MAPPING TUSCANY

Tuscan olive trees waiting for adoption... Dreaming of an olive grove in Tuscany?  Forget the grove, it's going to break your back - I speak from first-hand experience  - but adopt a tree instead. Or twenty. Or more.  Olive trees in the park nearly ready for the harvest in October and November  A group of farmers in southern Tuscany are reclaiming 30'000 abandoned olive trees (yes, that's a lot of trees). These are all located in beautiful groves close to or right in Maremma's nature park . Also known as Parco dell'Uccellina, the nature reserve is a wonderful place to visit in person.  As an adoptive parent, you'll be taken for a private tour to the groves. However, you won't have to learn how to properly position a ladder to harvest or prune the trees. Instead, you can hug your adoptee and then spend the rest of the day hiking or swimming at my favourite Tuscan beach .  Souvenir shop in Marina di Alberese The project is under the h...

Design hotels in Tuscany - they do exist! The Argentario Golf Resort & Spa excels with something not many hotels in Tuscany's countryside have managed to pull off - tasteful contemporary design.  Tuscan hotels are usually located in centuries-old villas, castles or farmhouses. In the best-case scenario, they will have been painstakingly restored and the interior design is a sophisticated mix of aristocratic joie-de-vivre or a romanticized version of Tuscan  peasant life.  In the worst case, the interpretation has gone awry with lots of velvet curtains, fake antique furniture and heavy-set four-poster beds in an international baroque style that has little to do with Tuscany but lots with a type of interior design invented to pimp up international hotel cha ins. It's a relief that the five-star Argentario resort de cided for a different approach . No more fake Renaissance architecture, but at last a well thought-through contemporary approach to ...

A smartphone capture of the fairytale garden of Podere Genova in Monte Antico Always wondered how to turn the technical limitations of your phone into inspiring photographs? Learn how to this spring in best l ocation in southern Tuscany! The award-winning Swedish photographer Sofija Torebo Strindlund will teach composition and use of light, shadows and color in the middle of a perfect Tuscan countryside setting . Sofija will also share her tips about smart accessories, techniques for special effects and teach editing skills using a bunch of apps directly on participants' mobile devices.  Theory sessions will be mixed with hands-on exercises and practice of landscape, portrait, still life and lifestyle photography. Along the way,  there will be some traditional Swedish "fika"  – just for the best possible outcome of course ;-).  iPhoneography Workshop Date : 15-16th of May 2017. Early  bird to lunch and  lunch to late nig...

Considering Pitigliano's breathtaking setting on top of a steep and crumbly Tuscan tufa stone formation, it's surprising that the town hasn't become one  of the major film locations for Hollywood productions in Tuscany.  Montepulciano and countless churches and hamlets in the cypress lined Val d'Orcia have prominently featured in films like  Gladiator, the recent Twilight or - obviously - Under the Tuscan Sun.  But Pi tigliano's low exposure in the film world may change after its appearance in the latest Fiat 500 commercial.  No Photoshop needed, since Pitigliano's town center and the views from and onto the town are just as beautiful as seen in the fun commercial. Balancing on its rock, the southern Tuscan town is the ideal destination for a romantic getaway - with or without the little blue pill.  Read  What to do in Pitigliano  to find r ecommendations for best hotels, restaurants and sights in towns and great organic winery v...

When I first visited the Amiata Piano festival I called beforehand to make a reservation. An unnecessary one since the concert was attended by a handful of people: two of my neighbors, the mayor of our town and me with a couple of Swiss friends in tow.  Waiting for Amiata Piano Festival at the ColleMassari winery Ten years later the festival rightly celebrates its first decade and reservations have become a must for the three concert cycles that bring world class musicians to Cinigiano , a little known Tuscan town in central Maremma. Dedicated to the great Claudio Abbado, the 2014 edition will put the spotlight on some of the major names in Italy's classical music scene. The first two cycles (called Baccus and Euterpe) take place in the Sala di Musica near Poggi del Sasso (with exclusion of the concert at the church of the Montecucco estate on the 29th of June).  The final concerts at the end of August will be hold in the ColleMassari winery; its contemporary wine c...

On top of a green hill Campagnatico seen from the South - East When approaching Campagnatico during stormy weather, one isn't surprised that the Tuscan village got a mention in the book of books: Dante's Divine Comedy . 700 years later, Campagnatico doesn't look too different from what Dante must have imagined - but probably never saw in person - as the ideal backdrop for a scene in the purgatory: a Maremma nobleman's repentance over the errors he committed during his life (too much haughtiness was already an issue in Dante's time!).  Campagnatico seen from Villa Bellaria Picture perfect (probably more so now than in the Middle Ages), the hill town in the Maremma has a lay-back atmosphere. Cats and the elderly sit on benches and the town's only bar tender is busy making Cappuccino, preparing Campari or selling newspapers. Population is low, but still high enough to allow for the survival of two  alimentari (small food stores), a post office, a p...

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

In its third year the Maremma Wine and Food Shire has changed approach and moved the fair from Braccagni into Grosseto's historic town center. Originally designed for trade, Maremma's wine and food fair is also a great place for any foodies hooked on Southern Tuscany's locally produces delicacies. Taste your way through sheep cheese from the Tuscan hills, organically produced wine, salami and prosciutto, saffron, pickled vegetables and fish egg (bottarga) from the coast.  All of it in the lay-back center of one of Tuscany's lesser known cities. Grosseto may not be able to compete with Siena, Pisa or Florence when it comes to art and culture. But the city makes up for it with a car and tourist free town center,  historic city walls, friendly inhabitants and noteworthy architectural details if you only care to look out for them.  Maoist China? A Tuscan cyclist on Grosseto's main shopping road 

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.