MAPPING TUSCANY

A quick round up of my favorite wild hot springs and historic bath towns in Tuscany (more detailed information on spas and rock pool bathing can be found in the single articles the links will lead you to).  WILDERNESS POOLS   PETRIOLO  half an hour to the south of Siena. With its steaming hot water in the upper row of pools a favorite of mine on icy cold winter mornings. The Farma river passes right next to the hot springs. So be courageous and have a splash to try the benefits of kneipping.   SATURNIA  the biggest, most southern and also Italy's best known (and loved!) wilderness pools. The closest option for a soak if you arrive from Rome. To be avoided on weekends.  FOSSO BIANCO  in the Val d'Orcia is a spectacular sight hidden away in the woods below Bagni San Filippo. The shady surroundings make of these natural springs a nice location in the summer.  BAGNO VIGNONI  has a lovely pool below the small waterfall. ...

Organic tastes better, organic is the right choice for the planet,  organic is healthier for your kids and yourself.  Whatever science and consumer reports say about the above, one thing is sure: green shopping is more fun and a feast for the eye! At least in the Tuscan countryside, when buying your pesticide  free fruit and vegetables right at the organic farm.  Organic shopping in Tuscany: even the customers look better Find below a list and map with Tuscany's most picturesque p it stops for organic food shopping, from the region's southernmost corner all the way up to Florence.  TERRA ETRUSCO , Capalbio Scalo Near Capalbio's train station, close to WWF's Lago di Burano nature reserve and the Tuscan sea,  Terr a Etrusco is an organic farm with a 21st century approach. Restaurant, grocery store and the rooms of the farm-stay are a stylish and welcome break from the usual fake Tuscan decor.  LA PARRINA , Albinia near Orbetello One of th...

No better way to understand a wine you love, than by meeting the winemaker behind it. This interview with Giovan Battista Basile from the Basile winery in Southern Tuscany's Montecucco DOCG  is the start of a series of articles, which will map out some of the best organic wineries in Tuscany. Other people are into banking, sailing or shoemaking. Which winds blew you on top of a Tuscan hill?   My sister. She owns a beautiful property ( Le Pianore ) in a valley surrounded by untouched nature at the foot of Mount Amiata. I lived with her for four years until my brother Domenico and I decided to buy a piece of land that had been abandoned for years. We immediately decided to plant vineyards so as to produce our own wine. Why Montecucco DOCG? Any interesting facts and figures about your Tuscan wine making region? Montecucco is a fascinating area. When we started out, the DOC had just been born a year before. It was an interesting challenge – new producers in a new DO...

Where to start with that haircut? With Tuscany's extra virgin olive oil being famous world over, it may come as a surprise that the region's olive tree pruning is notorious for its rather cruel approach: Tuscan farmers used to prune only once every two years (and often still do). Pruning is very time consuming, and cutting the tree a Mohawk hairstyle means you can skip a winter before having to get up the ladder again with shears and saw in hand.  I'm no expert on the matter of pruning, but from looking after our very own Tuscan olive grove I've discovered two crucial points for pruning success, which are not always mentioned in olive grove manuals.   In my experience the best preparation to pruning is by doing the olive harvest in the very same grove the year before. The chosen pruning style depends on the technique used during olive picking (i.e. harvest by hand or with a particular type of machine). Once you've been driven mad by unreachable olives du...

No news from the boot. We're still in the midst of an economic crisis and the political tohubohu is as reckless as ever. Thank god not only the bad things stay the same. The good stuff doesn't change either. Like Italian coffee. Every time I stop in one of the bars of a Tuscan off-the-beaten-path town, I know that even though pensions are higher in Sweden, child-care better in France and public toilets cleaner in Switzerland - I couldn't live anywhere else. Because... a good old Italian sign is just so endlessly more attractive than all the neon in the world red fly curtains make me smile the winter sun never fails to put me in a good mood (and she just isn't around too much further up north) washinglines (so simple and so ecological) will always remain one of my must have items life at the bar is yes, about good coffee, but above all about having a common ground and meeting place for young and old alike I like to ditch the crowd. And you can in...

Mount Amiata - Tuscany's extinct volcano. Worth a detour even for non skiers 2 chairlifts, 6 ski lifts, 10  km of slopes,  and  depending on amount of snowfall 5 to 10 km of cross-country skiing ... only the first time skier could possibly be impressed by these numbers. In fact, people visit  Tuscany for its Renaissance heritage and wine making fame, and NOT for its winter resorts. Which is wrong. At least for people who like to travel adventurously. Skiing in Southern Tuscany is as surreal and  off-the-beaten-path  as it gets.  In regard to winter sport Mont'Amiata's content may be basic, but  ambiance is king. N ever would I have thought, that I'd be wearing my skiing boots (and not my bikini) whilst making out Corsica's mountain peaks on the other side of the Mediterranean.  The two chairlifts on the mountain are not the most recent or fastest models, but a ride on them opens up fabulous views over the hills of Maremma and ...

Recovering in the shade (photo Flickr user Toby Leah Bochan) Florence with children? Visiting the city of the Renaissance with a bunch of unruly kids sounds like your worst nightmare? I’m with you: art, culture and Tuscan wine and food make of Florence a perfect adult only destination.  But then,  the most vivid memory I have from my last child-free visit at the Uffizi isn't of Leonardo da Vinci or Botticelli, but of myself downing over-prized espresso at the museum café in a desperate attempt to get over last night's han gover . In this sense Florence in the company of a few inquisitive kids seemed like my last resort to skip the wine and see the art instead.  Once we'd decided to bring the kids, the question was how to go about it. FIRENZE CARD: SKIP THE LINES AND ENJOY THE ART WITH THE FLORENCE MUSEUM PASS If you have three days in Florence there is no better way to see frescoes, paintings and sculptures of the Renaissance masters than with the...

Tuscany in the winter can be gloomy and chilly. Hotel rooms may be freezing and your favorite restaurant can be closed for most of the cold season. But this won't frighten the lover of strolls, walks and serious hikes. Because fog,  rain or even snow are rare to stay around. It's in spring and autumn that Italy gets most of its rain falls (or at least that's what the weather used to be like in the past). Tramontana and other winter winds may be cold, but who cares?  The incredible light, crystal clear views and the absence of tourists make sure you won't mind about having to dress in layers.    Wondering where to start hiking in Tuscany? Stunning scenery awaits around every corner, but signed out walks aren't quite that easy to get by. A great place to start is the Maremma National Park . Hiking trails are well looked after and the views towards Tuscany's islands and its southern coastline are too good for words.  To find out more about the myster...

Dressing up the olive trees. Fishnet tights for everybody in the grove. 

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).