Tuscany

 Holidays in Tuscany

After a full day's drive we arrived at 6pm in Chiasso, at the Swiss/Italian border. We dropped our luggage, had a shower and moved on to Como (at Lago di Como), some 5 km further. I remembered Como as being a colourful town on the lakeside and it didn't seem to have lost its charm in the 30+ years since I last was there. We had our first meal on Italian soil in a small trattoria at the lake and had prosciutto with melon as a starter and tagliatelli al pesto afterwards. With a bottle of vino rosso, of course! We finished our day with a big Italian gelato.

The next day, Monday, after seeing the dense traffic on the highway, we decided to drive straight to Tuscany instead of spending some time in Bologna. At 1pm we arrived at Monteriggioni and, knowing that lunch and dinner hours are strictly respected in Italy, we made ourselves comfortable in the garden of the Antico Traviglio Bar, just at the entrance of the town, where we had bruschette and a plate of salumi and pecorino. Since this place was a wine bar, their wine list was huge and we left it to the waiter to propose us a fresh white wine.

We took the opportunity of visiting this small fortified town. Piazza di Roma is the main square where there are two restaurants and a few bars. We strolled around for an hour or so and decided to visit the church of Santa Maria Assunta on our next visit. Unfortunately, when we went back two days later in the evening, the church was closed already.

Time to check in at our Fattoria where we got a very warm welcome from hostess Rossella. She showed us to our room which was beautifully decorated in tints of beige. Since it was the cheapest room, it was also the smallest one but big enough for our standards and completed with a nice bathroom. Furniture was in old Tuscan style with wardrobe and dressers in dark wood. The room had also minibar, TV and air conditioning. Il Colombaio is only operational since March of this year so everything was brandnew and super clean. It is a "4 speghi" fattoria (the rating system for agriturismo, which equals 4* in the hotel rating system). Daily cleaning, daily change of bath linens, bed linens twice a week. They have 6 double rooms, 1 triple room and 2 4-person apartments.

As stated elsewhere, we paid € 105,00 per night incl. buffet breakfast (caffelatte/tea, orange juice, rolls, ham, salami, cheese, yoghurt, fresh fruit (yummie figs from their own garden!!!!), different fruit pie every day). The price advertised in the room was € 206,85 per night though, exclusive of breakfast.

We had a real good contact with Rossella from the very first moment and we also talked about the prices in the region. She told us that the policy of the area was to keep Monteriggioni an exclusive town (because of its top location) with exclusive hotels (Castel Bigozzi and Il Piccolo Castello are also in Monteriggioni) and that the price advertised in the room has been managed during high season. It is just because the place was not booked for September that they decided to make special arrangements for the coming months and for "regular customers" - and that's what we are now as well.

We loved the place and only regret that we couldn't stay longer to enjoy Rossella's company and the inviting swimming pool.

In the late afternoon we drove to San Gimignano. It is only 27 km but with the winding Tuscan roads, it took about 1 hour to get there and had our car parked. Many parking lots showed 'completo' so we had to drive around a bit. As everywhere at the fortified cities, parking lots are outside the city but it is usually only 2 min. walk to get into the city walls. Count about € 1.50 per hour in the main cities (San Gim, Siena, Pisa, Lucca).

San Gim, what to tell about it? I have a bit mixed feelings about San Gim. It was between day and dusk when we got there which put some magic over the city but even then I knew this was not my city. I had read quite a bit about it and my expectations were high, maybe that's why I was a little disappointed. It was full of souvenir shops and despite the late hour, the tourists hadn't gone. I have nothing against tourists, I am one myself after all, but this city was like a "tourists only" place to me. We strolled around, found Piazza della Cisterna and were glad that the hotel Leon Bianco was fully booked when I tried to get a room there during my hotelsearch. The piazza itself was the not so attractive main square of this medieval city with a good view on the towers of San Gim. For me the sight on San Gimignano from outside the walls was more impressive than the city itself.

One good thing about San Gim was the dinner we had there. We saw places recommended by Frommer's or Karen Brown but - stubborn as we are - we try to avoid such places. They are usually frequented by tourists only who pay too much for a mediocre meal.

In a small alley we saw a sign to Ristorante Perucà. It was a small place situated in the renovated wine caves of an ancient palazzo. The staff were extremely friendly and helpful in explaining what was on the menu (and what I couldn't find in my dictionary). It was one of the few places that had fish (sea bass and swordfish) on its menu. I don't remember exactly what we ate but it was above standard anyway. We really enjoyed watching the sommelier while he did the wine ceremony. We ordered a Chianti Classico for which he brought us special glasses. He poured a dash of the wine in my glass, turned it around for 20 seconds or so, poured the dash of wine in Maurice's glass, again turned it around and finally poured the dash in an ordinary glass that he put aside to be taken away.

