The weather this summer has been a bit crazy up to now. We had a cool June, a very hot early July and a cool and rainy second half of the month. It has been raining quite a lot, and the temperature is lower than it usually is at this time of the year, but the countryside after a summer rainfall is spectacular!

Here are some more shots we have taken over the past few days!

It’s no big deal though, because I get to spend more time in my home village, and that is always a nice change from the busier rhythms of the city. It’s almost like being on holiday.

This year we have decided it has to be exactly like being on holiday. Since we cannot leave, we have decided to have a “staycation“, a vacation at home. If so many people travel from all over the world to come spend a week here, we thought, why can’t we do the same? And so we have decided to make a virtue of necessity!

I guess there are many ways to take a staycation in Tuscany: we could go explore the many beautiful places we haven’t seen yet, but we have decided to spend some time at my parents’ house in the countryside and just relax instead. We are always in the car driving back and forth between Pisa and Civitella: I want a few days where I can stay put. Well… almost.

This is actually not very different from what we usually do when we travel abroad anyway: we like the quiet of the countryside and we always choose destinations that allow us to spend some time in scenic spots. We are so lucky to own a tiny piece of the wonderful countryside of Tuscany, so, that’s this year’s hideaway for us!

We have packed a lot of books, as we plan on reading as much as we can. Hopefully the weather will be good this week and we will be able to enjoy the shade under the oak trees. I’ve also gathered a number of recipes that I have wanted to try for a while: the vegetable garden, the chicken coop and the orchard will provide us with most of what we need for the week!

I have set out to use my best tableware and kitchenware too, the type of things you buy because you love them, and then you rarely use them because they seem too nice… well, nothing is too nice for us this week! My husband always makes fun of me, because I buy the nicest things for our vacation house, Casina di Rosa, and keep the cheapest things for ourselves! Not this time!

We plan on spending some time walking the trails with our dog, having a nice garden party with some friends, gardening, and generally enjoying the beautiful, quiet countryside.

So yesterday we said… Let’s the staycation begin! We spent our first day in the countryside and loved it. The weather was overcast: big dark clouds in the morning and early afternoon, which made for the perfect weather to unpack, have a nice lunch and curl up on the sofa for an afternoon nap while a brief summer storm raged outside. The cool wind that accompanies the summer rain is amazing. And the smell of the countryside after a sudden shower is also unmistakeable!

Not sure if my husband was as enthusiastic about the rain as I was, because so it happened that our dog needed to go out right in the middle of a heavy shower (and of the Grand Prix…) and both of them came back soaking wet and muddy!

By 5pm though, the sun was back. The light was great, the temperature was cool, and the table in the garden was finally dry enough that we could have a warm tea under the trees. 

I think when you are on holiday, the small details make all the difference. This is why we try to fit our vacation homes with nice things to make them as cozy as we can. Fresh flowers, nice china, different types of tea… a perfect tea break!

We also got to spend some time reading in the late afternoon summer breeze.

After some gardening, our guests arrived so my husband went to check them in, while I started preparing dinner: pork filet with apples and roast potatoes! Delicious!

A movie and it was bed time!

This morning we had to have an early start, because my husband had to go see a client in Florence… the first interruption of our staycation (not for me though!). Opening the windows at 7am and being able to walk out the dog in my pyjamas might seem a simple pleasure for those of you who are used to having a private, fenced garden… but for us living in Italy, where having a garden is a luxury and a private one is a dream, this felt absolutely great! The sun was warm, the air was crisp. Just perfect for a quick walk with the dog before a cappuccino and a croissant!

Let the staycation continue!!!

Yesterday, it was one of those perfectly sunny winter days and I took advantage of the good weather to go for a walk with my dog.

The countryside is still “wintery”, with the trees which are still leafless except for a few large oak trees.

But the bright green grass is now dotted by small blue flowers and yellow daisies. The bees are going crazy!! And I had never noticed that the prevailing colour at this time of the year is light blue! Beautiful and cheerful!

Even if I have walked these paths many times, I still notice new details that I had never noticed before… what is left of an old road…

An old ladder leaning against a tree… I wonder how log it has been there for…

A pretty pile of stones in a paddle…

If you want to visit Tuscany in March, Casina di Rosa still has some available weeks!

We have spent three weeks in Canada where the weather was “mild” by the local standards, but still much colder than it ever gets around here and cold enough for me to prefer staying inside rather than walking around in the snow.

That’s why this past week has been perfect: 16-18°C in Pisa (60-64°F), sunny, bright… perfect. One of those weeks when you get a taste of spring! Too bad they are usually followed but some really bad or cold weather which leaves you wanting for more spring-like weather and activities while you watch the rain come down and the wind roll your vases around on the balcony…

Sunny days in winter are perfect for taking long strolls in the countryside. That’s what we did today. It was so warm, we didn’t even need a jacket. We had the dogs with us… or rather… we followed them around while they were chasing each other, rolling in the mud and running after cars…

The countryside is still totally “wintry”, even though the rain first and the sun after have given the fields a nice green coat!

What I love the most when we take walks in the winter is the unexpected “discovery” of certain objects that look completely neglected… an old ladder leaning against a bare tree, a rusty bucket still placed under the leafless plum tree standing by a rickety old shack, a sickle with an old wooden handle laying by a wet hay stack… It’s almost as if farmers had all of a sudden realized that winter had come and had hurried to their homes to “ibernate” abandoning all their tools behind.

Well.. in our area, what is most likely to have happened is they all realized the wild boar hunting season was on! That’s actually the only bad side of winter walks in the Tuscan countryside… you have to make sure you are dressed in bright colors and stay away from hunting areas!

