Day 17: San Quirico d'Orcia
Today is the scheduled "free day" in southern Tuscany....no group outings are scheduled and everyone has the option of doing whatever they want....or not doing anything. The weather is fine...warm and sunny....and everyone has a relaxed morning. I have an appointment at 10 am to visit the Casa Lemmi, a fairly new b&b on the main street in town. I have only seen the pictures on the web site and want to see if it is really as nice as it looks.
The owner Antonio...a young man from Naples...runs the place with his wife and it is indeed as nice (if not nicer) than it looks on the internet. The rooms are extremely large and nicely furnished...some with views over the street and the La Collegiata church, others to the back over the garden. And it has the bonus of wireless internet and reasonable prices. Definitely someplace to try in the future...
Four of the group--Seth, Michael, Monica and me--set out on a walk to Bagno Vignoni; the others remain in town to relax, shop, sit or write. Bagno Vignoni is about five kilometers (3 miles) from San Quirico d'Orcia on a gravel road which is quite steep at times. We pass through fields with haystacks and get some great views of the countryside and the village of San Quirico d'Orcia (which looks bigger from this viewpoint.)
Seth had walked this part of the road the other day and had complained about the lack of directional signage.....but we weren't sure what his problem was.
The small hamlet of Vignoni sits on the crest of the hill and looks to be uninhabited...we suspect that the houses are now used as vacation homes.
We pass a large vineyard and Seth stops to investigate....
We notice that there are rosebushes planted at the end of some of the rows of vines
and we are told by a man working in the vines that they are planted to provide an early warning of any diseases that may develop in the field.
Before we enter the town of Bagno Vignoni, Seth and I make an impromptu inspection of the recently opened 5 star Adler Thermae......the facilities appear to be very grand and the pools very attractive.
Bagni Vignoni is famous for its main piazza which is a large pool of water although it is no longer used for bathing.
In order to "take the waters" in Bagno Vignoni, you have to go to the pool at the Hotel Posta Marcucci which, while not as luxurious as the Adler Thermae, has a dynamite view over the valley and up to Castaglione d'Orcia.
We decide to have lunch before calling Jonathan to give us a ride back to San Quirico d'Orcia. We pick a place--the Osteria della Madonnina--that has a sandwich menu but it turns out that they don't serve that menu at lunch. We order some pastas and some vegetables which turn out to be very, very good...and we have a relaxing meal sitting outside on the piazza.
Later in the afternoon, I drive over to Pienza to meet with a client of mine who is staying there and Lisa, Seth and Kerensa come along to do some shopping. Lisa buys a Pienza cheese for her father and we drop her back in San Quirico d'Orcia, pick up Diana and set out to visit a business associate of Seth's who has a small b&b in the area. We meet Seth's associate at another place near San Giovanni d'Asso where there is a big musical evening planned for late in June....the event will include a dinner and a chamber music concert. The setting is unbelieveably beautiful..the house and grounds restored impeccably, the views stupendous. We then go back to see the b&b which is actually in a small, not-so-beautiful village. The b&b is stylish and the owners are very enthusiastic but we are not sure it is a place for most of our clients.
Il Tinaio is closed on Thursdays so for our final dinner together, we go to the hotel's restaurant--L'Antico Forno. Our experience this time is much like we had last year when Diana and I went there...the food was fine by and large but the service was very spotty and lackadasical. Ordering was even more confusing than it usually is for the eight of us--there were not enough of the two different menus and we had to keep passing them around so that everyone could make their selections.
And there were problems with the food also....the bistecca fiorentina came out cooked on one end and cold on the other and a vegetable tart was also cold in the middle. We drank some very local wine--actually from the vineyard that we had walked past earlier in the day on the way to Bagno Vignoni.
Tomorrow we are all going to Perugia together before we have to say our goodbyes.
The owner Antonio...a young man from Naples...runs the place with his wife and it is indeed as nice (if not nicer) than it looks on the internet. The rooms are extremely large and nicely furnished...some with views over the street and the La Collegiata church, others to the back over the garden. And it has the bonus of wireless internet and reasonable prices. Definitely someplace to try in the future...
Four of the group--Seth, Michael, Monica and me--set out on a walk to Bagno Vignoni; the others remain in town to relax, shop, sit or write. Bagno Vignoni is about five kilometers (3 miles) from San Quirico d'Orcia on a gravel road which is quite steep at times. We pass through fields with haystacks and get some great views of the countryside and the village of San Quirico d'Orcia (which looks bigger from this viewpoint.)
Seth had walked this part of the road the other day and had complained about the lack of directional signage.....but we weren't sure what his problem was.
The small hamlet of Vignoni sits on the crest of the hill and looks to be uninhabited...we suspect that the houses are now used as vacation homes.
We pass a large vineyard and Seth stops to investigate....
We notice that there are rosebushes planted at the end of some of the rows of vines
and we are told by a man working in the vines that they are planted to provide an early warning of any diseases that may develop in the field.
Before we enter the town of Bagno Vignoni, Seth and I make an impromptu inspection of the recently opened 5 star Adler Thermae......the facilities appear to be very grand and the pools very attractive.
Bagni Vignoni is famous for its main piazza which is a large pool of water although it is no longer used for bathing.
In order to "take the waters" in Bagno Vignoni, you have to go to the pool at the Hotel Posta Marcucci which, while not as luxurious as the Adler Thermae, has a dynamite view over the valley and up to Castaglione d'Orcia.
We decide to have lunch before calling Jonathan to give us a ride back to San Quirico d'Orcia. We pick a place--the Osteria della Madonnina--that has a sandwich menu but it turns out that they don't serve that menu at lunch. We order some pastas and some vegetables which turn out to be very, very good...and we have a relaxing meal sitting outside on the piazza.
Later in the afternoon, I drive over to Pienza to meet with a client of mine who is staying there and Lisa, Seth and Kerensa come along to do some shopping. Lisa buys a Pienza cheese for her father and we drop her back in San Quirico d'Orcia, pick up Diana and set out to visit a business associate of Seth's who has a small b&b in the area. We meet Seth's associate at another place near San Giovanni d'Asso where there is a big musical evening planned for late in June....the event will include a dinner and a chamber music concert. The setting is unbelieveably beautiful..the house and grounds restored impeccably, the views stupendous. We then go back to see the b&b which is actually in a small, not-so-beautiful village. The b&b is stylish and the owners are very enthusiastic but we are not sure it is a place for most of our clients.
Il Tinaio is closed on Thursdays so for our final dinner together, we go to the hotel's restaurant--L'Antico Forno. Our experience this time is much like we had last year when Diana and I went there...the food was fine by and large but the service was very spotty and lackadasical. Ordering was even more confusing than it usually is for the eight of us--there were not enough of the two different menus and we had to keep passing them around so that everyone could make their selections.
And there were problems with the food also....the bistecca fiorentina came out cooked on one end and cold on the other and a vegetable tart was also cold in the middle. We drank some very local wine--actually from the vineyard that we had walked past earlier in the day on the way to Bagno Vignoni.
Tomorrow we are all going to Perugia together before we have to say our goodbyes.
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