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OCTOBER IN TUSCANY: CHESTNUT FESTIVALS AND NEIGHBORHOOD DINNERS

I never stop complaining about the end of summer. Until I remember how much I love the autumn light in Tuscany. And all those coffees in the morning sun. 

Cappuccino on a Tuscan hill - October 2013
Morning pleasures at bar Sport in Cinigiano

If you plan to cruise the Tuscan hills, autumn is the perfect season to do so without the heat and noisy crowds. The light is perfect for hobby photographers and the temperature is ideal for long walks or days spent reading the paper in front of the local bar. 

October is also the month in which the Tuscan farmers finish the wine harvest so as to move straight into the olive picking. To make sure things don't get too strenuous, a few food and village festivals are thrown in along the way. 

After my Tuscan village's rained in Festa dell'Uva (harvest festival) at the beginning of October, things look more promising for our neighbor's chestnut festival in Monticello Amiata this weekend (see my round up of chestnut festivals on mount Amiata from last year for more information). 

And whilst the evenings are getting colder, a warm jacket will be enough to join one of the outdoors neighborhood dinners and street concerts of the October in Montalcino festival. In the meantime I'll be spending my last free weekend of my second favorite season on a Tuscan beach. After that I can be found sitting on these trees - explaining to the olives why they have to come down now...

Olive grove in the Maremma, Tuscany
Picture perfect: October in Tuscany

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