JAZZ and CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVALS MONTALCINO JULY 2011

As I wrote in my previous post - culturally speaking Southern Tuscany is often all or nothing. Two music festivals in 10 days is quite something for a small Tuscan town like Montalcino. Even more if both events are on world-class level.

Amsterdam's Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra is one of Europe's prime orchestras. The selection of musicians who participate in the Musica Reale 2011 edition (July 18-20) guarantee for Chamber Music at its finest. And Montalcino's 'Teatro degli Astrusi', a little jewel of a theater, is the perfect venue for such a prestigious event.

Montalcino's Jazz & Wine festival has already been jammin' it through a fantastic first week. Concerts are starting again this Thursday night and will continue through to Sunday 24th of July. For the highlights check out my post about the festival's 2011 edition: JAZZ & WINE. And remember to bring a jumper!

SANT'ANTIMO ABBEY - TUSCANY'S ROMANESQUE TREASURE

Sant'Antimo abbey near Montalcino You don't have to be a catholic to remain spellbound by the eternal beauty of the Sant'Antimo abbey. The Tuscan church and monastery can turn a stubborn skeptic into a reborn spiritual. At least for the time of the visit.

SWIMMING, READING AND DINING IN BAGNO VIGNONI

Whilst the sell-out of tourist destination is a well known plague all through Italy, t here exists a tiny town in UNESCO Heritage Val d'Orcia which forgoes made in China souvenirs and just opened a bookshop instead. Bagno Vignoni is one of Tuscany's oldest tourist destinations. In fact the historic spa town has never been anything else than a tourist destination, and the ratio of inhabitants to visitors must always have been at least 1 to 10. Having looked after medieval pilgrims, ailing popes and saints ( St. Catherine of Siena used to live here for a while), Bagno Vignoni isn't tempted at all to put out plastic chairs or pizza takeaways for present day travelers. I used to live close to Bagno Vignoni and have fond memories of chasing my first -born around the town's main square which consists of a steaming hot water pool (a must-see sight for urban architects!). Our healthy mornings were usually finished off with a slice of fudge chocolate c

VAL D'ORCIA: A MAP OF THE UNESCO HERITAGE SITE

About 40 minutes south of Siena and a bit over an hour from the Tuscan coast, Val d'Orcia lies to the east of the Maremma and to the west of Montepulciano and Umbria. The UNESCO world heritage site is made up by the territories of Montalcino, San Quirico d'Orcia (with historic spa town Bagno Vignoni ) , Pienza, Castiglione d'Orcia and Radicofani. The Orcia river crosses two more municipalities (Castel del Piano and my hometown Cinigiano ), where it divides the province of Siena from the province of Grosseto (Tuscany's two southernmost areas) before flowing into the Ombrone river. View VAL D'ORCIA MAP in a larger map

Mapping MONTALCINO

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