Tuscan landscapes, Brunello wines and a scary storm...
Walking holidays can be tricky to plan. This trip was supposed to happen in May but each time we tried to book the dates one of the hotels couldn't accommodate us. The dates slipped to June, then edged into July at which point we decided that it would be just too hot for our walking odyssey. Eventually the end of September was successfully booked and the countdown began.
A good warm up for the walk was a weekend in Pisa acclimatising to the warm weather and tasty Tuscan food. My top 5 tips for a visit to Pisa can be found here.
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| Sunset over the River Arno in Pisa |
Following the weekend in Pisa the first stop on the week's walk was just above the small town of Buonconvento. To get here involved two trains, the first, from Pisa to Montepescali, hugged the coast for a few miles and it was wonderful to see the blue Ligurian Sea and beautiful coves and beaches as the train rolled past. A short wait in an extremely hot Montepescali station had us diving for shelter until the train to take us to Buonconvento arrived, this one was much older and more rickety than the first train and chugged along as we headed inland northeast through the Tuscan countryside. I was so excited to see my first view of trees at the top of rolling fields that I snapped a photo on my phone through the grubby window of the train.
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| Tuscan countryside seen from a moving train |
Nothing prepared us for the amazing location and the quality of the accommodation at our first stop at Fattoria Pieve e Salti, what a simply fabulous spot! The room we had in the Podere Caprili part of the farm has extensive views over the surrounding hills and is perfectly placed for the bar, restaurant and importantly the swimming pool - I was in there to cool down as soon as I arrived!
I particularly enjoyed sitting on the veranda, sipping a cool glass of local Vermentino white wine and watching the sun go down.
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| Watching the sun set from under an olive tree |
Every day the sunrise and sunset differed, each wonderful in its own way. Clear skies on the first evening meant that the stars were clearly visible and a good deal of stargazing was possible. Can you see the shooting star?
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| Stargazing |
A misty dawn started our first walking day, with gorgeous views of the rolling mist that had farms and hill top towns peeping through.
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| Misty morning light |
The linear walk today took us to the Abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore with a welcome stop for lunch at a small village called Chiusere in the Locanda Il Paradiso where they served up delicious panzanella and ribolita. The abbey is a working Benedictine monastery which was founded in 1313. The abbey didn't open to the public after lunch until 3:15pm so we amused ourselves with a visit to the wine cave below the abbey.
It was worth waiting to see the inside of the abbey and enjoy the calm and quiet (it is a silent order of monks) while marvelling at the art and mosaics on the walls.
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| The monk's dining hall at the abbey |
Rain and storms were forecast for the following day when the planned walk would take us from Buonconvento to Montalcino, our next destination. It was tricky to decide whether to do the walk or to travel in the taxi with our bags to the next hotel, normally rain won't stop me but storms are a different matter. It was a beautiful morning, the sun was shining at breakfast time and the air was clear, no mist at all, so we opted to do the walk.
The first hour went well, it was warm and sunny and the gentle climb out of Buonconvento was going well but I thought I heard some rumbles of thunder and within the next ten minutes the sky went grey and rain started to fall. By the time we reached Segalari we had to take shelter in an old covered wash house while the storm passed over. Thunder and lightning slowly moved overhead with some impressive forks of lightning and incredibly loud cracks of thunder.
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| Thunder storm in Segalari |
After about 45 minutes the rain eased and we continued on our way watching the dark clouds move away with occasional flashes of lightning in the distance. The sun was shining again as we stopped for our picnic lunch and we thought we'd been lucky and that the storm had now moved on.
Shortly after this I noticed the sky behind us had changed colour.
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| Storms approaching |
We were in quite an exposed area so hurried along hoping that another storm would not come in our direction. Next time I looked around the clouds were churning and we rushed to try to find some shelter.
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| Churning clouds just before the storm hit |
The storm hit - there were fields all around us and no sign of any buildings for shelter so we had to huddle together by some shrubby low trees as orange mud swept by and we were lashed by rain and then hailstones, scared by lightning that came incredibly close (just the next field) and deafened by thunder directly overhead. I stopped looking after a while and just buried my head in my husband's chest as we clung together. I have never been so scared before.
A long time later, more than half an hour, the thunder and lightning moved further away and the rain eased a little. We decided it was time to move back out onto the path and continue until we could find somewhere to shelter. The storm was teasing us though, sometimes thundering closer, then further away, waves of storm clouds returning time and again. The rain still drove through our clothes.
We were very glad to reach shelter at the Casato Prime Donna vineyard and cantina, although we arrived at 2pm and they were closed for lunch until 3pm, but we found shelter in an entrance porch and had access to their toilets to dry off a little. Needless to say we were soaked through!
