I found this video on YouTube and I decided to put it here in order to show the cornfields of Orcia Valley (Val d’Orcia) in march, april… simply a spectacular lanscape 360°!

I suggest you also to stop for luch in the village of Radicofani in the restaurant La Grotta (better to book, specially on sunday and week-ends: it is always full).  It is a great restaurant, where siennese people enjoy to go, as it is not expensive at all and the food is great. When I [...]

I appreciated very much the visit of Radicofani Fortress! The fortress is located on the top of an high hill, a very panoramic place that you reach after walking ca. 20 minutes up to the fortress. The fortress is very fascinating and its long history too as it is also famous because it was occupied [...]

If you make a walk in the ancient town of Montalcino, homeland of the famous wine Brunello di Montalcino, I suggest you to stop for a glas of Brunello or a less expensive Cappuccino in the dehors of the Antica Fiaschetteria Italiana, an historical café and wine shop in the main square of town, Piazza [...]

I suggest you to go in San Gimignano if not because it’s an extraordinary exemple of medieval architecture unique in the world..also just because of a special Gelateria (ice cream shop): Gelateria di Piazza, with his super creative proprietor, who was two times awarded with the first Just in order to give you an idea [...]

The first time I went to San Gimignano it was december and very cold.. my first impression was very strong: I was simply astonished, I had really never seen such a magical place (one more!:-)) I had never seen such an ancient place, so perfectly preserved, surrounded by a landscape so perfect, magical, untouched! I [...]

I suggest you a bath in the swimming pool with mineral water of Hotel La Posta: it has both outdoor and indoor spaces and offers its guests a wonderful view of the valley  and  of  Rocca d’Orcia. Check on the hotel’s website as the swimming pool is not always open: only from spring to autumn. [...]

I have to tell the truth: the first time I saw the new spot of Tuscany, I din’t like it because you couldn’t see many landscapes nor natural or architectural beauties.. but now I find it genial because effectively there are so many wonderful things to see, do, eat, appreciate, etc… that it would be [...]

I think, that Bagno Vignoni is “must” for every lover of Tuscan. It is very very small, maybe a pair of roads and a square… but, in any case, it’s a very interesting village mainly because of its main square made of thermal water. Now you can’t bath in it anymore but in medieval times [...]

I read this article and found it I agreed with it: “Tuscany is one of those places in the world, that once you have visited it, you are bitten by the “bug” and somehow you always end up comparing future destinations to it, usually unfavourably. Somehow there is nowhere else in the world it is [...]

“Tuscany is mostly rural, ranging from snaking, sandy roads leading to rusty-coloured farmhouses in a landscape interspersed with moss-coated castles.  It is easy to see how poets such as Byron and Shelley were inspired by Tuscany. A fairytale vista of dark green cypress tree-lined countryside and ramshackle turrets, it is a place which can make [...]

Semi-autobiographical tale from the early life of director Franco Zeffirelli looks at the illegitimate son of an Italian businessman. The boy’s mother has died, and he is raised by an Englishwoman in pre world war II Fascist Italy. Living to each other in Florence, and presided over by an ambassador’s widow, a group of Englishwomen [...]

Bernardo Bertolucci filmed the scenes of Stealing Beauty (Io ballo da sola) in the summer of 2005 between Florence and Siena, in splendid unforgettable locations. Some of the scenes were filmed in Villa di Geggiano, in the Chianti territory (Siena) Today the Villa the proprietors produce a very appreciated Chianti and offer their spaces for [...]

Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy of 1993 written and filmed by Kenneth Branagh. The comedy is freely inspired by the omonimous Shakespearian piece and mantain its location in Messina (Sicily, Italy) but was interely filmed in Greve in Chianti by the beautiful Villa Vignamaggio, in the Siena territory. Villa vignamaggio produces extra virgin [...]

Hoffmann filmed his Midsummer’s Night Dream in Montepulciano. Chiappa: Kevin Kline Titania: Michelle Pfeiffer Oberon: Rupert Everett Puck: Stanley Tucci Elena: Calista Flockart Ermia: Anna Friel Demetrio: Christian Bale Lisandro: Domicic West Teseo: DavidStraithairn Ippolita: Sophie Marceau

Walk around the square and the main road of Pienza and look for the places where Zeffirelli filmed his beautiful  “Romeo and Juliet”, already in year 1968. The film won two Oscar (best costumes and best photography) and three Golden Globe (best foreign film, best female promise, best male promise)

At Sant’Anna in Camprena, a former Olivetan Benedictine monastery from the 15th century – only 6 kilometers away from Pienza, the Italian-American director Anthony Minghella shot some of the most famous scenes of his movie The English patient, nominated for 9 academy awards. Now the monastery is an agriturismo:  in the monastery’s refectory the visitors [...]

Gianna Nannini is an italian singer, born in Siena in 1956. She is the daughter of a famous family in Siena: the Nannini. The grandfather did the first pastry in Siena, the father made a fortune with siennese cakes, the brother was a famous Formula1 driver and now is handling the pastries, while she moved [...]

If you come to Tuscany, I strongly suggest to imitate the Siena inhabitants and go by Nannini for a sweet break with a Coffee and some Siena sweets: Ricciarelli, Panforte, Cantucci and Cavallucci. Ricciarelli are soft mandel biscuits Cantucci are hard biscuits with entire mandels Cavallucci are semi-hard biscuits with nuts and spices Panforte is [...]

Of course, I don’t know all the squares of the world … so I cannot tell, that Piazza del Campo is the most beautiful square of the world. Moreover, I am from Turin and I can say without trouble, that also in Turin there are beautiful, splendid squares: Piazza Castello, Piazza San Carlo etc.. For [...]