Articoli marcati con tag ‘Tuscany’

Don Giovanni, Opera at San Galgano, Chiusdino (Siena)

Since many years, in the summer, the Abbey of San Galgano is the location of concerts in collaboration with the renomate siennese Chigiana Academy. In the scenic open air Cathedral of San Galgano, under a blanket of stars, take place every summerlays, operas, concerts, musicals and ballets.

Inside the Abbey, 800 seats to accommodate the public.

Performances at the Abbey of San Galgano start at 9.00 p.m.

Bookings/tickets: Ph. 0039 055 5978308/ 0039 055 5978309

For more informations and the programme:

Opera Festival

Multipromo Opera festival

via San Francesco, 3

50014 Fiesole (Fi)

info@festivalopera.it

web site

Piscina of Camping Le Soline, Casciano di Murlo (Siena)

If it is summer and you wish to dip in a  pool…  I suggest you to go to Camping Le Soline in Casciano di Murlo (Siena). This swimming pool in the area of Murlo is big and has a beautiful panoramic position …

Of course you can choose to stay in the camping with your tent, roulotte or camper or in a bungalow but you can also go there just for their swimming pool paying a daily ticket for the swimming pool. Last year the price was 7,50 euro/per person and you can stay there the whole day. In the camping there are also a café and a restaurant.

This is a great idea especially if you’ve got children and you want to let them play in the water for a day..:-))

Swimming pools of Camping Le Soline

web site

Pic nic at Vivo d'Orcia, Amiata mountain

You won’t never have such a wonderful restaurant like the tables and pic nic area at the source of Vivo d’Orcia! When I first see this place I immediately imagined how it would be nice to do a medieval party there..

I suggest to bring with you meat and vegetables for a barbeque!

This place is not too high so I find it perfect for a picnic in late spring until june and in september/october: for hot summer I would suggest to go upper in the Amiata mountain when the fresh air will recover you.

Gelso or Morus Nigra (Mulberry tree)

Yesterday we were in San Giusto and planted our first mulberry tree. It is always so exciting planting a new tree! you already know it will probably live more then you .. and I think this has something mystic, it is so beautiful to do something for more generations.

In San Giusto there were already a lot of mulberry trees (somewhere in its millenary history probably they used to raise silkworms) so it shouldn’t have problems with growing here.

Everyone told me that mulberry trees are rough and they should not need so many attentions and moreover, as they are already there, they certainly go well with San Giusto soil which is very clayey. So… let’s pray for the best:-))

We have called this tree “Gino” in the name of Gino Strada, the founder of Emergency..(for more infos see their web site).

In our garden of San Giusto we had already a “Barack” (a black figue:-)) and some other trees..whose names, of course, are those of people we do admire .. we have also a “Luigino, il susino” in the name of Don Luigi Ciotti founder of Gruppo Abele (web site) and Libera (web site).

Terracotta products, Tuscany

If you’re curious of knowing better the tuscan handwerks and typical products, you can even shop on the website of the tuscan land:

E-Shop official web site InToscana.it

I have seen a lot of interesting objects, especially terracotta, ceramics, extra vergin olive oils, food and wines. Of course they aren’t cheap products at all but the quality is normally great! so if you can’t come to tuscany and directly buy products in the shops, you can try this magic virtual shop!

If you are looking for a perfect location for a photo service or a movie, the Siena territory is ideal:

so, if you’re planning a holiday in the Siena territory, do not forget your photo camera and your video camera!

I copy from a new website for film makers:

«Those colours, that light…» as the poet Mario Luzi crisply described our land, honing in on that characteristic universal uniqueness that has made it famous throughout the world.

As a result Terre di Siena is their perfect set for films, commercials and photo shoots.

That’s because when all is said and done this region is the only real Utopia, the only fictitious reality.
Everyone’s dream location actually exists. It’s here and it belongs to us.

Ristorante Latte di Luna, Pienza, Tuscany, Italy

This restaurant has been suggested by many of our guests!

Unfortunately we have not yet been there but every spring we plan to go:-))

… maybe this year?!

