Carpe Diem: Under the Tuscan Sun, Fog, Snow and Rain (even the Tuscan dust and dirt), plus tips on Tarquinia and Ostia Antica
 

Several of us took a spur-of-the-moment trip that relied on advice from this board, so I thought I'd give back a trip report. Some of the areas we visited have been written about comprehensively in professional and amateur guides, and I better say right up front that we traveled in a style that I don't think many travelers would readily want to emulate, fun as it was for us, but here goes anyway!

(Note: All details regarding the identities of the travelers and their individual behavior have been deliberately obscured!)

Day 1 -- Chiusi

Coming in from Rome, we decided to rent our car in Chiusi, but since we arrived in Italy after dark, we elected to spend our first night right there, in Chiusi. We ate at a Michelin-recommended restaurant in the heart of town, Zaira. which is (we learned) renowned for its astonishing wine cellar: an ancient Etruscan tunnel holding some enormously expensive, vintage wines and which rest, undisturbed, under thick layers of Tuscan dust. The restaurant is happy to let its customers tour the cellars, no matter what wine they drink, and it's quite atmospheric. (Steep stairs, no other access.)

http://www.zaira.it/

For ourselves, we chose a very modestly-priced but delicious Chianti (Frescobaldi winery) to accompany our haphazard selection of antipastas, pastas and meats. In retrospect, we should have simply let the waitstaff pick for us, since we stuck to much to the familiar. All our ignorant selections were tasty, and a dessert torte studded with whole dried figs and walnuts was outstanding.

We bedded down for the night at Albergo La Sfinge, also in the heart of town, whose rooms were perfectly clean, perfectly quiet, perfectly comfortable and reasonably cheap (80e for a double). The owner was wonderfully friendly and accommodating. We'd all be happy to return.

http://www.albergolasfinge.it/

Coming soon - the Val d'Orcia

Good info..look forward to reading more.

Did you notice that the restaurant is for sale? The menu looks excellent and it is so atmospheric!

ekscrunchy,

Actually, I didn't see the website for Zaira until I looked it up to include in this trip report, and now I do see that it is for sale. Alas, what I also now see on the website is a number of very unusual and appealing dishes that were not highlighted on the in-house menu, which we would have eagerly tried. The decor of the restaurant is pleasantly very old-fashioned and a bit formal, but it is the deep down cellar that is really something to see and experience.

We decided to take turn picking restaurants, and on this trip, we didn't have time to make up lists ahead of time, and lugging around a lot of guidebooks was out of the question. We settled on using the Michelin guide, and got somewhat mixed results with it, since Michelin a bit more conservative than we are!

By the way, a much-recommended restaurant in Chiusi is La Solita Zuppa, which Michelin also recommends and we decided to save for a lunch meal in Chiusi, a decision we came to regret!

Onward....

Day 2 -- Val D'Orcia, Sant'Antimo, Montalcino

Weather forecasts had predicted rain for the morning, and thus our plan was to tour the highly-regarded Etruscan museum in Chiusi and have lunch at La Solita Zuppa. But when we awoke, the day was brilliantly sunny. Doing Chiusi justice was immediately postponed for another day. After a few glitches getting started (locating a tiny screwdriver to repair someone's broken eyeglasses, tracking down an aspirin for a pulled muscle, making the trek to the Avis car rental office) we were finally in our rental car and headed out to the famed Val d"Orcia.

We will take this moment to honestly confess that this small area of Italy is so famous, so photographed, so English-speaker-tourist-friendly, we initially felt less like we were in Italy than on a kind of preserve. One member of our group was heard to exclaim that he hoped this wasn't the only part of Italy some foreign visitors see. Pretty as it was, it seemed Anglicized and drained of surprises. Partly because of the strong sun, which tended to make things look one-dimensional, the famous landscapes were more like cardboard pop-ups to our eyes, having seen them framed by photographs so many times. Cold weather travel in that area has one big plus: The hills were richly dark and even green in many places, rather than parched.

It was such a lovely day to be out in farm country that we were certainly glad we we'd left a town center to see the rolling hills under the Tuscan sun. Rather than stop inside the towns of Montepulciano, Pienza or San Quirico d'Orcia, we decided to keep enjoying the drive until we reached Sant'Antimo. We figured we would stop in some hilltowns in the afternoon.

We were lucky that a very large religious service was disbanding as we descended the driveway to Sant'Antimo. It freed up all the parking spaces and emptied the church! We do know that the church is famed for its monks chanting, but we, as a group, we're just as glad to have given that a miss.

The church exterior is particularly lovely, although some of it was blocked off for restoration, with ugly orange netting, so we didn't see in its pristine glory. Even so, we again we found ourselves feeling there was something a bit stale in the church view, and with our eyes drifting again toward the sun-drenched landscape, and our stomachs growling, ferociously, we decided to head for lunch and hash out a plan for the rest of the day.

One member of our group selected Boccon di Vino out of the Michelin guide, which we soon discovered has a stupendous view -- a truly stupendous view. (I have since learned some regard it as the finest view in that area of Tuscany). That aside -- although it was really impossible to set it aside -- the ambience and menu of the restaurant left us feeling like we could have been at any number of tasteful, upscale restaurants in the world that serve refined, modern Italian food in a white washed, terra cotta setting, with the John Denver on the muzak. But everything was meticulously prepared and served, and the local Montalcino wine was particularly nice. Surprisingly (for Italy), it was once again dessert that made the most lasting impression: a fresh ricotta "bavarese" with a chestnut sauce.

http://www.bsur.it/boccondivino/default.htm

From so high up, the occasional clouds flying over the sunny landscape made for an almost oceanic, dynamic effect, and again the open road proved so appealing, we made no other plan than to plunge right back onto it, this time heading in the general direction of Asciano.

At last, we found what we'd hoped to find. North of Montalcino was, to us, an extraordinarily beautiful, surprising landscape, that left us amazed with every new twist and turn. In the low light of day, well into autumn, it was ablaze with rich color and deep shadows. The postage stamp farms we had seen in the morning were replaced by great, rolling stretches of velvety, plush hills, sometimes slashed by woods, sometimes deeply carved by that very peculiar moonscape erosion, sometimes broken up by vineyards, coppery trees or long rows of something delicate just beginning to sprout green, we didn't know what.

But the light was fading fast, and the driving becoming more challenging. Without stopping, we pressed on to Lucignano, a perfectly elliptical Tuscan hilltown where we would be spending the next 3 nights. ...

to be continued...

>>famed for its monks chanting, but we, as a group, we're just as glad to have given that a miss.<<

Why is that, if you didn't even listen to it? How do you know what you missed??

We enjoyed it - so have others on this forum.

Did you visit Monticchiello in the heart of the Val d'Orcia.?

>>We will take this moment to honestly confess that this small area of Italy is so famous, so photographed, so English-speaker-tourist-friendly, we initially felt less like we were in Italy than on a kind of preserve. One member of our group was heard to exclaim that he hoped this wasn't the only part of Italy some foreign visitors see.<<

Wow - that's certainly not what we experienced. I don't know how anyone cound have decided that it was too "English-speaker-tourist-friendly" in just one quick morning drive-through - without even stopping in Montepulciano, Pienza, San Quirico, or Montalcino.

Stu Dudley

Hmmm. Maybe it was all those big signs painted in English with words like "Free Wine Tasting Here" and "We Ship to the USA" that gave us that feeling?

Or maybe for frequent travellers in Italy, there is a visible difference in manicure?

Anyway, we did not and do not doubt for a moment that the millions of foreign visitors who come to this part of Italy every year enjoy it and have a highly individual reactions to the Val d"Orcia. That's okay, we think. To have individual reactions.

