Tuscany ... featured in so many movies and photographs. The amazing part is, it actually looks like those movies and photographs. We understand that they have very strict development rules in order to preserve that look. We went to Tuscany our first weekend in Italy, with Francesco and Doni.
To get there, Francesco drove us through Furlo (Location 17 on the map. It is in Marche, not Tuscany, despite the name of this page). He had actually taken us there already. What is so interesting about Furlo? In addition to a good size park with some hiking (which unfortunately we didn't fit in to our schedule), there is the 'Galleria Romana Del Furlo'. This is a tunnel on the old Via Flaminia (which was mentioned on the Fano page). The tunnel was started in 76 A.D. and finished the following year. That would be one thousand nine hundred forty one years ago. 1941. Yeah, that is cool. Here is Francesco inside the tunnel.
Once in Tuscany, we went to Monteriggioni. This is a well-preserved medieval town (see point 27 on our travel map). When we first went ... keep in mind this is our first weekend there ... we thought it might be a recreation village like Plymouth Plantation. But it isn't. Monteriggioni is just a normal small village. It is a famous one also. It was mentioned in Dante's Inferno, and is a location used in the game 'Assassin's Creed'. There certainly is a fabulous view from the village.
You can actually buy a ticket to go into the museum and walk up on the walls for an even better viewpoint. But Paul was interested in some things a bit closer up.
They clearly get a lot of tourists in Monteriggioni.
We didn't take them up on shipping wine back home. Another shop Anne found interesting was one selling Pratesi Italian shoes. Paul wasn't interested in a pair; they aren't exactly his style. But it makes a fun window display.
We loved this modern take on a medieval knight. It as an example of how the old and the new are always juxtaposed in Italy, with this modern sculpture right next to an ancient wall.
The sloped entry way had a clever design, which we saw in some other villages as well. The stones were set in slightly raised ridges, which angled down to the sides. This allowed good drainage, while also giving a cart some resistance to sliding back down the road.
Anne's favorite part of Monteriggioni was, however, the discovery of Cioccolata Calda. This was the first, and best, that she had. Unfortunately we didn't think to take a picture of it. We have already shared a picture of a cioccolata calda back in the section on Fano (2nd page of that section).
While in Tuscany, we stayed at a lovely B&B that Doni had found: Fattoria San Donato Farmhouse.
As near as we can tell, the tiny village of San Donato evolved into a family farm, which evolved into an agritourism destination. We would be comfortable in recommending this B&B if you want to stay in Tuscany. However, we don't recommend visiting Tuscany. As Umberto Fenzi, the inn owner who was a bit of a ham, said to us, Paul doesn't have any business being in Tuscany. Tuscan food features garlic and onion prominently! We did manage just fine, so it is probably okay after all for you to visit.
The fattoria ( which translates as farm / farmhouse / homestead) was very pretty and historic.
One of the views from the farm:
Here is where we had breakfast. You can see the buffet set up through the archway.
Signor Fenzi explained to us that when you see the character of the building stones change in a wall, it means that the upper section is a later addition or repair of the older wall. If you look, you can see that is many of the pictures. At the inn, the older portions were from around 1200 AD (if we recall correctly).
The farm is a working farm. They produce wine as well as olive oil, and probably a few other products.
We saw them bringing in some olives they had harvested.
Here is yet another way we knew we weren't in Massachusetts any more: pomegranates growing on a tree at the fattoria. Real live pomegranates. In this picture are the inn keepers (husband and wife), Francesco, Doni, the pomegranate tree, and Paul.
Please move on to Page 2 of Tuscany (7th page of this Italy trip report!).
Updated July 2020