Trattoria
Latte di Luna
Via San Carlo n. 2/4
Ph:  0578 748606  Handy: 338 3266791

Closed on Tuesday

Pappardelle al ragù (typical tuscan pasta with ragù)

Procedure:

In a frying pan, put some extra virgin olive oil.

When it is war, add chopped onion (one), carrot (one), celery (one piece).
Now add the minced beef (300 gr) and minced pork (300 gr), plus some fresh sausage (2 fresh sausages).
When it is well toasted, add half a glass of red wine.
Let the wine evaporate. Then add salt and pepper.
Add a can of tomato sauce, a bit of tomato paste and a bit of water covering everything.
Cook at very low temperature for at least 40 minutes, preferably 1 hour.

Now the ragù il ready.

Let’s cook the Pappardelle:

Put ca. 2 liters and a half of natural water in a pot.

Let the water boil. Add a handful of salt.
When the water boils well, throw the pasta (for 2 persons: 200 gr of Pappardelle Coop).
Cook for the time that is reported on the box (be careful not to exceed the period of cooking!)
Drain the pasta with the colander.

Put the frying pan with the ragù on the kitchen to warm.
Add the pasta. Mix well and slowly the pasta with the ragù on the kitchen, at low temperature, for one/two minutes. Add the Parmigiano Reggiano. Cover everything with a top cover and wait one/two minutes before serving.

Crostini con Fegatini, tuscan Crostini with lever paste

This is really typical of Tuscany.. to begin the meal with mixed Crostini some with spleen paste, some others with mushrooms, and some others with lever.

Here is my father-in-law recipe (who, in any case, says that he always changes receipe, depending on what he has in the fridge:-))

Ingredients:

chicken lever, onion, celery, 1 carrot, extra virgin olive oil, 1 fresh sausage, capers, anchovy paste

Procedure:

Clean the liver (remove skin and any purple part). In a frying pan, heat the oil. Add the chopped celery, carrot, onion. Let this heat.
Add the liver, a bit ‘of capers and a bit’ of anchovy paste and, if desired, a piece of fresh sausage.
Cook for about 20 minutes over low heat.
Add salt and pepper. When cooked, add a little ‘capers.
Chop everything with a chopper.
Serve the paste on slices of bread (better if without salt  as it is tradition in Tuscany), hot or cold… but  I prefer when the lever paste is served on warm bread!

Ingredients:

Before coming to Tuscany, I only new the famous song “Viva la Pappa col Pomodoro” sung by Rita Pavone.. in Piedmont isn’t a tradition.

When I discovered it (Giorgio made me taste it), I found it really special.. and asked Giorgio to do it so many times!

It is a very simple plate, a traditional plate of Tuscany, one of the poorest plates of the tradition but it is so good! So I find it like a cuddle:-))

Here is Ciorgio’s recipe:

Ingredients:

1 onion, some extra virgin olive oil, tomato paste, 2 fresh tomatoes, Parmigiano Reggiano

Procedure:

Cut the onion in little pieces. Put a little ‘of oil in a pan and then heat the oil.
When the oil is hot, add the onion.
When the onion is a bit ‘faded add the tomato puree and two fresh tomatoes into small pieces. Cook stirring occasionally for 15 to 20 minutes on very low heat.
Serve and, in the plate, add a lot of grated Parmigiano Reggiano.

Something about Parmigiano Reggiano: if you wish to taste the real italian plates, you have to buy the real Parmigiano Reggiano, not already grated and not with other names such as Parmesan or other things.. they are not the real Parmigiano and won’t taste the same and won’t give you the same suggestions. These products are frauds.. they won’t assure you all the quality certifications.. so pay attention!

