Agriturismo in the Heart Of Italy
Self-Catering Accommodations in the Tuscan Countryside
Aug 25, 2009 Gail Mangold-Vine
Staying at 'accommodation in the countryside' might be a better way of phrasing that – as opposed to limiting oneself to day excursions from Siena or Florence. Many who have toured this part of Italy agree that nothing compares with the experience of full immersion, soaking up the Tuscany landscape in situ for a week or two, and effectively reversing the usual process by heading into the towns for occasional excursions.
A website devoted to agriturismo lists 647 predominantly self-catering options in the Tuscan countryside, and these include everything from rooms on working farms to rental villas and a few high-end hotels.
Tuscany's Rural Splendor
Somewhere in between is Lucignano d’Asso, a hilltop village with restored farm houses only a half hour by car from Siena yet deep in the heartland. It’s like being in another world. Getting here requires driving along dusty dirt roads flanked by a mix of forest, vineyards, fields and groves – this is olive country, oil is pressed and sold in the village. You may spot fauna like wild boar, hares, pheasants, foxes, deer (early morning or dusk are the best times) or see farmers tending sheep or cows, pigs, chickens, rabbits and geese – all of which, domestic and wild, will somehow end up on the table in one form or another, the abundance and sensuality of food being one of the hallmarks of a visit to this part of the world.
Eventually, the road leads to the small palazzo of Countess Angelica Piccolomini Naldi Bandini, the force behind the splendid restoration of five village homes and a villa rented out on her Azienda Agrituristica. The palazzo frames the entrance to the historic center of the village or antico borgo, which overlooks one of the most stunning bits of landscape anywhere on the planet. Files of cypress trees adorn the gentle spines of hills, the fields and forests passed on the way now laid out below like a rich patchwork of greens and browns and golds, other villages nestled at a distance on hilltops like this one. The air has a pristine quality here. Everything is in perfect harmony.
Luxurious Tuscan Simplicity
Old stones – attached village homes, a tower and two churches one of them with a winsome lone bell – a tiny convenience store and café, stray cats, a tumble of orange-flowered trumpet vines across facades and terra cotta pots with lemon trees, oleander, hibiscus, geraniums, lavender and rosemary, characterize the borgo antico.
Inside, five of the simple houses have been luxuriously renovated with tile floors, trompe l’oeil murals, giant fireplaces, fine chandeliers, a mix of rustic and grand antique furnishings, mosquito netting over elegant beds, with design kitchens and bathrooms. Little touches in the homes make guests feel as if they are personal guests of the countess: monogrammed linens, sprigs of fresh lavender in vases. Uniformed maids change beds and clean once a week and more often if you pay extra. And yet nothing is snooty, the manager and her team are down to earth and exceptionally helpful. Life is uncomplicated and private.
Italian Ambiance And Hospitality
Up a coiling steep outdoors staircase to the topmost vantage point in the village, there is an infinity pool for use by those renting the homes. The contrast of its sleek elegant lines with the surrounding landscape makes both look even more stunning.
Walking, cycling, and swimming in the pool – all ideal ways to soak up the positive energies of the landscape – are best done (in summer) before sun-up or at dusk. Daytime pursuits may include touring sites of equally mind-boggling beauty and cultural significance, in towns and without, or going to nearby baths to take the waters and get a massage. Restaurants abound, ranging from congenial Mom and Pops to grand temples of Italian haute cuisine, but shopping in markets for simple meals ‘’at home’’ (BBQs in a shady grove near the pool are another option) is just as much fun.
A typical home spread might include sausage and salami, focaccia bread to dip in olive oil, bruschetta rubbed with garlic and oil, or crostini of grilled bread topped by chicken liver paté; tuna and capers, pickled onions, sun-ripened red red tomatoes with fresh basil drizzled with olive oil; pecorino (ewe’s milk cheese) with local honey or fig jam, the way Tuscans like it; slabs of melon. Cantucci or other hard cookies dunked into a kind of passito wine called Vin Santo di Montepulciano makes for another heavenly dessert. Not to be forgotten is that Montalcino (home of world-famous Brunello) and Montepulciano (Vino Nobile) are a stone’s throw away, so wine tasting and purchasing for meals such as this is eminently worthwhile.
If done right, a week or two in the Tuscan countryside is like a totally senses-oriented meditation. The point is to turn the chattering mind off and just be. Very helpful at Lucignano d’Asso: no flight path overhead, no background buzz from the Autostrada, no car noise – vehicles are forbidden in the antico borgo – or relentless inferno of muzak/ringtone/radio/TV. These are replaced by bird chatter, the sound of modulated Italian voices passing outside shuttered windows or a dog bark echoing far off in the still night. It’s not that one can’t place a call on the old internationally enabled cellulario, or access the Internet, or watch TV – it’s that this is the opportunity not to, in fact doing so (along with brand shopping and bemoaning the absence of nightlife) are contra-indicated if full reenergizing is desired.
Paradoxically perhaps, the history that oozes out of every stone, the presence of so much art, the abundance of the earth, and the timeless landscapes – that Tuscan Tao – all make the sense of here and now that much more palpable. Letting go to this harmonious restful sensuality day after day eventually yields reconnection with soul and self.
Church in Lucignano d'Asso
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