A few days later, on our way back from Lucca, we decided to have dinner there again and were treated as old friends. We were offered a glass of prosecco before dinner and a grappa 45% vol. after dinner. We ordered a different wine (Rosso di Montalcino) for which we were given different glasses than for the Chianti Classico but the ceremony was the same. Very nice experience!

 The next morning, after an extensive breakfast - Rossella was very pleased to see Maurice eat so much of what she had put on the buffet - we drove to Siena, about half an hour further south. Siena was love at first sight. Such a delightful city. Packed with tourists, but who cares when after a short walk we walked onto one of the most scenic piazza's I have ever seen: the Piazza del Campo. Piazza del Campo is a 12^th century square surrounded by beautiful palazzi and the Torre del Mangia (belltower). The upper part of the tower is made from white travertine. We didn't go up the 505 stairs but still had a wonderful view over the city from the loggia at Museo dell' Opera del Duomo. A beautiful museum located in an unfinished part of the Duomo with many of the original statues that used to be on the facade of the Duomo.

We also visited the Duomo itself, a truly spectacular cathedral in white and black marble, with marble floors in various colours divided in various fields (I think it were 56 fields or so) depicting sacred scenes from the Testament. These fields are usually covered to protect the colours, except in September, when they can  be admired in their full glory. We were lucky! Furthermore lots of beautiful frescoes and a breathtaking ceiling.

Lunch was at a typical Senese osteria, Osteria Il Tamburino (non smoking!) with la mamma in the kitchen and papa serving the guests. We had just a pasta dish with a glass of wine.

We spent the rest of the day strolling around the city, going up and down and climbing many stairs.

On our way back 'home' we made a small detour to Sovicille of which I had read on Fodor's but it must have been the wrong Sovicille 'cause in the one we were, there was nothing to see.

We wanted to have dinner somewhere in Colle di Val d'Elsa, a town close to Monteriggioni which was my brother-in-law's favourite Tuscan town. When we came there we saw a fairly empty parking lot (at this time of the day?) and an absolutely dead city. We walked around for an hour without finding the historical centre with the restaurant. It was getting late, so back to Monteriggioni where we found a table in the garden of Il Piccolo Castello. I'm not going to recommend this restaurant because it was expensive and the food was not great at all. The service was really bad.

The next day we drove to Volterra where we visited the Roman Theatre (tourist trap, you cannot go on the site and you even get a better view at the city walls) and the very nice Palazzo Viti. Beautiful Tuscan furniture and a good picture of how the rich and famous used to live. Had pizza for lunch at La Grotta and spent another few hours walking and sitting in the sun.

Then drove back to Abbadia a Isola to make reservations for our dinner later that night at La Leggenda dei Frati. We had told Rossella about our intention of having dinner there and found out that it was her boyfriend who runs/owns (?) the restaurant.

We walked around in the tiny village and tried to get the key of the San Salvatore church (must have some nice frescoes) but the woman who keeps it didn't seem to be home.

Dinner was great and was in fact the only real good meal during our stay (Perucà was good as well, but more frugal). Tuscan cuisine is frugal for obvious reasons. They don't have much else than grapes and olives growing there (and good pomodori). No grassland for good quality of meat and dairy products, no sea nearby for a big variety of fish. And the preparations are totally different from what we're used to eat at home. We use rather much cream and more ingredients together whereas their cooking is pure and more honest, if you understand what I mean. 

La Leggenda dei Frati was definitely not the typical frugal Tuscan cuisine but rather haute cuisine in my opinion and their service was with a big S. We were lead to our table on the covered patio and were offered a glass of prosecco and an 'amuse gueule': a piece of toast with truffle mousse. They have fixed prices for all courses: € 10,00 for antipasti, € 13,50 for primi, € 15,50 for secondi and € 7,00 for dolci. Their wine list is huge and prices vary from € 30,00 for the cheapest Chianti upto € 250,00 for Brunello. We did not order the Brunello.;) Both Maurice and I had pasta stuffed with fish in a sauce of white beans. Maurice had a beef preparation afterwards and I had fried sole filets with mashed zucchini. Very tasty. We never order more than 2 courses 'cause we cannot handle so much food. Maurice did order some dessert this time though! The bill was on the high side but it was our 26^th anniversary after all.

Thanks, Diane, for recommending us this restaurant. 

Lucca was on our program for the next day. I think the drive was about 2 hours. On our way to Lucca - which went through Pisa - we decided to stop if we could find parking close to the centre. And we did! In Pisa all the ways lead to the Piazza dei Miracoli and I must say, we were not at all disappointed. The view of the Battistero, the Duomo, the Torre, all in just one look. Marvellous. And that tower really leans! We stayed there only for a short while and took some pictures on the Piazza, our aim for the day was Lucca after all.

