MAPPING TUSCANY

Readers of my memoir  Aross the Big Blue Sea   know about the courageous Syrian family who after a horrendous journey to Sicily stopped over at our refugee home in the Tuscan countryside. The plight of Syrians at home and in exile is at the base of poet, dissident and journalist Rash Omran's work. Omran, who has been living in exile in Egypt since 2012, will present her recent work this July in southern Tuscany.  The reading will take place in the garden of beautiful palazzo Bracci in Montepulciano. The literary event is part of Montepulciano's longstanding  Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte , the Tuscan wine town's art and music summer festival which is in its 42nd edition.  DEFY SILENCE - SFIDARE IL SILENZIO :  Poetry, music and translation between war and exile Rasha Omran, Kim Echlin and Ashti Abdo in Montepulciano Monday, July 17, 2017 - 9.15pm Palazzo Bracci, via delle Case Nuove, Montepulciano.  Rasha Omran has been invited ...

Italy hasn’t gotten much of a good rep recently with its economic and political stagnation and the brain drain of the country’s talented youth. But not just Matteo Renzi is out there to change this. In rough times like these it's encouraging to hear that an unexpectedly high number of Italian cities joined the European Capital of Culture competition last year. The ECoC title is awarded each year to two cities from two different European countries – Umea in Sweden and Riga in Latvia are the European Capital of Cultures 2014. Italy’s turn is up again in 2019 and a fierce competition is going on right now between the participating Italian cities to secure the title. Past European capitals have proved that ECoC cities with a thought-through program receive major investments, speed up local development, and secure a long-lasting influx of culturally interested travelers - the welcome species of tourists, who prefer quality of experience to number of sights seen in a day.  Les...

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.  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  fr...

It's still summer, but temperatures have dropped (thank god!) and a lot of Italians start to move back into town after their time at the beach. Not just summer but also the Tuscan festival season is coming to a close. And just  before curtains are drawn and stages dismantled, the ColleMassari winery hosts Dionisus, the last of the three cycles of the Amiata Piano festival . Four concerts will take place from the 29th of August in the midst of barrels and barriques, and with the backdrop of the contemporary architecture of one of Italy's biggest organic wineries. F amous Italian violist Salvatore Accardo will open the cycle dedicated to the Greek wine god together with the Orchestra da Camera Italiana. The concert has been sold out for weeks, but a few tickets are still available for the following events, which stretch from classical music to jazz.  The wine cellar of the ColleMassari estate (designed by Edoardo Millesi)

Volcano what? Right, Pitigliano, the famous tufa rock town, hosts the 2013 tasting of some of Italy's best volcano DOC wines. Which doesn't meant that the vines are raised on smoky mountain slopes with vignerons constantly watching out for the signs of a new break out. Even though in some cases - most famously mount Etna in Sicily and mount Vesuvius in Naples -  these volcanoes are in fact still bubbling away.  Many of Italy's famous volcanoes - like for an example  Mount Amiata  in Southern Tuscany - have been extinct for thousand or millions of years (ask for the exact number at the tasting). But even though long out of work, they have left behind a deeply colored and mineral rich soil; a true oasis for terroir wines! The color of volcano soil One of the vineyards at the organically run Sassotondo winery near Pitigliano VULCANIA 2013: PITIGLIANO, JUNE 15-17 Hosted by Pitigliano's vintners association (consorzio di tutela bianco di Pitigliano e S...

Pitigliano isn't just another Tuscan hilltop town. It's the  Tuscan hilltop town. No other of them manages to balance so elegantly on top of a rocky cliff. In fact Pitigliano is also called suicide town (at least by my Tuscan native). You'll get the idea once you look down from one of the buildings located right on the edge; but don't do it if you're having a difficult moment in  life.  Pitigliano's skyline