A short while later two German girls turned up having previously arranged to photograph the Brunello grape harvest. They managed to contact the manager who opened up for them and invited us inside too so we could warm up and dry out a little. Due to the storms the harvest was not taking place so we were invited to join the girls in a tour of the cantina (inside only of course). The manager explained about the vineyard, which is run entirely by women and produces the famous (and expensive) Brunello wine. There are really strict rules on how this is produced, regarding its quality and quotas. It can only be grown in the Montalcino area and be made from 100% Sangiovese grapes. There are currently only 220 Brunello producers.
We saw the oak barrels that contain the developing wine and these had odd contraptions on the top to check the volume of wine in the barrel to see if they need to add more or pour some off. These devices were invented by Leonardo da Vinci.
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| Leonardo da Vinci's invention |
Some barrels had ceramic red hearts attached and these are used throughout the development stage to determine which (if any) of the wines might be considered for that year's Riserva - only the best two wines go on to make the Riserva and some years there are no wines good enough. At first all the good quality wines are considered and the best ten are marked with the hearts, then this is further narrowed down during the season, gradually refining the selection to the last two which will be blended for the final special wine.
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| Red hearts indicate wines that might be good enough for that year's Riserva wine |
We were then invited to taste the latest Brunello di Montalcino (vintage 2014) and were treated to a glass of the Brunello Riserva (vinatge 2012). Both were delicious, although I did have a preference for the Riserva!
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| Brunello wine tasting |
The rain was still pouring down and the storm not too far away so we gave in and arranged for a taxi to collect us and take us to Montalcino, it turned out to be the lady taxi driver who had picked us up from the abbey the previous day and she greeted us like old friends.
Montalcino is a small town perched on top of a hill, it would have been quite a steep climb to walk up to the town so I was quite happy to have avoided that stretch!
The Hotel dei Capitani is in a converted medieval building and has stunning views over the Val d'Orcia and the Val d'Arbia. Exploring the town (even in the rain) is interesting, the main street has lots of fine specialist shops selling beautiful things. There is a pentagonal 14th century fortress at the highest part of the town, plenty of fine old buildings along the winding streets and the oldest cafe/bar in Italy Caffe Fiaschetteria (from 1888) where we sampled some wonderful chocolate torta.
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| Delicious chocolate torta to share |
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| Inside Caffe Fiaschetteria |
On our first night in Montalcino we ate at a simple, family run restaurant that I would happily recommend, called Il Moro. The food was very good and the staff were lovely.
Waking at dawn I was rewarded with the most incredible sight of mist over the Val d'Orcia, completely beautiful and mesmerising.
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| Sea of mist over Val d'Orcia |
Gradually the mist rose up to reach the town and our walk to the abbey of Sant Antimo started in cold, wet air. It didn't take long for the mist to burn off and we enjoyed views over the town before continuing on our route.
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| Montalcino |
Stopping in the small hamlet of Villa a Tolli to admire the golden coloured old stone buildings a kind man arranged cups of coffee for us to enjoy in a pretty, shaded garden with views across the valley. When we came to pay he would accept no payment, he was just happy to help us.
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| A delightful coffee stop, Villa a Tolli |
The abbey of Sant Antimo is a beautifully simple building set below the medieval hamlet of Castelnuovo dell' Abate. I loved the abbey's pure, unadorned interior and feeling of calm. In the Pharmacy, beside the abbey, sweets, honey, herbal teas and foodstuffs, made using ancient herbal recipes, can be bought. There is a well stocked herb garden to the side with interesting notes on the uses of the herbs.
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| Simple interior of Sant Antimo |
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| The abbey of Sant Antimo, Tuscany |
Rather than walk back to Montalcino we took the local bus, which was really inexpensive (just 3 euros) and then explored the back streets of the town, admiring the views and sampling some more Brunello from the oldest vineyard inside the city, almost 650 years old. We were served our wine by a young man who is the 27th generation of the family.
If you want to spend eye-watering amounts on a bottle of wine with dinner take a look at the wine menu (the size of an encyclopedia) at Taverna del Grappolo Blu. The wines are mostly Brunello or Rosso di Montalcino and some bottles cost 100s of euros, I spotted one at 700 euros!
Our walk the following day started with a taxi to Castelnouvo dell'Abate where we began our walk to our next destination, San Quirico d'Orcia.
Minutes after the taxi left us we realised that the hotel key was still in a pocket... oops!
See my next blog post for what happened then!
This walking holiday was organised through Inntravel the slow holiday travel specialists.
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