour imaginable from bikes, to Segways and vintage FIAT 500‘s. There are even endless amounts of walking tours for the hard core art historians to the […]

Reply
Moving to Italy March 24, 2015 at 5:45 am

[…] is a problem. After being subjected to the most incredible olive oil in the world I can no longer have oil in the States. I find myself cooking with butter because the […]

Reply
Meep meep! Things to do in Florence — on wheels - GirlsGottaDrinkGirlsGottaDrink April 13, 2015 at 5:27 pm

[…] Insider’s Guide to Florence Restaurants >> Vintage Fiat tour in Florence with sassy Paola >> Exploring Tuscany: Tour di […]

Reply

Leave a Comment