When in Lucca, we parked the car on a big parking lot on Via Carducci. It was a park+ride parking (to be paid) where a bus runs to the city every 10 minutes (ride is abt. 10 min. as well). We were dropped off at Piazza Napoleone where we had a light lunch. Piazza Napoleone is a beautiful big square surrounded by trees. We had not seen any trees within the city walls so far in the other towns, so this was really striking and gave a very airy feeling, despite the oppressive heat.

Lucca was another beautiful city with a totally different character than Siena, San Gim, etc. Not the small alleys up and downhill but streets that must have been real avenues in earlier days with beautiful big houses and palazzi. And some great shops, especially shoes. Too bad the saldi were still going on and the new collection was not yet displayed. We visited San Martino Cathedral with its richly decorated façade, San Michele church and climbed the 250 stairs of the Torre del Guinigi for a beautiful view over the roofs of Lucca. Piazza del Mercato was our favourite spot in Lucca with its cheerfully coloured houses.

We went for cappuccino and pastry at the lovely Antico Caffè da Simo, who pretend they were the favourite caffè of Puccini. It was the only place where they still had an old-style Italian WC (I took a picture, it's available for anyone who feels the need to see it but it's not on Webshots). We were really sorry we had no time to visit the villas & gardens outside the city. Will be for next time …

After a tiring day, mainly due to the heat, we drove back to San Gim for our second dinner at La Perucà.

We wanted a quiet day for a change and thought of driving in the countryside, further south in the direction of Pienza. Oh God, how I loved those views of the Tuscan landscape.

Wherever you drive, the scenery is very different. In Central Tuscany, where we were, the majority of 'green' is vineyards, vineyards and more vineyards. Grapes had ripened already and seemed ready to be picked. This will however only take place in October. Western Tuscany (Pisa, Lucca) is totally different with other shades of green, from olive trees, vineyards and other foliage. Southern Tuscany was special, very special. On the road from Siena to Pienza (the Crete Senese) all you see (in this season at least) is soil. Soil in many many different colours, from almost white over yellowish to brown. From time to time this landscape is 'interrupted' by a solitary fattoria or azienda agricola surrounded by a few cypresses. Magnificent. I made at least 40 pics of this area only. Loved it.

Pienza … Pienza is small and intimate, Pienza is cosy and romantic, Pienza gave me a very warm feeling. I think I lost my heart in Pienza.

Lunch was in Sette di Vino, a winebar on Piazza di Spagna, where we - at long last - ordered a bottle of Brunello di Montalcino. Wow, what a great wine! Definitely our favourite Italian. The chef's suggestion for the day was grilled Pecorino cheese with bacon which we enjoyed after bruschetti and crostini. They didn't serve coffee, so we walked away a very little bit dizzy of too much wine. All we did was walk around in the pretty town, on the Via della Fortuna and the Via dell' Amore (see how romantic this city is) to the city walls. Great views from there on the surrounding area.

Popped in into the Duomo and were surprised to see how light it was inside, compared to the other churches we had visited. This was thanks to Pope Pius II who wanted this church to be a "domus vitrea" (house of glass).

On our way back to Monteriggioni we stopped in Montalcino that looked a bit dead after cheerful Pienza. Bought some wine and olive oil to take back home and stopped in Siena for dinner.

The next morning after breakfast we said "arrivederci" to Rossella and started our long journey through 5 countries back to Belgium. Traffic jams all over Italy and southern Switzerland. Due to the dense traffic we were not allowed to drive through the San Gottardo tunnel but had to take the Pass instead (alt. 2108 m), which we didn't regret at all. Such  beautiful scenery, with blue skies and a big sun at the southern side of the Alps. It was 23° when we started the climb and the temperature dropped back to 10° on the top of the mountain. Chilly when you have to drive with the window open to try to take some pictures … 

As you know, we safely arrived home after a 17 hour journey.

- THE END - 

 

When I re-read the whole report it seems as if we've been away a whole month instead of just a week!!

Special note for JOdy's David: driving in Tuscany is a piece of cake! You don't have to drive in any city for the simple reason that you cannot enter the cities with a car unless you have a special permission. All the parking lots are outside the city walls and easy to find. The roads between the villages were a little winding but mostly quiet. The freeways connecting the bigger cities were easy to drive and we really did not see too many crazy Italians on the road. It's not Napoli!!

What you need is a good co-pilot to look for the roadsigns. In our case I was the co-pilot who gave the good directions but my pilot has never been good at right/left, so from time to time we used some bad language and had to return …