Weekend in Toscana

Nature's triumph
Toscana
Nel verde
Magazine: September 2007

Nature’s triumph
The Amiata landscape is spiritual and suggestive, inspiring meditation and contemplation.
The magic begins as you cross the stretches of chestnut trees and beech trees starting at base of the ancient volcano which has been extinct for centuries.
The magic is uninterrupted as you meander along footpaths and dirt tracks which cut through the Mountain woods.
The culmination is breathtakingly unexpected: from the monumental iron cross that marks the Mountain’s peak, sweeping views include the Argentario profi les and the Mediterranean woodlands of the Uccellina reserve. The town closest to the summit is Abbadia San Salvatore, erected around an abbey from which it takes its name.
It was built during the Longobard period and still treasures small examples of sacred art such as the fresco which depicts its miraculous foundation. The abbey’s real treasure is the ‘hidden’ crypt under the main altar: a myriad of supporting columns whose capitals of astounding elegance, variety and décor, depict human fi gures and imaginary creatures, geometric designs and intricate knots, mazes and fl oral motifs.
The Park and Mineral Museum at the gates of the town are a reminder of Abbadia’s epic mining activities at the end of ‘800, when this village was one of the most important centres in the world for Mercury extraction.

Dettaglio

A reawakening of the senses
Chianciano Terme (SI)
Benessere
Magazine: August 2007

Surrounded by the age-old trees of Acqua Santa Park, the Chianciano Sensory Hot Springs are housed in tasteful premises and adhere to the principles of naturopathy. The aim is to re-balance one’s energy fi eld with special treatments (relaxing, energising, purifying and re-balancing). At guests’ disposition are thermal baths, saltwater baths, saunas (Finnish and Etruscan, invigorated with Tuscan fragrances), a Turkish bath, calidarium, “ice crash” (cold mist and icy shower), and melmarium with a variety of thermal muds. Not to mention rooms dedicated to aromatherapy, cromotherapy and music therapy for complete and total relaxation.

Dettaglio

A midsummer night's dream
Cortona (AR)
Arte
Magazine: August 2007

In Cortona, a little gem in the province of Arezzo, the Tuscan Sun Festival takes centre stage from 4 to 16 August 2007 (tuscansunfestival.com), a festival praised by British newspaper The Independent as being “among the top 10 art festivals in Europe”. Some of the talented artists on display are Joshua Bell, José Cura, Stéphane Denève, Angelika Kirchschlager, Nina Kotova and Anna Netrebko, to name but a few. Music rings out from every corner of the city, both by day, while the musicians are rehearsing, and by night, when they treat us to magnifi cent concerts, mostly in the open air, and in the splendid settings that Cortona offers. The festival - opened offi cially by Sofi a Loren on the 4 August during a gala concert - is a tribute to music, art and many other expressions of culture.

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Beautiful life on the hills segnalato da vie del gusto
Fiesole (FI)
Nel verde
Magazine: August 2007

Fiesole

Dettaglio

Soft Enchantment
Toscana
Magazine: June 2007

Take it slowly. That’s the advice, but not the rule. You see, the full essence of some places can only be appreciated, understood, interiorised at a different pace. It’s a question of rhythm. A trip that enables you to live and feel the territory tunes in to all fi ve senses and does not go by the clock. And so it should be for Siena and its surroundings, a weaving mosaic of art and nature. Goethe also wanted to stop and savour it, not run. Indeed, on his visit to Italy, the poet complained that the carriage was going too fast for him to be able to admire the scenery. A gentle pace is still advisable today. It lets the eye appreciate the rolling green vastness punctuated by cypress trees, to capture the spectacular, undulating fi elds of grain and olive trees, the orderly rows of vines. A land that needs to be discovered through emotions sparked by the variety of the experiences offered by the people of Siena, which enable the visitor to transform the art and fl avours of this world heritage into personal prisms of memory.

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