As for monks chanting, we as a group had heard chanting many times, in many places, so we do know what we missed and -- again -- we know others enjoy such experiences immensely and pass no comment on that. We did, however, wish to see the church interior, and our experience has been that visiting during ceremonies, tourists are expected to stay put and not discuss, etc. and we had no wish to offend or interrupt. Easier when the church is empty.

I stated at the outset of this report that ours was unorthodox trip, and I hope I won't have to come back and defend each installment against criticisms of the highly enjoyable trip that we had, even though we knew when we were taking it that our reactions were not the common ones. Mass tourism takes care of that quite nicely in that area. But maybe a few other people as quirky as us will get something out of hearing about our trip. We're not discouraging others from going and enjoying the standard itinerary, and having the standard reactions.

By the way, this is a good point at which to insert that one dish several of us enjoyed very much at Boccon di Vino was carabaccia, a very light-colored onion soup, made with very sweet onions (or a bit of added sugar) and bread. It was unusual, light and nice, and we understand it's very popular. So we're normal there!

I'm looking forward to more as well. This should make a good weekend read.

Lucignano -- Day 2, continued

Lucignano is an quite charming, not much touristed Tuscan hilltown, although in this part of Italy, "not much touristed" doesn't mean the same thing as it does in, say, Le Marche or Lazio. But here is a picture that shows its appeal:

http://www.toscanaviva.com/Lucignano/lucignano.jpg

Our restaurant-hotel, Da Toto, is just to the right of the main church. From this angle, you can see the swimming pool (not for us November!) and the imposing castle tower that was visible from our windows:

http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/med...erial-shot.jpg

We drove through the medieval gate, and headed up a steep ramp in front of the main church into the architecturally soaring heart of town. We easily found Albergo Ristorante Da Toto, and were greeted by a small riot of barking puppies, several curious young children and our exceptionally warm young hosts, who showed us to our very, very modest rooms upstairs, giving us multiple promises to kick up the heat if we needed it.

Albergo Ristorante da Toto has a long tradition of highly regarded authentic Tuscan cooking, with two generations of chefs running the show. The dining rooms and common areas are particularly homey and relaxing. If you've never stayed in a rural albergo ristorante in Italy, you should know it's not surprising to find third-hand repainted furniture in the bedrooms, mismatched wallpaper, bunkbeds alongside matrimonial doubles, hand-me-down curtains from another century, calendar art on the walls, etc. The trade-off for such modest accommodations is the great kitchen and the cheap price. We booked half-board, off season, 55 euros per person per night for five-course dinners with wine, homemade breakfasts and a room.

After dumping our bags, some of us headed out into Lucignano to buy wine and an extra toothbrush at the local supermarket. Some of us took showers, charged up cellphones, read or rested. It was just before dinner that we encountered the first serious glitch of our Tuscan group tour: One member of our group was seriously unhappy with the accommodations. We had previously agreed that everyone should speak up with any complaints. Nobody simply had to put up with group dictatorship. The complaint was that the room was cold, the bed was soft, the shower was not a shower but a shower curtain surrounding a drain in the floor. Offers to switch rooms among us were made. That didn't satisfy. What seemed to be wanted was an entirely new hotel.

In the end, the complaining member wanted to postpone any final decision until trying both the food at dinner, and a night in the room. Perhaps it would be okay.

Dinner went a very long way to solving the problem. At Da Toto, one doesn't get a menu. One is served as a guest. Two uncorked bottles of wine, one white, one red, were placed on the table. (Da Toto makes its own wine.) A procession of dishes arrived, the highlights of which were a milk-based, velvety potato soup flavored with rosemary that was out of this world, and later, slices of pork buried in fresh mushrooms which were divine, everything that mushrooms should be. We all liked the white wine, but feared at first the red might be a bit too full and funky. But the red went perfectly with the pork. Dessert was an exquisite array of homemade biscuits, sparking dessert wine, followed by excellent coffee.

We awoke to glorious sunshine and arrived at breakfast to find yoghurt, juice, fresh breads and more homemade not-too-sweet biscuits, plus we found homemade rosehips marmelade, that was just perfect. After a better-than-expected night's sleep, our complaining friend had arrived at a decision: If there was a better room available, it would be fine to stay put. Our hosts at Da Toto were informed of the problem and instantly eager to please. They unlocked many doors to many different rooms and let our friend choose. All was well!

We spent part of the morning admiring Lucignano's lovely architecture and unique town shape, then headed back out into the beautiful landscape. Our destination was Monte Olivieto Maggiore. We arrived in time to linger over the fabulous frescoes that line the cloister. They are a great cartoon of the life of St Benedict, filled with devils, civic upheavals, beatings and miracles, and the pastel colors are often unique and exquisite. We liked them so much, we marched around twice, to the sound of monks singing bleeding in from an adjacent chapel.

Afterwards, as we made our way back up to the parking lot, past the wonderful della Robbias over the gate, we watched a young woman leaving the service beat both her daughter and her toddler son, with slaps and shakes, finally separated from them by her husband, actually not unlike the scenes of St Benedict beating his student monks in the frescoes. Life imitates art. Food for thought.

We needed food for the body, and enthusiastically headed for Buonconvento, a town whose grand walls had made us all swivel our heads as we zoomed by the day before. It's an absolutely flat town with an important train station right there, and a huge amount of parking outside the walls. We walked through the gates of the fortifications and found ourselves in a lovely, lively street with a mix of impressive Florentine and Sienese architecture, and several osterie to choose from.

Perusing menus as we walked, we settled on an osteria Da Duccio, whose menu del giorno promised pumpkin risotto, followed by meats. Inside was a lovely scene: Italian families and the occasional lone senior out for Sunday lunch. Everybody talking at a roar, the wait-staff performing miracles of delivering steaming platters of food over the heads of the crowds. We settled into a corner table and managed to shout above the din. The highlight of the meal turned out to be heaps of fantastic spinach, cooked deeply in delicious olive oil. It was all inexpensive and filling.

After lunch, we walked around the small town, enjoying the architecture and the view through windows of restaurant after restaurant filled with large families, and the muffled sounds of noisy children having fun. While pausing to admiring the great gate at the end of town, we were startled when a very elderly woman with a cane came walking through it leading her enormous cat on a leash. She argued with the cat the entire way, since the cat frequently wanted to stop to chase a leaf or eyeball a bird. But in the end, she always won and kept him trotting at her side at the end of a rope, and the two of them finally disappeared along the river bank, heading up the way of the old via Francingena.

The two noteworthy museums in Buonconvento were closed (one of sacred art, the other documenting the history of farming in the area) but even if they had been open, I think we still would have headed back to the "crete sinese" landscape. This time we frequently stopped the car on the side of the road to get out and walk and admire the vistas, take a few snaps, right up until the sunset.

We returned to Lucignano, and toured the open churches. In one, a modest town church devoted to charitable works, a sacristan who spoke some English showed us the rooms that historically had been used for charity medical care, where there was still a horse-drawn ambulance, basins for washing up before surgery and, curiously, a hand-cranked basket filled with beads that was used every year in a charity lottery to raise money. The church also housed the antique hearse and black-hooded vestments used to carry the dead through town (after their surgery?), as well as a lot of other startling medieval items of ceremony and religious veneration. We stayed too long at this curious church to make it to Lucignano's civic museum, which guidebooks have said merits a visit.

Dinner at Toto was simply marvelous, the highlights of that meal being a fantastic radicchio soup, terrifically tangy and the kind of soup that surely cures any illness imaginable. There was a tasty handmade pasta sauced with red and yellow peppers, plus pounded beef rolled around small plums. The dessert was a huge hit: perfectly fried slices of apple drizzled with sugar syrup.

The next morning, all of us commented we could not remember another meal in recent memory that had settled so well on our stomachs. Despite not drinking too much wine -- it's easier when you just take what you want from an opened bottle, rather than ordering one -- we had all slept like logs.

