Castiglione D'Orcia and Bagni San Filippo. (Sylvia visiting Tuscany)

Yesterday morning, departing from my Villa in Monticchiello, whose beauty and comfort as well as stupendous service they give their guests still captivates me, I decided to go on an excursion by car to Castiglione D'Orcia and Bagni San Filippo.

Villa Montecchiello is so well situated that by car all towns of Val D'Orcia are within easy reach, each with its peculiarities making it hard to say which one is the most beautiful and interesting. Castiglione D'Orcia is a very old and precious town.

It was a fortress, dominated by the Aldobrandeschi in the 1st century. From the park next to the fortress ruins situated atop a hill, there are marvellous vistas dominating the whole town, the nearby Fortress of Tentennano and Monte Amiata. It makes true pleasure. The little streets of Castiglione D’Orcia are made of cobblestones and in the heart of town there is an original and pretty square, known as Piazza Il Vecchietta, an artist of the 15th century that as many other humanists of the Renaissance in Tuscany , was a prodigy in painting as well as in sculpture and architecture. In the square I was visiting the town hall that extends from one side to the other of the square, creating an emblematic atmosphere. Besides I visited the Romanesque Church of Santa Maria Magdalena and the Renaissance Chiesa di I Santi Stefano e Degna, considered the most important in town, as until recently it housed sacred masterpieces by Simone Martini and Pietro Lorenzetti, today under restoration in Siena.


 In the meanwhile, I got terrible hungry, so after visiting the shops and handicrafts galleries of town, where very tasteful and affordable specialities are sold, I took a car and head for a restaurant that the very charming owner of one of the shops had recommended. You cannot imagine how enchanting and polite the people I am meeting here are¡ The restaurant is "I tre Rioni" and is situated in Campiglia D'Orcia, a very little nearby village. It is an elegant Bed and Breakfast, with a restaurant where to eat superlatively. I eat pecorino salad (an exquisite typical Tuscan sheep cheese) with pears and rucula, and after that a very tender veal escalope with authentic aromatic and delightful forest mushroom ("funghi porcini"), all of that accompanied by a very fresh and excellent white wine: Collazzi Bianco di Montepulciano. After the dessert and coffee, the maitre invited me to drink a drop herb acquavite, a strong liqueur yet of a very delicious flavour.

 I left the restaurant so pleased, not only because of the liqueur...but for the food had been stupendous and the relationship quality/price is very fair. I spent €35 including tip. Bagni San Filippo is a very little and pretty town with a one-of-a-kind scenery, because of the whitish limestone deposits surrounding the thermal baths. They were already very prestigious in the Ancient Romans epoch and were restored in the 16th century, under Cosme I Medici’s orders. In the "La Mandragora" by Maquiavelo there is a passage devoted to them (another book to read in Monticchiello after dinner). This town has five springs of sulphurous waters of important curative properties whose temperature reaches 52º C. There are endless options of spa hotels chosen by the Italians and foreigners to enjoy healthy and relaxing holidays. The following foreigner will be me, loaded with books and good music...emerging from water fresh as a daisy. Wait and see how some good writer includes me in a novel.

 Sylvia