JAZZ IN MONTALCINO - MARCH 2012

Festival season hasn't started yet. We still have to wait for another 4 months till Montalcino's fabulous Jazz festival is ready to go. The 2012 Jazz & Wine program isn't out yet, but I'm on the heel of Banfi vintners and will have a shout out on this blog as soon as I can get them to disclose some of the big names that will make it to Montalcino this July.

In the meantime Italian Jazz musician Valerio Annicchiarico is taking it up to him to open the music season. With the warm spring temperatures we are all ready to leave the house and join some life events. Restaurant La Pieve close to Banfi's Castello Poggio alle Mura provides the beautiufl location.

WHERE: LA PIEVE DI POGGIO ALLE MURA

WHEN: Every Friday in March

WHAT: Four evenings in the name of Jazz, wine and Tuscan cuisine.

WHO: Jazz Guitarist Valerio Annicchiarico organises the sessions at La Pieve and will play a different programme each Friday.

La Pieve also offers beautiful bedrooms and apartments for anybody interested to stay the night.

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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