Next up: Day 4, under the Tuscan snow

This is great. I respect your opinions, however, unorthodox!

I looked up carabaccia and found this, which may, or may not, be of interest:



http://tinyurl.com/5u2q7y


Your mention of Boccon di Vino reminded me of a long thread here which developed after someone had an unsatisfactory tuna dish. I could not find it on Fodor's, but here it is, on another site:


http://slowtalk.com/groupee/forums/a...8105495/inc/-1

But in the meantime, here's the website for the beloved Albergo Ristorante da Toto. (That's Babu and Dodo. mother and child, on the rug):

http://www.trattoriatoto.it/english/index1.html

ekscrunchy,

I found that thread looking up the website for Boccon DiVino.

I have to say that we were treated exquisitely well at the restaurant, by the entire staff. Every dish was made of first-rate ingredients.

In many trips to Italy, I have never sent a dish back. My impressions of Italy, from many trips, is that this is an insult to somebody's mother (or father), and it is simply a different culture in that respect. The one time I was unable to finish a dish I simply detested, I made an elaborate excuse about suddenly not feeling well, too much sun, etc.

Anyway, my problems with Boccon DiVino had to do with how tailored it was to please an affluent, international crowd. I suppose there is really something odd about complaining about too much perfection in this part of Italy, but it got a bit suffocating and bland, and we were glad to mostly escape it, even when some of our lunch choices could never match Boccon di Vino for quality and presentation -- and sitting there, watching that subtly changing view over the course of two hours, was a very memorable part of the trip, worth the John Denver in our ears.

<<We do know that the church is famed for its monks chanting, but we, as a group, we're just as glad to have given that a miss.>>

Oh no!! You missed the most amazing, spiritual experience! Hands down, one of the highlights of our trips to Italy.

You also missed the wonderful small towns of Val D'Orcia which are Tuscany at her finest.

Anna Roz

Anna, as you will see, we did return to the area to look at towns. We just weren't going to lose that sun that day, That's why this trip report is called "Carpe Diem." We seized the moment, knowing the towns would always be there, and the sunshine was ephemeral.

As for "spiritual experience," one person's organized spiritual experience is another's unpleasant experience. We just go our separate ways on that one.

We prefer the natural glories of a beautiful day of sunlight on the earth to any church, any time.

I'm enjoying your report. I enjoyed the chants at Sant' Antimo but don't see why it should bother me if you weren't interested. Now I want to go to Lucignano! Looking forward to more.

Day 4 -- Arezzo, Montepulciano

We had heard thunderclaps in the middle of the night, and we awoke to pouring rain. Torrential rain. We decided to head to Arezzo and spend the entire day in the shelter of its fine museums -- until we read in our guidebooks all the museums were closed that day.

Even after we reconsidered, Arezzo still seemed like our best best, as we very much wanted to see the Piero della Francesca fresco cycle, The Legend of the True Cross, in the church of San Francesco. We also were keen to see the Piazza Grande, which has porticoes, so we'd have protection from the rain. We marched out the door of Da Toto wrapped up in slickers, umbrellas, hats and boots. The dogs curled up by the fireplace gave us a look that let us know they thought we were crazy.

This is a good point to insert our frustration with GPS systems. We had tried to use it to find Boccon di Vino near Montalcino, and felt spun around in circles, until we just turned it off and looked for signs. We thought it would be very useful in a big city like Arezzo, but when we asked to be directed to a particular parking area near a well-known piazza, the instructions to turn this way and that, with no other context, caused us to pull into a parking lot near the train station, quite far from our preferred one, a mistake we don't think we would have made had we been relying on maps and following signs.

Anyway, we trudged through the rain to the church of San Francesco and ended up being disappointed in the frescoes -- or more accurately, we were disappointed that we bought tickets to be admitted into the area behind the altar, supposedly for the better view, only to conclude that the frescoes actually look much more alive and dynamic from the pews of the church, which surely PDF himself understood when he made them. (All that said, we don't begrudge the church teasing out our extra euros for maintenance.) We'll also confess that the etherally refined works of della Francesca seemed static and too tasteful after the sensual, even saucy, Signorellis up at the Benedictine abbey, with the all the devils and violence and dramatic goings on. (We obviously prefer a looser Italy than many people do.)

We were also disappointed to find the Piazza Grande filled with construction equipment, chain link fences and mounds of dirt. A renovation project in the works. We ducked into the Caffe Vasari on the piazza to dry off and admire what we could of the soaring architecture through the caffe window.

Departing, we found ourselves a little sad to be in Arezzo on a day when the weather made window shopping at the many atmospheric, alluring true antiques stores sheer misery, and a visit to the beautiful, towering church of Santa Maria della Pieve, pierced by hundreds of windows, was not a light-filled experience but a gloomy one.

The rain and low clouds finally lifted enough to reveal that the hills all around us were white with snow! We had harbored some aspirations of driving up into the hills to La Verna, a Franciscan sanctuary quite close to Le Marche, thinking we'd enjoy seeing the collection of della Robbias there. That was now out of the question. We decided to head south.

Now here is where we made the biggest mistake of our trip.

Instead of simply re-feeding the meter in our paid parking lot and finding a good restaurant in Arezzo for lunch, we headed for the autostrade and talked vaguely about seeing the Piazza Grande in Montepulciano, figuring we'd find a restaurant on the way. But we didn't study the map, and once we were on the autostrade, we were unable to get off until we reached the Chiusi exit. At that point, we had to find someplace fast, as it was almost two pm.

We should have simply gone into Chiusi and eaten at La Solita Zuppa or Zaira. Instead, we stubbornly pressed on toward Chianciano Terme, a old spa town full of grand hotels which shuts up tight as a drum in November. We finally spotted an enormous roadside restaurant and pulled in, just in the nick of time. The wait staff didn't look too happy to see us at two minutes to two, but the restaurant was filled with local diners just tucking into their antipasti, so we couldn't legitmately be refused.

There was a cheering fireplace in the corner, the specialty of the restaurant was grilled meats and grilled fish, which we saw reaching other tables in huge mounds. Some of us opted for fish, which turned out to be frozen, and there were canned mushrooms in the salads, and a pasta we believed would be mainly vegetarian had flecks of sausage.

The restaurant -- whose name no one can remember if we ever noticed it-- got mixed reviews from us (some hated it, some were content) but I think we all we felt like fools for being in the middle of gastronomic Tuscany and not paying enough attention to get a good lunch for ourselves. To cap off our folly, we all elected to skip dessert and, eyeing the sumptuous homemade dessert cart on our way out, we had the feeling it was probably the one thing this restaurant did well.

Despite seeing snow on the hills closer than we liked, we moved up to Montepulciano, hoping we'd be staying low enough to only get rain, not ice or snow. Our luck held in that respect, and with the surprisingly snotty help of the tourist office, we found parking just downhill of the Piazza Grande and walked up. In chill and fading light, we were quite taken with the piazza's lighthearted Florentine flourishes, contrasted with its dignified, even stark duomo and monumental tower, and we especially enjoyed having it all to ourselves. We tried to imagine what it would be like in a warmer, sunnier moment, but couldn't imagine one without throngs of tourists in addition to the sun. In that respect, we thought the graceful piazzas of Lucignano were still the place we'd want to be on a warm spring night in Tuscany.

We continued admiring the piazza from the dry warmth of the cafe just off it, sipping hot tea. Afterwards, we went into the wine cellar in the Palazzo Contucci, sampled some wines, and bought a bottle. Getting slightly lost on our way back to our car in the increasing dark and renewed rain,, we happened upon Bottega del Rame without looking for it. The gleaming warm copper in the windows, and the peace of the workshop with the coppersmith at work, made a very beautiful twillight sight. Walking out through the city gate, the rolling, well-tended landscape beyond the walls was just barely visible, in deep shades of green, brown, reds and even blacks.