I will tell you the same about extra vergin olive oil: these italian recipes give their best with original and best quality ingredients. If you’re not planning to come to Italy, you can buy some good oil with e-commerce maybe? or, if you’re lucky and you’re planning a trip to Italy, when you come you also buy some some good extra virgin olive oil directly buy farmers. (I usually buy extra vergin olive oil in Murlo with 6, 7 euro per liter.. it is not so much, isn’t it? like one of the worste quality in a supermarket..The right period for the famous “olio novo” (new oil) is december, after olive harvest. My opinion is, that to taste olio novo directly by farmers is one of the most important things to do in life:-)

For celebrating the new oil, in december there are some special festivals: for example, the “Festa dell’Olio” (Oil Festival), on december 8th,  in San Quirico d’Orcia..

Lajatico (Pisa), Tuscany

“This is my land

It ‘a land that, like me, loves the silence

And if, with my voice, I break this silence

I do it to pay homage to these places and to my people.

The music penetrates the earth and travels

and fly far away

It ‘a message of love. ”

Andrea Bocelli

original words:

“Questa è la mia terra

E’ una terra che, come me, ama il silenzio

E se, con la mia voce, rompo questo silenzio

lo faccio per rendere omaggio a questi luoghi e alla mia gente.

La musica penetra la terra e la percorre

e vola lontanissimo

E’ un messaggio d’amore”.

Andrea Bocelli

Crostini with Spleen

Ingredients:

a calf spleen, extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, bread slices, chili, fresh sausage, 1 carrot, some celer, some parsley, some basil, onion, leek

Procedure (This recipe has been given by my father-in-law):

The spleen is a slice with a sort of peel from both sides. Remove it and then scrape the flesh with a knife until you get a bloody pap. (if you wish, you can add a fresh sausage to the spleen)
In a pan, put extra virgin olive oil, let warm it a little, then add a chopped with carrot, celery, parsley, basil, onion and leek.
Let dry the mixture a little, then add the spleen pap.

Cook for 15-20 minutes, add salt, pepper, chili, capers, anchovies and garlic. Cook for 5 minutes and turn off.

Then mince everything with the immersion blenderimmersion blender.

The Spleen so cooked is served cold on warm slices of bread.

We went to Trattoria Il Pozzo because some friends suggested us this place. It was late spring and it was for lunch time.

We were really surprised by the beauty of the place, which is a medieval very little village perched on a hill. We parked the car at the beginning of the village and walked along a road with very ancient cypress trees, in less then five minutes we arrived in the main square of the village, a very pictoresque place, a pleasant place like an open living-room.. The Trattoria Il Pozzo is there, with a very nice dehors on the square.

We sat down in the dehors and ordered some typical plates such as Pici Cacio e Pepe (typical Pasta of Siena with Pecorino Cheese and Pepper) and something else, I don’t remember…but I remember how pleasant was staying under the large white umbrellas of the dehors chatting, with a good glas of wine and very good food.

The weather was hot, there were many people, but the square was silent and at the same time lively..

Strongly suggested Restaurant! Romantic and peaceful..

Trattoria Il Pozzo

Sant'Angelo in Colle, Montalcino (Siena)

Pan co' Santi, traditional sweet bread of Siena

When autumn arrives, the Siena territory becomes really magnetic for people loving open air life, and living in the countryside becomes truly fascinating. I love this period! After hot summer months, it is quite wonderful to light the fireplace, to put on the first pullovers and look at the woods changing colours into the warmer nuances of red and yellow while the air becomes more fresh.

In this magical period, in which the vineyards are full of workers for the harves, the osterias are often attended by groups of laughing hunters and the days slowly shorten, it is really funny to sit down at lunch time in a restaurant or a little osteria and enjoy the many culinary traditions of this period.

A typical recipe of the Siena territory in this period, particularly in October and November, is the “Pan co’ santi” (Bread with Saints – where the “Saints” stay for nuts and raisins), an ancient recipe, a sort of sweet bread..

Since I am in Tuscany, I’ve always eaten Pan co’ Santi in autumn, often on sunday, together with my husband and my husband’s father, which are both very traditional and buy it very . The only problem is that now it is very difficul to find the Pan co’ Santi with the same taste of the past, because nowadays they tend to prepare it sweeter than in the past and not so spicy as it used to be.

