A busy day today...our first stop is the lovely La Foce Gardens in the south of the Val'Orcia, one of UNESCO's World Heritage sites. Along the way we saw many of the traditional cypress trees lining the roads and fields of grayish-beige clay soil, called crete senesi, which had just been plowed under.
The land here has been inhabited since Etruscan times; the Villa was built in the 15th c. as a stopping place for pilgrims and merchants on their way to Rome, and the land has been farmed by the Origo family since 1924. The gardens, designed by an English architect have been visited by people from all over the world.
During World War ll, Antonio Origo fought with the guerillas in the north of Italy, barely escaping with his life. His wife, Iris, brought children and their mothers to the Villa from a wide area, sheltering and caring for them. She later wrote a book, "War in Val d'Orcia," describing her experiences during 1943-1944.
After another delicious lunch at a winery, we drive northwest through piney hills to the large Benedictine monastery of Monte Oliveto Maggiore. We meet our guide, Roberto, and discover the colorful frescoes in the cloister done by Luca Signorelli and Il Sodoma.
The next morning we set out bright and early to the lovely tiny hill town of Pienza. We will explore the town a bit, then head down the hill to a 14th c. church which is in the San Gregorio family. Beneath the church are the ruins we explore, which have been a hermitage and shelter for pilgrims since the Byzantine times.
The walls along the way are made of limestone...one can still see the shells of sea creatures from the ocean floor.
Alfio, bringing up the rear, as usual!
After climbing over all those broken stones, we headed down the street to the San Gregorio farm, where grandson Nicolo was waiting to introduce us to his animals, and explain the process of their home-made wine, grappa and vin santo (we had lunch there and of course, had tastings of all!)
After lunch (bruschetta with mozzarella, tomato, basil; homemade prosciutto & salami, salad, pecorino--both young and aged, house red wine and 2 year old wine, then vin santo.....we were ready for rest and naps.
PRO TIP: Be adventurous: try a food you haven't eaten before....who knows? You might even like it! (I like fried tripe!)
Pici Pasta Lesson 1 - by Nicolo
Nicolo returned to our hotel in the countryside (owned by his mother) around 5:00 to teach us the fundamentals of making pasta by hand...we all rolled out pici ("pee-shee") which was served with white cheese sauce (cacio e pepe) as part of our dinner that night! Molto delicioso!
Did you know...?
The next day we head out to another hill town in Val d'Orcia, Pitigliano. It is called"little Jerusalem" because of its historical Jewish Ghetto. It also has one of the few historic Jewish cemeteries in Tuscany.
Jews were locked behind gates in the ghetto at 10 pm. and opened again in the morning. Rooms were cut out of the soft volcanic tufa stone. There was not much light.
A few miles from Pitigliano is the City of Tufa (Citta del Tufo) Archeological Park. Here, in a forest near a river, can be found ancient Etruscan tombs and sculpture fragments, that were only discovered in the 1940s. We were able to climb down into the chambers and explore.
Also in that area are the Via Cava, or cave roads--long deep tunnel-like paths that connected the various Etruscan villages (and probably hid the inhabitants from invaders,
as well as kept them cooler in the summertime.)