By the time we were back in our car, it was raining buckets and absolutely lightless, and the drive back to Lucignano was a flat-out chore, the kind of miserable drive where one is actually glad to have a slow-moving truck directly ahead, just because it's simpler and less harrowing on those narrow twisting farm roads that run alongside of deep ditches.

Dinner at Da Toto chased away all the chill, damp and disappointments of the day, the highlight being was an absolutely heavenly starter made of crushed tomatoes, eggs and onions, nothing else. The meat of the evening was beef short ribs, baked in a hot oven. Simple, chewy and just right.

Tomorrow -- back to Chiusi

I'm really enjoying this report. I like your attitude. But the food talk is making me hungry. Wow.
Sally

Thanks for the encouragement! If I barrel though, I will get this done tonight. Glad I'm not boring everyone.

Day 5 - Back to Chiusi, on to Tarquinia

We saw no rain when we awoke, but no sun either. After our final happy breakfast at Da Toto, we paid up our pittance and, having been presented with a gift of the restaurant's cookbook, we were on our way back to Chiusi, for the museum, for lunch, and to visit some Etruscan tombs . The museum proved to be brilliant in its organization and very helpful to English speakers. We learned quite a bit touring its two floors (the basement has many many beautiful Etruscan artifacts that should not be missed).

We had planned to eat a lunch of soup at the highly regarded La Solita Zuppa, but wouldn't you know? They had shut for the day to do renovations. We marched back to Zaira, and ordered a bit more intelligently than previously, and ended up with a better meal. Highlights included perfectly cooked Tuscan beans simply dressed in delicious local olive oil, and a very robust penne pasta with fresh artichoke hearts and fresh ricotta. And a very moist "Saracen torte" for dessert, made of rich grains and with a nice hidden dollop of great jam in the middle.

After lunch, we drove out in the direction of Lago Chiusi, where we were met by a museum guard at the entrance to the "monkey tomb". The guard was not in a good mood. Due to a misunderstanding, he had expected us much earlier, and was impatient for us to get on with it. We spent a few minutes touring the monkey tomb and its neighboring tomb of lions. Truthfully, we got fewer goose bumps there than we did in the multi-roomed Etruscan cellars deep under Ristorante Zaira. We jumped back in the car and headed for Tarquinia.

Although the rain was now gone and the sun was making a hazy reappearance, the drive from Chiusi to Tarquinia was harder than we expected -- or perhaps we were just becoming tired of driving. That said, Tarquinia itself was an unexpected joy, its historic center filled with grand architecture, fountains, atmospheric byways, all clean and attractively lit. The friendly young owner of the Gran B&B del Duomo was kind enough to meet us in the main piazza and guide us to a parking space. (There is lots of parking in Tarquinia, and it is actually not hard to find. We were simply tired.)

Our rooms at the Gran B&B could not have been prettier, quieter, cleaner or more atmospheric. Lodged in the upper floors of a grand palazzo, the high-vaulted ceilings still bear traces of decorative painting from the renaissance, while underneath, the very recent renovations, all done to a very high standard, feature spacious bathrooms and all the mod-cons. All of us were as pleased as punch. The rooms were 70 euros.

http://www.granbandb.it/

Best of all, we were located just steps from both the Etruscan museum, our target sight, and one of Tarquinia's most admired restaurants, Arcadia. After 4 days of Tuscan meat, we were starving for fish, and we enjoyed an absolutely exquisite seafood supper at the oft-recommended Arcadia, We had salt-baked fish, linguine with clams, raw fish drizzled with olive oil and lemons. We were in heaven, and the recommended local white wine, which we thought watery upon tasting, popped to life at the first bite of our food. It was a perfect pairing.

http://www.on-web.it/arcadia/

Day 6 -- Tarquinia, and all the roads that lead to Rome

Up bright and early, we headed round the corner to the National Etruscan museum in the Palazzo Vitelleschi, a very grand and wonderful building in its own right. The collection of artifacts at the museum is dense and layered. The most striking objects are on the very top floor (which also has beautiful views to the sea), and it would make sense to take the elevator to the top floor and work one's way down, since the museum is only partly arranged in chronological order.

Having enjoyed our dinner at Arcadia so much, we elected to eat lunch there as well. We enjoyed a fantastic oyster risotto, which was surprisingly inexpensive given its freshness and quality. We enjoyed a raft of fresh fish antipasti, including huge steamed mussles and a carpaccio of raw octopus, all impeccable.

We thought we'd have a very simple and easy drive to Ostia, near Fiumicino airport, where we were spending our last night in order to take a look at the ruins of Ostia Antica before catching our flights home. However, nothing is simple when it comes to Roman traffic, and our situation was worsened by a sudden downpour, that further snarled traffic. We found ourselves swerving into Ostia in the dark, nerve-wracked by negotiating the densely packed roads and poor signage.

We simply slammed on the brakes in front of a cafe, and one of us was dispatched to ask directions to our hotel. It turned out it was right across the street.

The Rodrigo de Vivar is a place one of our group had longed wished to stay, having seen pictures of it on the internet. It is, indeed, a wonderful, absolutely fascinating place, located in the medieval heart of historic Ostia, right at the edge of the ruins of Ostia's antiquity.

Here are pictures of Rodrigo de Vivar, which is right in this historic quarter:

http://www.rodrigodevivar.com/in/whoweare.html

Ostia was an important defensive position for Rome until about 1500. A great castle was built there to protect river traffic, until the river flooded and took a new course, and the town fell into decline. That decline meant the historic center was never developed, and it remains a wonderfully unique place today.

We were warmly greeted by the owners, shown where we could park, and leant umbrellas to get settled, as well as books about Ostia Antica. The apartments that were made available to us for an absurdly low rate were lovingly furnished, dry and warm. Everything was clean and spotless. We recovered from the terrible drive in the peace of a large private sitting room before heading back to the friendly bar owner who directed us, for a stiff shot of whisky before dinner.

Another in our group had previously picked out a dinner restaurant in Ostia that was historic in a different way: In the early 20th century, workers from Ravenna were imported to drain the marshes for land development. It was brutal work, and many died, and the restaurant Monumento began as a simple trattoria that served these workers, many of whom organized the first worker's cooperatives in Italy.

The restaurant is a terrific place, with a crackling fire in the evening and a sunny solarium for lunch, serving homey specialties of Emilia-Romagna, just as the restaurant began. We were simply wild about our handmade cappelletti, served in brodo or ragu, and a chicken cacciatore that had no tomato sauce, but instead was sauteed in high heat with white wine, garlic, rosemary and vinegar. There were rich desserts and robust house wine. The bill was amazingly cheap.

We knew from the first bite that we'd be returning for lunch the next day. Apparently Federico Fellini fell in love with this restaurant when he was in Rome, and we did too.

http://www.ristorantemonumento.it/

Next: Day 7, Ostia Antica and flying home

Day 7 -- Ostia Antica, Ostia Scavi, and home

The day dawned brilliantly sunny, and after yoghut, cereal, and plenty of coffee, we walked over to Ostia Scavi to tour the sight. For most of us, the greatest area of interest began deep into the excavation site with the amphitheater and the Piazzale delle Corporazioni, where the various merchant guilds of ancient Ostia rolled a carpet of mosaic at their doorstep, immortalizing their craft. Fascinating too are the fireman's barracks, the bakery with its mills, the beautiful tiled baths, and the great expanse of the public forum, dominated by its imposing Temple of the Capitoline.

For us, on this trip, nothing quite competed with the deep, inexplicable magic of strolling through the empty streets of Ostia Scavi, all by ourselves, on a sunny winter's morning. It was easy to suddenly get the feel of what had been so many centuries ago, how people moved about, the continuum of humanity, organizing its chores, erecting state monuments, creating things of beauty.

