The Cappella della Madonna di Vitaleta on the road from Pienza to San Quirico d'Orcia

In 2001 I came to live in Italy. I had some fun, wrote a journal and this is the blog of my story...

"Tuscany is a state of grace. The countryside is so lovingly designed that the eye sweeps the mountains and valleys without stumbling over a single stone. The lilt of the rolling green hills, the upsurging cypresses, the terraces sculptured by generations that have handled the rocks with skillful tenderness, the fields geometrically juxtaposed as though drawn by a draughtsman for beauty as well as productivity; the battlements of castles on the hills, their tall towers standing grey-blue and golden tan among the forest of trees, the air of such clarity that every sod of earth stands out in such dazzling detail. The fields ripening with barley and oats, beans and beets. The grape-heavy vines espaliered between the horizontal branches of silver-green olive trees, composing orchards of webbed design, rich in intimation of wine, olive oil and lacy-leaf poetry. Tuscany untied the knots in a man's intestines, wiped out the ills of the world. Italy is the garden of Europe, Tuscany is the garden of Italy, Florence is the flower of Tuscany." Irving Stone from my favourite book " The Agony and the Ecstacy" A fictional biography of Michelangelo



52. Sfuso and Sunflowers



The first two weeks of September haven't been brilliant weather wise, although we have been lucky with the weekends. The forecast isn't great for this weekend, but we take a chance anyway and plan to drive to the coast. We've packed overnight bags, picnic hamper and head off Saturday morning...







First stop is Villa Sant' Andrea. This is the wine estate where our favourite wine that we tasted at last week's wine festival comes from. It turns out to be just up the road! In the Cantina they let us taste the 1998 Riserva we tasted last week plus two other wines, the basic Chianti Classico and a Super Tuscan called Citille. We also spot some huge wooden vats, with the words 'sfuso' written on them... On further explanation it turns out you can also buy wine that hasn't been bottled for 1 euro 55 cents a litre, which works out at 75 p a bottle!!!  All we need to do is return with a 5 litre fiasco and fill up! We buy 4 bottles of the '98 Riserva to keep us going!







As we come down the hill, we are greeted by what must be the last remaining field of Sunflowers. Generally Sunflowers are out from late June to early August, so we're lucky to still see some left. We stop and admire one of the symbols of Tuscany and then carry on with our journey to the coast...






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