LIFE IN ITALY, A PHOTO GUIDE : Sunday walk in Montalcino

November in Tuscany's countryside. Time for Sunday walks around Etruscan archaeology digs, wild boar hunting and chestnut roasting.

Cypress trees and vineyards below Sant'Angelo in Colle, Montalcino

CYPRESS LOVE
On the way to Sant'Angelo in Colle

Etruscan road and wall at Montalcino's archaeology dig

THESE GUYS HAD STYLE
Etruscan road on Poggio Civitella

EXPLORING ETRUSCAN HERITAGE
Town wall at the archaeology dig on Poggio Civitella

Archery traingin ground for Montalcino's thrush festival

WILD BOAR HUNTING
Archery training ground of the Ruga neighborhood
(see Montalcino's sagra del tordo)

Into the wild. Trekking in Tuscany. Montalcino, Poggio Civitella

END OF THE ROAD
Will we ever find our way back home...

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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