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Val D Orcia
We left Barga for a day on the motorway and then some back roads for a rendezvous with our friends at a villa in Tuscany situated in the Val d Orcia. The motorways or autostrada are always a bit of fun as Beemers, Audis and Mercs go by at ridiculous speeds. The Tornate King more than held his own in that company. The traffic from here on did start to increase a little and so it was time to start testing the horn at appropriate times. I found quite a few appropriate times. We also stopped at a mega Autogrill food stop on the Autostrada. Massive. Straddles the whole autostrada and has many levels to choose from. I love that you can sit for a "proper meal", get a takeaway or anything in between. I also love that you can pick up a six pack, grappa, wine or other liquor to go on with. We hit the villa after lunch and were excited to look around and choose a room. The villa was/is fantastic and has a great view down and across the Val d Orcia, a world heritage listed landscape. Apparently the valley landscape was "created" in the rennaisance as an example of a productive but aesthetically pleasing landscape. The world heritage inscription reads:
"The landscape of Val d’Orcia is part of the agricultural hinterland of Siena, redrawn and developed when it was integrated in the territory of the city-state in the 14th and 15th centuries to reflect an idealized model of good governance and to create an aesthetically pleasing picture. The landscape’s distinctive aesthetics, flat chalk plains out of which rise almost conical hills with fortified settlements on top, inspired many artists. Their images have come to exemplify the beauty of well-managed Renaissance agricultural landscapes. The inscription covers: an agrarian and pastoral landscape reflecting innovative land-management systems; towns and villages; farmhouses; and the Roman Via Francigena and its associated abbeys, inns, shrines, bridges, etc."
All of us arrived over the next few hours and after a few celebratory Aperol Spritz's and beers settled down to a beautifully prepared Tuscan feast prepared by our resident cook Christina. A pattern began to emerge for this point on. Since then (2nd of June) each day has been a pattern of late breakfast, late lunch and huge dinner punctuated by hilly rides or shopping trips to nearby hill villages such as Pienza and Montepulciano. The valley is very beautiful and at present the farmers are bailing hay, the poppies are blooming and at night the fireflies swoop and flutter around the garden. All very hard to take. While each town has its own character, they all share one common trait - hillyness. Where we are staying is no different, we are near the top of a hill and any venture out requires a descent, followed by a climb and any return journey always ends with a climb. Worthy of another Aperol spritz.......or 2. I may get the chance to fill in a few of the gaps but most of what I can say can be grasped for the pics related to this area that I will post shortly. Suffice to say time is going way to quickly and we will soon have to leave and head south for the last leg of our trip in Rome.
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Cath Sutherland Love ya work Rod - thanks for sharing xx