When lunchtime arrived, we headed back to Osttia Antica to Ristorante Momumento for more cappalletti, more pollo and more delicious dolci.. We took a stroll through the tiny historic borgo of Ostia Antica, admiring its small chapel, its unusual triangular castle-fortifications, and the ongoing life of the handful of people and pets who still live inside the borgo, who sweep up, hang out their laundry, gossip, and have jobs teaching school, among other things. It's a very, very special small town that feels like a privilege to be inside, if only momentarily, and share the food and a place to sleep.

Here are some pictures:

http://tinyurl.com/67vbsk

We retrieved our bags, our car and took the 10-minute drive to Fiumicino airport and dearly wished, one more time, that there were better signs at the airport for dropping off rental cars, but everything got accomplished, no damage done, our plane was only 40 minutes late taking off, and we all arrived safely home.

THINGS WE WOULD DO DIFFERENTLY, THINGS WE WOULD DO THE SAME. ON A FUTURE TRIP:

Chiusi:

We wouldn't rent from Avis, especially if we weren't spending the night in Chiusi. The rental office is simply too far from the train station. If renting through AutoEurope, be sure your pick up address is not the via Molise.

We would get better instructions from the museum when making reservations to see the Etruscan tombs about where to meet and the timing.

The Tuscan Landscape:

Next time, we would be tempted to stay in a agriturismo that serves dinner every night, somewhere deep in the farmlands in the area between Montalcino and Asciano. We would like that place to be somewhere we might also enjoy walking paths -- which appeared to our eyes to be in very short supply, or hard to find, in that area. Our ideal Tuscan vacation would be enjoying the the deep peace and beauty of the farmlands and unusual landscape.

Lucignano:

We would go at a warmer time of year to enjoy the piazzas and life of the town, but otherwise we wouldn't change a thing, and we'd eat at Da Toto.

Buonconvento:

We wished we could have seen its museums, which appeared quite interesting. In all, it's a town I would highly recommend to people who want to base in a characteristic Tuscan town but don't want to be climbing hills all the time to get to restaurants, etc.

Arezzo:

I would pay attention to the dates of its antiques market, and plan to enjoy a lot of browsing.

Montepulciano, Pienza, etc.

I would pay a return visit to Montepulciano just to shop at Bottega del Rame, and I still hope to see Pienza some day. That said, I'm not sure I would ever want to tour the famous hilltowns of Tuscany in "season." Sunny days would have been nice, I'm sure, but I think I'd prefer the least number of fellow tourists.

Tarquinia

I'd start at the top of the Etruscan museum and work my way down. I'm already thinking about spending a few nights here as part of a visit to Rome, using it as a base to explore neighboring areas of the Maremma and Lazio.

Ostia Antica

I hope every time I fly out of Rome's FCO, I can spend some time here. and preferably at Rodrigo de Vivar.

Done!

Bravo/brava (as the gender may be), great report, delivered in a fabulous and tolerant spirit. Much to enjoy, much to learn from. I'm glad you stuck with it despite the naysayers who wanted to tell you what they like is what you should like. Vive la différence, yes?
Many thanks!

hi suddenly,

great report of a great trip.

real "food for thought"!

i have bookmarked every one of your recommended hotels and restaurants for future reference. if only we could find the time to visit them.

regards, ann

What a great report, so informative and off the beaten track. I have been to some of the places you visited in Octobers and had warm days and not too many fellow tourists. In some small towns we seemed to be the only outsiders. Maybe make your next trip in October. Thanks for sharing your wonderful restaurants and lodgings.

We've visited Tuscany (mainly Val d'Orcia) in late March/early April, late June, all of Sept, & most of October. Our trips have usually been multiple weeks in lenght.


Our favorite time is late March/early April when the hills are covered with (what looks like) a green velvet blanket, and there are not many tourists around. Lots of hiking trails in the Val d'Orcia.

Stu Dudley

Thanks for the rest of your report. I went to Ostia Antica last February, on a warm and sunny day, and there were very few people there, so I know what you mean. Sounds as though the town is not a bad place to stay!

Suddenlytuscany, loved your pizzaz braving the elements to explore Tuscany off season. Thanks for a great report.

May I suggest a very interesting book about the Val d'Orcia?

Iris Origo : marchesa of Val d'Orcia / by Caroline Moorehead

This is a biography of a fascinating ex-pat and her Italian nobleman husband who settled in southern Tuscany in the 1920s, founded an estate (now an agriturismo, La Foce), and survived the horrors of WW II. The book presents in in depth portrait of the joys and sorrows of living in that beautiful part of the world.

On that last note, I would recommend "War in the Val d'Orcia" by Iris Origo.

I will add my bravas to this report. Good for you that you were able to wing it and veer off the well-trodden path. I loved the attention to food!

I spent a few days in Montepulciano one recent January and, provided one is well-wrapped against the cold, would much prefer traveling again during the winter than fording the streams of tourists in the more gentle months.

I was taken aback by Rodrigo de Vivar--I wonder what connection he had to this area or if I am confusing El Cid with another of that name?

As for The Monumento restaurant, since it thrilled both Fellini and our SuddenlyTuscany, it now has a place on my list..this might be a good place for a last meal before a flight from the airport..

Mille grazie!!!!!!!! Where are you off to next?

ekscrunchy,

The connection to El Cid is that the current proprietor teaches world literature to Roman high school students, and finds the legend deeply inspiring!

http://www.rodrigodevivar.com/in/el-cid.html

The apartment we stayed in at the hotel was named, we were told, after a well-known Roman screenwriter who lived there at one time, while the apartment below us was named after Marc Chagall, and I forgot to ask why.

I think Ostia Antica has great possibilities for people coming in or out of Rome. It took us 15 minutes by car to get to Fiumicino. A taxi is probably 30 euros. There is a public bus, but I'd probably give that a miss. For connecting with Rome, there is a commuter train stop probably 200 meters from the hotel door, and another 50 to Ristorante Monumento that is a is a direct connection to the heart of the Testaccio area of Rome.

I meant to thank for that link to carabaccia. I found Boccon di Vino's online

http://www.castellobanfi.com/features/firstc.php

I also came across an interesting article published in the New York Times just today by Marcella Hazan, the cookbook author, that sums up what we were looking for when it came to Tuscan food during this trip, and why we stayed at Da Toto in Lucignano:

"When my family and I ate out in the Italy of my youth and early decades of my marriage, we would look for any plain trattoria where we could find the kind of cooking that was closest to what my mother and father were putting on the table at home. The person making the meal may have been the owner or his wife or his mother, or someone working in total anonymity. He or she was never referred to as the chef, but as il cuoco or la cuoca, the cook.

"This was the old world of Mediterranean family cooking, a world where satisfying flavors had been arrived at over time and by consensus. That world hasn’t disappeared, but it has receded, making room for a parallel world, one where food is often entertainment, spectacle, news, fashion, science, a world in which surprise — whether it’s on the plate or beyond it — is vital. This is the world of chefs."

We know where to go to find chefs where we live. In Tuscany, we wanted someone to cook for us! And they did, very well, very simply and very deliciously at Da Toto.

We weren't too ideological about it. In Tarquinia, we ate the food of chefs. Risotto is not typical of the local cuisine. But we're glad we got a real taste of Tuscany, night after night.










Where are we going next? If it's all up to me, I'm eager to poke around Friuli-Venezia Giulia. But I have to admit after eating in Ristorante Monumento, I still want to see Rimini, Fellini's home, and it would be fun to string together a tour of some Adriatic beach towns people tend to pooh-pooh at. I suspect I'd find them fun, and we could probably find some wonderful art around there too. I'd be interested in seeing Faenza and the Forli region.

