Saturday hike ~ la strada bianca

 Just two quick videos today!

First:

And then:

Villa Trecci

 

Yesterday, myself and a group of students from Il Sasso took the long and windy road from Montepulciano to Villa Trecci.  It was about a one hour hike, up and down hills, to this beautiful park.  On land that was once part of a noble family's estate, Villa Trecci was conceptualized as a place where the land could be reimagined as a thriving and eco-sustainable Eden.  There is more than meets the eye here.  By that, I mean that a lot of stuff is going on 'behind the scenes.'  

There is no irrigation here.  Instead, the park uses a series of underground cisterns that are filled by the rains every spring and then called upon to water (minimally) the sections of the park that may require it.

There are many large beds of plantings, mostly of native vegetation and flowers.  Lilies, irises, lavender, rosemary, etc. 

Many trickling water features and here and there.  The rose garden has multiple varieties of old roses that were saved from extinction.

You can see Montepulciano in the WAY distance.... try not to think about the fact that you have to walk BACK!

The grand daddy of their olive orchard is this 200 year old wonder:

Oh.  It reminded me of the ANCIENT olive trees I saw in Puglia years ago.  They were anywhere from 800-1500 years old.  Mind-boggling.  

Public art and Panino of the Gods!!

 In Montepulciano right now is an interesting series of statues that have a sort of Dadaist groove.  They are the work of Carin Grudda, a German contemporary artist who love the counterpoint of placing weird, though darling, works of art amidst historical surroundings.  This "silent dialogue", as she puts it, should invite a fresh contemplation of the urban landscape:

Okay.  Va bene. The REAL story of the day is that I finally stopped to try a panino from this tiny place that I have walked by hundreds of times.  It is called La Schiaccia.  It is really just a counter.  You go up, order your panino, pay and they make it.  And you carry it home.  While you are waiting, you can play with colored chalk and leave a message.  This one, a sketch of Dante, is quite clever:

I swear my panino weighed 2 pounds.  But I carried it home, up and up the hill.  Gorgeous.

I must say that I have always shunned mortadella.... with its pink color and those huge, embedded chunks of fat.  But last year, when I had my first authentic mortadella in Bologna.... oh!  It is truly delicious.  

EUROPE vs ITALY Bruno Bozzetto

Sunday thoughts

 Buona domenica! Today began with breakfast in the tower, looking out over the wonderful city of Montepulciano:

I went to the grocery store, stopped by a wee market where a darling Italian woman sold me a jar of plum jam, read some of Iris Origo's biography of Italian poet Giacomo Leopardi.  Then, I decided to take another walk:

And you must admit, this chicken has style:

And more thoughts:

Oh dear....

Val d'Orcia and Roman baths

 A UNESCO world heritage site, the Val d'Orcia is a wide and verdant valley of splendor.  This video doesn't give you a sense of its depth, the various shades of green, the important role it has played through history and even art history... but this is what I have:

From here, we drove to Bagno Vignoni.  This is a 'thermal settlement' known since the Etruscan age.  The Romans found it quite lovely and so they claimed it during their time here.  There is even a plaque put in place that consecrates the place and its waters to the nymphs.  And we all love nymphs.  They are always frolicking and looking gorgeous.  Later, when the Via Francigena was established (the pilgrimage route that goes from England to Rome, established in the 8th century, see previous blogs especially of my time in Viterbo), the baths were used to soothe the footsies of tired pilgrims.  Here is the official plaque of this pilgrimage route:

Very popular with German tourists who really dig the concept of volksmarchen, it can also be done via bike.  

Throughout the middle ages the site was developed and eventually became a town.  The center of town showcases this lovely soaking area, built at the site where the hot springs comes out of the ground.  You can see it burbling:

Too hot and too stinky, so the Romans carved a series of canals and waterfalls to cool the water:

This is only part of the network of flowing water.  But let's just take a rest from it all and soak our footsies before lunch:

Feeling refreshed, it's time for a lunch of gnocchetti with saffron cream and crispy prosciutto, darlings:

Una bella giornata!

 

The Abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore

 Che bel posto! Today we explored the beautiful countryside of the Crete Senesi, southeast of Siena.  Like entering another world, another century, we drove deep into the thick woods of cypresses and oak to an impressively large compound that makes up the Abbey.  The abbey was founded in 1313 by a Benedictine Order and much of the art is dedicated to telling the story of St. Benedict.  The first abbot, Bernardo Tolomei, built a religious community that has thrived in many ways since the beginning:

The cloister walk features the story of St Benedict, thanks to the art of Luca Signorelli and "Il Sodoma," the unfortunate nickname of Giovanni Bazzi (given for the reasons you think).  One walks the cloister walk and contemplates all of St Benedict's miracles and life events:

Then one contemplates the miracles, the glory, the profumo of the woods, the chirping of the birds:

Back to Montepulciano for lunch.  Large ravioli stuffed with pecorino and ricotta, beetroot cream, a sprinkling of fava beans, sautéed veggies, vino Rosso:

On the way home, I stopped at a pasticceria and got a selection of wee sweets.  They wrap everything like the most darling present:

How could I resist?