Tuscany is one of those iconic destinations that is either on your list of places you must get to one day or on your list of favorites that you really would love to get back to. You just can’t get enough of the intoxicating Tuscan landscape, the scrumptious food and wine, and the internationally renowned art and architecture.
Note: ITuscan.com is no longer in operation.
To refill our souls with the Tuscan vibe we rented a house in the southern part of the Chianti district outside of Siena for the first week in October 2012. ITuscan.com offers smaller units within classic villas that have that villa feel without having to rent an actual 8 room compound. Casale Donatello is a beautifully furnished small house with 2 bedrooms.
To our delight the eat-in country kitchen is the largest room in the house with a full size chef’s oven.
Outside the kitchen is a small garden with fresh herbs, vegetables and fruits. We were too late in the season to benefit from the vegetables but there were still apples and pears to be picked for our breakfast.
The estate includes couple of other dwellings – the apartment directly across the courtyard from us remained empty during our entire stay. I’m not sure how that would change the ambience if someone were living there while we were there. We were told it was a vacation home owned by an Italian family who are rarely there.
View of Siena in the distance.
The grounds are simply everything you would expect from Tuscany – magical sunrises and sunsets, misty mornings, and hills lined with vineyards.
In late summer early autumn the vineyards are filled with tortured grapes waiting to be harvested. And while the summer grains have already been reaped the bare brown fields have their own desolate charm. There is a reason everyone loves Tuscany.
Early October, 2012
For links to all the posts in this series see the Tuscany page.
Comments are closed.