Thanks to everybody for the tips on when to go to val d'Orcia when it's less than freezing but still not overwhelmed with visitors.

And thanks for the book recommendations. As I mentioned, I really regretted that the museum in Buonconvento that chronicles the lives of peasants, farmers and sharecroppers in that part of Tuscany was not open on the day we visited. We looked through the windows and saw a very handsome display of artifacts and multimedia exhibits, and I would think anybody interested in the history of the area would enjoy both the town and the museum.

Susan P,

Staying in Ostia Antica (which is actually the town, while Ostia Scavi is the ruins) was quite enjoyable in winter, and the rooms were warm and there was a lovely fireplace at Ristorante Monumento.

That said,. I also imagine that leaving Rome on a very hot summer day for the ruins of Ostia would be a very pleasant excursion. The ruins are surrounded by huge umbrella pines, and lots of picnic areas. The thing to do would be to put together a picnic from Volpetti's in Testaccio, get a train to Ostia Antica, have lunch under the pines, walk it off visiting the excavations, go for a swim in Ostia Lido, and have a huge fish dinner by the sea before heading back to Rome, and enjoying a nightcap by a fountain.

Hmmm ! Sorry about the Avis office being so far. Did I not mention the other 2 vendors being much closer?

Bob,

I rented the car online through AutoEurope, and if one can choose the vendor using their website, I'm unaware of how to do it.

It wasn't a disaster for us, because we were spending the night in Chiusi centro and would have needed to take a taxi back to the station to pick up the car next morning anyway, even it was Hertz or Europcar.

I posted my experience because it is so often recommended to people coming from Rome to tour Tuscany that they not rent their car in Rome, but instead pick one up in Chiusi after getting off the train, and just pack in their luggage and go. For those people, they need to make sure they are renting from Hertz or Europcar. (Likewise if they are dropping a car off in Chiusi and proceeding directly to Rome.)

That description of a daytrip from Rome to Ostia Antica sounds perfect! I didn't eat in the town, but Ristorante Monumento sounds great. As you say, the grounds are beautiful. I love the umbrella pines.

Always call them when you are ready to book.

Great trip report -

Is the restaurant in Lucignano (Da Toto) open for lunch, or only for dinner and to guests staying there?

I've rented over 30 cars through AutoEurope over the last 25 years, and I never book onlne, I call them. They offer many discounts - you just have to ask. There is a 5 to 8% AAA discount. Also, there is usually some dialog about "where" in the city you want to pick up the car - differen locatiions for different agencies. Even if you book online (like you did), the on line system will display the different offices with addresses where you can pick up the car. There have been many posts here about locations in Chiusi. However, unless you are aware of this, you might not ask when you call or even analyze locations when you book on-line.

You seem to be interested in history. I strongly suggest that you purchase the book latedaytraveller suggested - except the one I read by the author was "War in the Val d'Orcia". It's an autobiography of everyday life in this region - and how "life" was impaced by the war. You won't be able to put it down. She is a gifted writer. We were in the Val d'Orcia on her 100th birthday, and there was a big celebration at La Foce - her home in the Val d'Orcia. If I were a teacher, I would make it required reading for my students. The book may even entice you to return to the Val d'Orcia and explore it more thoroughly. If you do, follow the following itinerary - it's from my longer italy Itinerary that I've sent to hundreds of people on this forum.

Tuscany – Val d’Orcia
My wife & I first visited the Val d’Orcia (around Pienza) in the late ‘80s when we were doing the typical “once over lightly” tour of Italy. On an old map I used at the time, I had scribbled the comment “pretty” on the road running between San Quirico d’Orcia and Montepulciano. We passed though this area again on several subsequent visits – usually staying 1 or 2 days each time. In September ’94, we stayed 4 days at the 5-room Hotel La Saracina near Pienza, and explored the area a little more (using up a lot of film) and then moved on to the Chianti area for 3 days, San Gimignano for 2, Lucca for 2, etc. In September ’96 we met 3 other couples (old college friends celebrating our 25th anniversaries together) for a 4 day stay in La Saracina. One of the couples liked the area so much that they booked a 3 week stay at La Saracina the next year, and then bought a 2nd home in the town of San Quirico the year after that (after exploring Chianti & Umbria to make sure they were buying in the area they liked the most). In ’99 when we retired early so we could travel more, we stayed in their apartment for 3 weeks - taking day trips to other areas in Tuscany & Umbria, exploring the Val d’Orcia, and enjoying Italian village life in San Quirico. That same year we had spent a considerable amount of time in Provence (7 weeks), and when we arrived in the Val d’Orcia, we both commented that this area was the prettiest countryside we had seen anywhere in Europe. I have various books & posters showing the Val d’Orcia in early spring when everything is green. It looks quite different in these spring pictures than it does in September when we had always been there. In March of ‘04 when the airfares were low and our friends were living in their apartment in San Quirico for 5 months, we visited the Val d’Orcia again. We thought that in September the countryside looked remarkable with the fields freshly plowed, exposing the soil with colors ranging from dark rust to light tan, with the cypress trees dancing up hills or running along the crest of a ridge, farmhouses tucked here & there, medieval villages everywhere, castles, vineyards, olive groves, and virtually no ugly commerce to spoil the scene (like elsewhere in Tuscany). Well, March is even prettier. The winter wheat that is planted almost everywhere is bright green and when it catches the late day sun, it is really spectacular with all the rolling hills, cypresses, farmhouses, etc. Since our 3 week stay in ’99, we have visited Vermont during leaf season, Provence several more times (including poppy, lavender & sunflower seasons), the Dordogne, Alsace, Pays Basque, Scotland, Bavaria, the Cotswolds, and many places in between – but we both feel that the Val d’Orcia is the prettiest open countryside we have seen anywhere. When we were there in March, we took several day trips to other sections of Tuscany, and when we returned “home” we always commented “why do we travel anywhere else in Italy – there’s nothing prettier than where we are staying”. So, for the remainder of our 2 week trip (and another week subsequent trip), we didn’t travel anywhere else – we spent all our time finding more nooks & crannies in the Val d’Orcia.

The following is a 1 day driving itinerary through this area, with stops at various villages and sites. If you have more time to spend in this vicinity, by all means drive down some of the dirt roads and even take some walks.

The best times of day to see this area are in the early morning or late afternoon when the sun is lower in the sky. When the shadows are long, the cypress trees & umbrella pines look more pronounced as they “dance up the hill” (my wife’s term). The farmhouses sprinkled throughout the landscape take on a special look in the early morning and at sunset. Budget at least two rolls of film for this area. The Val d’Orcia can get some morning fog. If so, spend the morning in a village & start your drive when the fog lifts.

In my opinion, the countryside is the “star” in this part of Tuscany. You “must see” Pienza and there are other interesting villages too, but don’t shortchange the drive through the countryside. If you are behind schedule, skip some villages – not the countryside. You might think that this itinerary seems out of order in places & I’m often taking you down roads that you have already driven. Sometimes, I’m considering the position of the sun when you drive on a road, and other times I’m just trying to extend the time to enjoy the countryside.

You will need the Touring Club Italiano map of Tuscany to follow this route. Also, obtain the Michelin Green Guide to Tuscany. If anyone wants to take walks in this area, get the Carta Turistica e Stradale – Val di Chiana, Val d’Orcia map. They have it at the bookstore in Pienza.

If you are doing this tour as a day trip from Siena, leave Siena going south on the N2 (marked SS2 also). It’s actually a pretty drive. Just past the second turnoff to Montalcino and past the bridge, look for a beautiful grove of cypress trees to your right. At San Quirico, take the N146 east to Montepulciano. This is an easy drive. If you leave Siena by 7:00 you should get to Montepulcano by 8:30 or earlier.

