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Getting
away from it all in the Siena countryside
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When
the wife (*) books a break on the Internet
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 It
was late when we were leaving home and even later
leaving the motorway (A1 - Chiusi-Chianciano).
What harm? We husbands (or, should I say male
partners) came armed with maps printed off one of
those programmes that promise to guide you to even
the remotest parts of the land. Strange then, that
in just the shortest space of time, we are driving
down a dirt track in the pitch black and to all appearances
quite lost. We were to find out later that we should
have headed into Chianciano and then towards La
Foce and Cutignano . . . but right now my daughter
is screaming in the back and my wife's navigational
skills are somewhat hampered by her car-sickness
What
Three nights half-board sharing a triple
room in an authentic 17th century
farmhouse |
How
Cash, all major and debit cards |
When
Booked in February for the Easter weekend
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How
much
LIT 750,000.
Euros 387.35 |
| Surfability : |
5 |
| Ease
of use : |
9 |
| Quality/price: |
8 |
| Rating: |
8/10 |
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It's getting even darker and the only sign of life
outside is a kamikaze pine marten who decides to cross
the road just as we appear, allowing us to test the
car's ABS. With no-one in sight and our mobile phones
dead to the world we begin to get worried. Things
are so bad that when we finally pass the signpost
for Contignano, the mediaeval village where
our hotel is located, I actually feel moved.
 Later
that night when I get into chat with the lady of the
house, the delightful Enrica, I find out that
the place where we are staying is an old farmhouse
from 1631 that has been completed renovated and is
now a hotel-cum-restaurant-cum bar. (For more information
contact their site
).
Enrica tells me that we are in the Val d'Orcia,
a natural park that is funded nowadays by the European
community, but created thanks to years of relentless
work by immigrant shepherds from Sardinia who
farmed the land and are now worth millions. There
they are at 9 the next morning, lined up at the bar
with their sambucas, but only because they started
their day at 4, tended to their flocks before lunch
at 8 and are now ready for a well-earned liqueur.
Enrica explains that around these parts traffic is
unheard of and that you worry if you hear an ambulance
because someone you know must be sick. Indeed the
only hold-ups on the road are when car commercials
are being filmed.
(* Aka female partner and domestic power-sharing executive)
Food:
Tuscan cooking at its best. Look out for
the Pici.
Shopping:
Cured ham, cheese, lard, wine and pottery.
Places to visit:
Montalcino, Montepulciano, Pienza and
any other little village that takes your
fancy.
Souvenirs
You're sure to come back with a few
extra pounds around your middle.
Why
For the seemingly endless stretches of
gently rolling hills with the soft ever-changing
hues of their ploughed clay.
Or the classic cypress tress flanking
hilltops and farmhouses, like giant thumbtacks
arranged by some divine hand to remind
us of his genius.. |
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| by
ANTONIO
PARRILLA |
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June
2001
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THE SURVIVOR'S 