For this reason, both my husband and my husband’s father buy Pan co’ Santi in bakeries and not in pastries.. always hoping to come back to ancient times, when the tastes were really stronger and pepper, here in Tuscany, was really very very used..

A place where we always find a very good Pan co’ Santi is in San Quirico d’Orcia, in the backery just outside the town walls, next to the pharmacy:

Panificio Salvatori

Via dei Canneti, 39

53027 San Quirico d’Orcia (Siena)

Greve in Chianti, market on wednesday

If you love to go to the market, I suggest you to go on wednesday in Greve in Chianti in the main square Piazza Matteotti. It is pictoresque and funny and then you can go to the historical butcher Antica Macelleria Falorni in Piazza Matteotti.

Macelleria Falorni, Greve in Chianti

I discovered this butcher thanks to a friend of mine, who lived in Greve in Chianti and brought me to buy in this special place. This is an historical butcher, a paradise for typical tuscan products! My suggestion is to go in Greve in  Chianti at least once in life on wednesday, when it’s market day and to stop at the Antica Macelleria Falorni for some wilde boar salami, fresh sausages, ham and other typical products.

Antica Macelleria Falorni

Piazza Giacomo Matteotti, 71

Greve in Chianti (Firenze)

Ph. 0039 055 853029

e-mail: negozio@falorni.it

web site

ou can directly buy online the Falorni products in the web site of  land  Toscana

Antica Macelleria Falorni, Greve in Chianti (Firenze)

Radicofani Fortress, Radicofani (Siena), Orcia Valley

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 went there with my husband and my husband’s grandfather, we tasted a mix of first plates and second plates and the experience was fantastic!

Very low prices: it is almost impossible to spend more then 25 euro per person.

Ristorante La Grotta

Piazza Sant’Agata, 2

53040 Radicofani (Siena)

Ph. 0039 0578 55866‎

Radicofani Fortress, Radicofani, Orcia Valley (Siena)

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 for two times by the famous robber Ghino di Tacco, the italian Robin Hood.

If you go to the Radicofani Fortress, 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 went there with my husband and my husband’s grandfather, we tasted a mix of first plates and second plates and the experience was fantastic!

Ristorante La Grotta

Piazza Sant’Agata, 2

53040 Radicofani (Siena)

Ph. 0039 0578 55866‎

Fiaschetteria Italiana, Montalcino (Siena)

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 del Popolo.

I think, that this  square is really a place pleasant to sit in, particularly in summer and weekends, a lively and beautiful place!

Antica Fiaschetteria Italiana

Piazza del Popolo

Montalcino (Siena)

web site

the medieval towers of San Gimignano

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 was used to see beautiful alleys, wonderful houses, splendid monuments, but then I had to isolate those beautiful pearls of art and history from their contest which was too often ruined by building speculation, cement jungles, horrible palaces and houses: I simply say…this doesn’t happen here. You arrive in the Siena territory and you won’t believe an area can be so beautiful and so perfectly maintained. And about San Gimignano: the snakering stone roads, the buildings, the  towers, the atmosphere, so planty of beauty everywhere! It is fantastic and seems impossible to be true…

Unfortunately, if you are born in a big city, it is so easy to think that beauty can’t happen and things must be in any case polluted, ruined and that this is the reality and that the perfect beauty is only for dreams.

The Siena territory is there to show that this is not true and that a territory can be absolutely perfect, splendid, fantastic. And that this is possible exactly like asphalt, cement and again asphalt and cement in everywhere..

I think, it is absolutely clear that I suggest you to visit San Gimignano:-) only one problem:  everything is very expensive:

after that first time, I spent a lot of days in San Gimignano because I worked there some time..and for a coffee and sandwich I spent really too much, something like 9 euros!! (this happened in the café in the main square)

In San Gimignano I had a very good experience with ice cream: Giorgio and I had a very good one in Piazza della Cisterna and sit down on the steps of the square to savour its wonderful taste:

Gelateria di Piazza

Piazza della Cisterna

San Gimignano (Siena)

web site

San Gimignano is also too crowdy in weekends and summer days so I suggest you to visit it during week days and not only in july/august