Do not visit Montepulciano at this time, unless it is foggy in which case you should wait until the fog lifts before proceeding on this drive. Take the N146 west to Pienza. The sun will be at your back. When you pass the large domed church of San Biagio (on your right/north) just after leaving Montepulciano, look back towards Montepulciano & you will be rewarded with a spectacular site – the Church of San Biagio in the foreground with Montepulciano cascading down the hillside behind it. This is one of the most photographed sites in Tuscany. Before I retired, I had a giant poster of this view in my office – reminding me why I wanted to retire & spend more time traveling. Don’t take a picture just yet – you will be back over this route later in the day and the sun will be in a better position to shine on the church and the perched village behind it.

Continue on the N146 to Pienza. This road has some wonderful scenery. You should get to Pienza by 9:00.

As you approach the “old” part of Pienza and the N146 turns right towards San Quirico, make a sharp left turn and you will find some parking spaces. If these parking spots are filled, continue down this road & look for the blue parking (P) to your left. During tourist season, you have to pay to park in this lot. You can also park south of Pienza below the village, but you will have a slight climb uphill to the center of town.

Explore Pienza by entering through the Porta al Murello, at the west end of Pienza. Just as you enter Pienza, there is a nice pottery/gift shop on your left (in the large square) which has had a significant impact on my wallet. Most stores open at 9:30 & close for a 1 ½ to 3 hr lunch at 1:00 (typical in Italy). You can obtain a self guided 1 hour audio tour of the town (in English) by renting a head set from the tourist office (closed at lunch time, but open on Sunday). If you want to have a picnic lunch at Sant’ Antimo abbey, pick up some lunch provisions while in Pienza. There is a pizza shop just outside of the Porta al Murello (next to the book store/news stand) where you can pick up a slice of pizza. There is a walking path next to the town walls on the south side of Pienza – don’t miss this. It’s a great place to just sit in the sun & admire the views. Plan on spending 1 ½ hrs in Pienza if you take the audio tour or you’re a big shopper, 1 hr if not. It’s one of the few villages in Tuscany that has most of it’s stores open on Sunday, & Monday mornings.

Leave Pienza on the N146 toward San Quirico. This is another stretch of road with fantastic views – perhaps our favorite. Just 2K from San Quirico, there is a splendid view to the south of a very small church and another building with cypress trees & umbrella pines surrounding these buildings. This site is on the crest of a hill. If you have been in Tuscany for any length of time, you will have seen this view on many postcards & calendars. You will pass this church again later in this drive when the late afternoon sun makes this scene perfect for picture taking. As you approach San Quirico, drive into the parking lot behind the Taverna del Barbarossa restaurant (which is associated with the Casanova hotel). The parking lot is at the south end of the complex. Park the car, get out & you will see another of the most photographed sites in Tuscany. In fact, the very first picture that appears in my ’95 Michelin Green Guide to Tuscany, is a photograph of this scene – a farmhouse sitting on top of a hill, surrounded by cypress trees. A “coffee table” book I have has photographs of this site at different times of the year – it’s quite remarkable. This site is even on the cover of that book. I also have a poster (yes, it was hanging in my office too).

You should get to San Quirico by 11:00 if you stopped for some picture taking along the way. Don’t visit San Quirico now – do so later in the itinerary if you have time (it’s worth a visit).

Follow the signs at San Quirico and get on the N2 toward Siena (north). Just after you leave San Quirico on the N2, you will be on a bridge. If you look back, there is a nice view of the village of San Quirico from the bridge. Unfortunately, I have never been brave enough to get out of the car & take a picture from this bridge. Further along the N2 there is a pretty grove of cypress trees on your left (west). This grove can be seen better traveling south, however. On your right, you will see several cypress trees and umbrella pines dotting the ridge of a hill. You might recognize this site from postcards & calendars you have seen. Turn off the N2 & go to Montalcino.




As you approach Montalcino, you will get some good views of this perched village. The road will turn a few times & will take you to the south entrance of town, which will be marked with a large “Montalcino” painted on a white background on the stone wall of town, and a “centro” sign will be pointing into town . Do not enter through this entrance - instead turn a very sharp left when you see this town sign and follow the road uphill. Very shortly you will see a round-about. Exit to the right off the round-about to find a place to park. There is a rather large car parking lot near the old fortress (Rocca). Note – When you arrive into Montalcino and encounter the round-about, note the sign to Sant’ Antimo Abbey (marked “S. Antimo”), where you will go next on this itinerary (it’s marked on the round-about). The road to this abbey is a very sharp left (almost a full circle around the round-about).

Visit Montalcino. You should get there by 11:00. Many shops will close by 1:00. You can visit the fortress, but I found it only OK. Budget about 1 hour or less in Montalcino. It has some nice outdoor lunch spots if you want a sit down lunch (I’m pushing the picnic at Sant’ Antimo).

Follow the signs (and your map) to Sant’ Antimo Abbey. The Abbey is quite lovely, but what I like best about it, is the setting – we’ve used up a lot of film there. It’s located in a valley surrounded by hills, cypress trees dancing up these hills, and a lawn around of the Abbey (where you can picnic). It’s also a good place for a little snooze in the sun. There are Gregorian chants inside the church at various times of the day (posted on the entrance to the church – one chant is at 12:45). See http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/tuscany/sant_antimo.htm for a full chant schedule and a description of Sant Antimo.

Continue on your drive through the countryside. You should leave Sant’ Antimo about 1:30. Take the road south-east of the abbey, toward Monte Amiata on your Touring Club map. Pass through Monte Amiata, and at Ost. Ansidonia, turn left (north-east) to Castiglione d’ Orcia. This is pretty countryside. Pass through Castiglion & get on the N2 & head north toward San Quirico. You should get to San Quirico about 2:00 or so.

Continue past San Quirico toward Siena. You will have another chance to see the cypress grove to your left, and the cypresses & umbrella pines running along the ridge to your right. Get off the N2 at Torrenieri. There is a road that runs from Torrenieri to San Quirico, just east of the N2. Find it on the Touring Club map. You want to head south on this road from Torrenieri to the “phantom” village of Bellaria on the map (there really isn’t any village there). When driving through Torrenieri just after leaving the N2, you need to turn right at the first stop sign (in front of a small church) and you will immediately cross a railroad track. As you approach Bellari, look to your right and you will see more umbrella pines & cypress trees dotting the top of a ridge. These are the same trees you saw from the N2 on your drive to Montalcino and to Torrenieri. When you get to Bellaria, turn left (east) to Cosona (it’s marked at the turn). You will be on a dirt road. It is one of our favorite drives in this area. Continue & go slowly on this dirt road. Lots of pretty sites here. This dirt road will kind of dead-end onto another road (see it on your map). Turn right toward Pienza and continue on toward Pienza. When you get to the N146, turn west (right) toward San Quirico. You should get here around 3:00.

About half way to San Quirico, there is a dirt road that heads south of N146 – find it on the map (it’s the only one on the map between Pienza & San Quirico). There is a sign for this road on the N146 and the turn is marked by a direction sign to the “Agriturismo il Rigo”, and before a “watch for deer” sign. Turn south on this road. We have often driven down this road, parked the car, & started on a hike from here. Continue on this road until it connects with the N2.




Continue south on the N2, and after about 2K, head east on the paved road (marked yellow on the touring club map) toward Chianciano & Pienza (well marked). This road passes through another “phantom” town called Spedaletto – find it on the map to make sure you turned at the right place off the N2. This road goes trough the heart of the Val d’Orcia and is quite picturesque. Continue on this road toward Chianciano Terme. You will have a nice view of Pienza perched on top of a ridge, off in the distance to the left (north). There is an “interchange” on this road – pay attention & keep heading to Chianciano Terme. Just before La Foce, you will see a lovely double set of cypress trees to the north, dancing (again) up the hill (another much photographed site). Continue on this road, and shortly you will see a parking lot opposite the Restaurant Oasi la Foce. Pull into this lot & you will get another view of this double set of cypress trees. Continue toward Chianciano, and about 1/2K after the parking lot, take the first left (north) on a dirt road toward Montepulciano (well marked). This will be a dirt road and will pass around a lovely castle. When the dirt road becomes a paved road, turn left towards Monticchiello (well marked). As you approach Monticciello, this road becomes particularly scenic.