Church lovers have endless selection in Tuscany. Roofless  San Galgano , Romanesque Sant'Antimo  near Montalcino or the Monte Olivieto abbey  in the Crete Senesi are some of the most famous cathedrals and monasteries in the South of the region. But if you cruise the Tuscan hills, always keep an eye out for the small Pievi, the fascinating and often very beautiful countryside churches.  La pieve di Lamula with Mount Amiata in the background The pieve di Lamola is one of them. Hidden away between Arcidosso and Casteldelpiano the small church was an outlet of the famous San Salvatore abbey on the slopes of Mount Amiata.  Even though the facade dates back to the first half of the 20th century, the pieve managed to keep many of the pagan symbols and the calm ambiance so typical of Tuscany's countryside churches.  Inscription on a pillar inside the church 

As a Swiss I can't but spread the voice about the current Italy tour of Zurich's Young Symphony Orchestra. The musicians from Switzerland are travelling south together with a classical music choir called Konzertchor MKZ (made up by a bunch of classic music loving singing youngsters from Zurich).  Autumn in Tuscany: what better setting for some classical music?

It's that time of the year again. I still try to hang on to summer, but latest with Monticello's chestnut festival on the horizon I know I have to let it go. It's autumn, and it's time to grab a jacket and drive up the road to see what our neighbors in Monticello are up to.  Monticello and mount Amiata (to the left) seen from Cinigiano Once I pass the first chestnut groves on the way up, I'm at peace with the changing season. Just the idea of all those roasted chestnuts waiting for us. No need saying it, the inside of the prickly fruits are the perfect match for countless glasses of Tuscany's Montecucco wine (the DOCG of this area). And how nice that I'll have a whole winter to try myself at  making Necci   (a chestnut flour pancake) or baking   Castagnaccio  (a sweet chestnut flour cake). In the last 13 years in Tuscany, I haven't been able to get the recipe right once. 

Wondering what kind of place my Tuscan village is? The best time to find out is during the Festa dell'Uva, the wine harvest festival, which takes place every year on the first October weekend. Thinking of a wine festival you're probably expecting to find a bunch of people discussing tannins and barrel aging time. Forget it. You'll be seeing this.

Improvised shower at the natural hot springs in Petriolo If you haven't been in this corner of Tuscany before - this is the time to visit. Driving south from Siena, you'll find something for every taste. For starters you may run into Robert Redford. The documentary Buck, ( a film about the life of a horse whisperer produced by the Hollywood star) has his Italian first showing at the Terra di Siena film festival in Monticiano. Once you said hello and had your share of animal talk for the day, drive along the windy road that connects Monticiano to the Petriolo hot springs further down in the valley  (if you missed out on Redford you can always try again with Sienna Miller in Siena next week).  

Maremma horses inspecting the cycling path leading to the Maremma national park beach Thank you Maremma horse fair! At last an opportunity to post some of the countless photos I keep taking of the beautiful Maremma horses grazing in Southern Tuscany's national park. 

"In Italy for thirty years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love; they had five hundred years of democracy and peace and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock. " Orson Welles in The Third Man Orson Welles' quote is a classic. Even if it's not entirely true. For starters I'm relieved to say that the cuckoo clock was not invented in my home country - the blame goes to Germany. But never mind the lack in accuracy, the great actor and director managed to put an incredibly intricate matter into a nutshell.  How to 'produce' art and where to find genius?   It's a complex issue art historians, gourmet cooks and music lovers keep wondering about. And so do  acting coaches, wine producers and fashion designers. Is creativity innate or can it be taught and learned? And what are the conditions that  fos...

 Paganico - off-the-beaten-path in Southern Tuscany Towards the end of summer, Tuscany is getting ready for an endless parade of village festivals (often called SAGRE). With it being still early days for autumn's wine and chestnut festivals, Paganico starts the season with something quite different. The  Sagra della Grannocchia is a festival dedicated to frogs, with the main event being a race in which participants push a type of wheel-barrow loaded with frogs - the difficulty of the race being that the frogs keep jumping off their carriage (and have then to be put back in). Therefore it's not just about speed but also about who arrives with the most frogs. I know what you think - these people are weird. But surprisingly Paganico is quite a lovely village, off the tourist trail and with a fantastic gelateria  producing some of Italy's best ice-cream .  The town will sport a pageantry parade, live music and special activities for kids over the weekend...