Monticchiello is a very cute village – it’s where my father-in-law says he wants to live. Park the car in the lot outside this village near the refreshment stand (do you need any) & wander around. It’s a 30 min wander. There is a nice restaurant in town called La Porta.

Look at Monticchiello on the Touring Club map. You will see lots of roads radiating from this small village like spokes on a bicycle wheel. All these roads have fantastic views of the countryside – in my opinion, they offer the prettiest drives in the Val d’Orcia. If you have time to spare, by all means drive down all these roads. We’ve done this quite often at various times of the day when the sun casts different shadow patterns on the rolling hills and from the cypress trees. My favorite drive is the one branching out at 8:00 from Monticchiello. It connects to the road heading directly north to Pienza. Turn right towards Pienza on this road & you will get a fantastic view of Pienza. Just a little south of Pienza, there is a dirt road that heads south-west. Take this road and it will connect with the N2/Chianciano road running east/west. From here you can retrace the drive east towards La Foce where you will head to Montepulciano (by-passing the turn to Monticchiello). When this road hits the N146, turn left to Montepulciano.

If you don’t have extra time available for this side trip, after visiting Monticchiello head back down hill from the parking lot. Immediately after leaving the lot, go straight at the fork (just after the first house on the right) instead of turning right the way you entered the lot. This will lead to Montepulciano on a paved road that shortly becomes a dirt road and later paved again. There is a nice view of Montepulciano from this road. When this road dead-ends at the N146, turn left towards Pienza, or right to Montepulciano if you want to visit this town (one of my favorites).

Visit Montpulciano, if you like (1 hr visit). Use the Michelin Green Guide to find the sites you want to visit. Hike all the way up to the Piazza Grande. It’s a somewhat steep walk through town, however, but the village is very pretty. You can taste some excellent wine at the Avignonesi estate (you will see it – just opposite the tall column in the middle of the main street, just after you enter town). If you need a snack, find a place where you can get pizza by the slice & have a mushroom (fungi) and truffle (tartufi) pizza (only in Italy!!!).

Leave Montepulciano towards Pienza on the N146 again. Now you get a better view with the remarkable San Biagio Church in the foreground and Montepulciano in the background (you may have to drive a little west on the N146 to get the view). Hopefully you are at this spot about 5:00 or so. Without any further stops, you are less than 1 ½ hrs from Siena.

Drive along the N146 toward Pienza & San Quirico again (30 min drive). The sun will be in your face, but now the little church with the cypress trees around it will look quite different, as will other sites you photographed when you drove this route in the morning.

If time allows, visit San Quirico (it’s 45 mins to Siena from SQ). San Quirico is kind of a poor man’s Pienza – but they like it that way. It’s a town where people really live. In fact, I’ve told friends that San Quirico is the type of town we wish our small towns in the US would be like – kind of a River City, Iowa (Music Man). Everyone knows everyone else, people are out strolling, there are stores where locals shop for their everyday stuff, etc. Families congregate at the Bar Centrale (closed Thurs) in the evening, where the men play cards in one room, the younger children are in the video room, and the older children are outside playing soccer in the town square or just hanging out. If you visit San Quirico, have a coffee latte at the Bar Centrale & “people watch”. SQ is a 30-45 min visit. Some stores may be closed Wednesday afternoon.

Stu Dudley

Well, I seem not to be the only one surprised by this Avis location on the via Molise. I read quite a few internet postings about picking up cars in Chiusi, and I'm sorry I didn't come across yours warning against this location.

As for the convenience of online booking against the benefits of phone calling, I'm not entitled to the discounts you mentioned, and in many trips to Italy, this is the first time I felt I needed to say something for the benefit of other people about the location of a rental office. I think Chiusi is quite the exception to the rule of rental offices convenient to train stations.

I have seen the film of the "Music Man," and while I won't presume to know what all Americans want their small towns to be, I must say you haven't made me enthusiastic about visiting San Quirico d'Orcia by likening it to the small town in that musical! Perhaps people just have different sensibilities. I take it as a plus we all don't want to crowd into the same places!

I really did prefer the val di'Chiana to the val d'Orcia as a landscape. And while I'm sure that others who find this thread will appreciate the wealth of detail you've provided, I've learned that for me, speaking only for myself, when I personally travel, it's best I not try to follow another's guided tours, timed to the hour and minute.

But it's lovely you've found "your spot" in Italy, don't want to tour elsewhere and have such enthusiasm you like to share. On one thing we surely agree. You advised:

"In my opinion, the countryside is the “star” in this part of Tuscany. You “must see” Pienza and there are other interesting villages too, but don’t shortchange the drive through the countryside."

That's exactly what we did! Not wishing to shortchange the countryside, we drove the roads of the val d'Orcia when we had our best chance to see it during the time we were there.

Sounds as if you enjoyed your short visit and ate some great food. Like others I really enjoyed Sant'Antimo, it was one of the highlights of our visit. Not sure what was unorthodox about your holiday or why others wouldn't want to emulate your travelling style. It didn't sound that different to me.

SuddenlyTuscany have you written any other reports?

If so, could you post a link so we can enjoy your "unorthodox" travel style?

Many thanks..

ekscrunchy,

No, I have not written trip reports before, and now having discovered they are such hard work, I won't again, believe me! I started out thinking I would just focus on our mistakes or surprises, but once you get started with "Day One" and "Day Two", you really feel obliged to keep going with the silliest details until you're done with "Day Seven." Who cares if some of us bought a toothbrush in Tuscany?

I hope some future fellow travelers learn a lesson from us about Chiusi car rentals,, or the good food at Da Toto, and make sure to include the "crete sinese" near Asciano as part of their Tuscan tour in addition to val d'Orcia, and to give Tarquinia and Ostia Antica a go if they are in the region. But hope no one puts too much weight on our experiences. We're not experts, or gourmands. We were out for a lark, hoping to find a Tuscany not-too-touristed, despite our doubts. And we did.

rickmav,

We're not all that unorthodox, it's true, but I do think most people, especially those traveling across the Atlantic, will probably want to plan their days with more care than we did. We went in a rush, hoping to catch sufficient sunshine, and leaving a lot of our hotel bookings, restaurant choices, and sightseeing to chance. Foreign trips are expensive, and people planning a rare trip to Italy (we teravel around it often) are well advised to do more research about their target area than we did in order to get the most out of their brief time in Italy.

Also, we now think our trip was too much driving for that particular region. It made some sense for us to be in our car so much, given the time of year, but were we to return to that part of Tuscany, we would probably pick one pretty spot to enjoy and relax outdoors, enjoying long walks, and we would go in warmer weather.

Unlike us, foreigners who have heard about "beautiful Tuscany" and dearly want to see it for themselves should probably consider visiting the smaller "cute" hilltowns and the famous ones as well. We deliberately chose Arezzo, Lucignano and bypassed some much-recommended towns. We enjoyed our trip, but we hesitate to tell others to follow our footsteps, unless they really like a bit of adventure and don't mind the risk of striking out when their gambles outside the "tried-and-true" and repeatedly recommended don't pay off.

All that said, it's hard to imagine most people landing in Tuscany and not finding it a rewarding place to be, plans or no plans, summer or winter, crowds or no. It's a quite unusual farm country, with inescapable charm.

The beauty of this forum is that we all learn from each others experiences, good and bad. I now have another frame of reference to hopefully avoid.