More photos of another winter walk in Tuscany [added on January 16, 2011].

To see these pictures in a larger format, please check our Flickr slide show “Autumn in Tuscany“.

1. Autumn in Tuscany – the vineyards

2. The olives almost ready to be harvested

3. The vineyards of Tuscany in the Fall

4.Wild berries on a bush

5. Yellow and green leaves in the vineyard

6. The olive trees in the vineyard

7. Acorn on an oak tree

8. The autumn vineyard

9. Large oak trees in the fields

10. A zucchini flower

11. Olives on an olive tree

12. Fading rose petals

13. Pretty wild berries in the Tuscan countryside

14. Pomegranates

15. A funny plant growing on an old log

16. Persimmons

17. Pomegranate

18. Beautiful oak leaves

19. Pomegranates

20. Oak leaves

21. Oak leaves

22. Moss on a tree trunk

23. Wild cyclamens

24. Leaves and stones

25. Pretty bush with orange and yellow flowers

To see these pictures in a larger format, please check our Flickr slide show “Autumn in Tuscany“.

To visit the countryside at this beautiful time of the year, come stay at our vacation house in Tuscany, Casina di Rosa!

Even when we go somewhere on holiday, driving around is a big part of our vacation. It is not about getting from point a to point b: it’s our way of enjoying beautiful landscapes, stopping along the road to enjoy the views and take pictures, and taking it slow. The drive, for us, is often not just a necessary part of a day-trip: it’s the whole point of a day-trip. We like road trips very much.

I am always a bit surprised when I hear our guests worry about driving in Italy or on winding country roads: that’s the best part of a vacation in Tuscany! Our recommendation is always to take it slow, stop when you feel you need to, and ignore those behind you: do your own thing as you feel comfortable, the world will adjust to your rhythm!

Country lanes are generally a good place for slow drives because there is very little traffic. This morning, on my slow drive through our corner of Tuscany, I only met two other cars.

I left Civitella Marittima and drove towards Grosseto along the E78-SS223. I turned left on a road that I really like, called La Cerreta, which connects the main highway E78 to the road to Monte Amiata (SP64). It’s a road that cuts through the woods and the countryside.

I got on the main road to Monte Amiata and almost immediately turned left passing under an old railway bridge to get onto the Strada Provinciale di Petriolo and followed towards Monte Antico.

The road to Monte Antico is a beautiful drive. It takes you through the prettiest landscapes of Tuscany, with old bridges, fields dotted with hay bales, olive groves, vineyards and sunflower fields. Monte Antico itself is a little hamlet home to less than 100 people, but they can be very proud of their local restaurant, La Taverna di Campagna. They serve both traditional food and excellent pizza, and the owners are the proud producers of one of the best Montecucco D.O.C. wines in the area, Begnardi.

To many, Monte Antico is probably just a group of houses, but I find it fascinating, with its yellow church, and the little train station, which is one of the main stops on the old Grosseto-Siena  railway line. The steam engine train called Treno Natura always stops here. It is one of those places which still bear traces of the old times, when lots of people lived here or in the many farmhouses around this group of houses.

From Monte Antico a picture perfect cypress tree-lined road climbs up to the top of a hill, where the ancient Castle of Monte Antico is located. The castle looks like a fortress from the outside, and it is now a beautiful hotel. It has a lovely courtyard with a well, and breathtaking views over the valley of the river Ombrone.

Driving up to the castle you can enjoy very beautiful views over the hills where our village, Civitella Marittima, is located, and over the surrounding vineyards, nestled among the cypress trees. It’s really pretty. Coming closer to the castle, the old church of San Tommaso, now a theatre, welcomes you to this fabulous corner of the inland hills of the Maremma.

That’s right. Most people don’t have this image of the Maremma in their head. They believe it’s a flat area by the coast. Not at all. The inland areas are quintessentially Tuscan, with rolling hills, vineyards giving way to olive groves, giving way to woods and fields. It’s Tuscany at its best.

I really like the short stretch of road that from the Castle of Monte Antico takes you back to the old Leopoldina road. The road is one of my favourite places near here. I wrote a post for the Velvet Escape Travel Blog about it. The views area amazing!

I drove as far as Fattoria Nuova Pievanella, one of the most beautiful countryside villas in Tuscany. It’s a holiday farm with rooms and apartments, a tennis court, swimming pool, gym, paths through their grounds and a restaurant. But most importantly it is in a stunning location. It’s the perfect romantic retreat in the Tuscan countryside.

I turned around and drove back down to Monte Antico, along the road that runs below the castle. There are a few spots where one can stop and enjoy the view over the hills towards Civitella. The fields have just been harvested and the hay bales are still there: so pretty!

I got back to the old Strada di Petriolo, also known as the “ancient salt road”, because it was the old road that led from Siena to the sea and ensured the salt supply to the city. There are plenty of spots to stop here, and I did stop quite a bit, and took some really cool photos of some hay bales on the top of a hill!

The road is wider than the other one so it’s an easier drive. It is also busier but I still only met two other cars. Most of the fields have been transformed into vineyards over the last few years, since the creation of the Montecucco DOC wine region.It’s very beautiful, especially the part which overlooks the Castle of Casenovole and Monte Amiata.

I then turned left to take the road that goes down to the ancient Ardengheschi Abbey and finally leads back to the village passing by the old village fountains.

A perfect way to spend a Sunday morning in Tuscany!

Here is a photogallery with 62 photos I took this morning. To see them in a larger size, please click on the box with an arrow symbol in the bottom right corner of the gallery. Thank you. They are also available on Flickr.

This itinerary (avoiding the highway) is also perfect for expert cyclists and for horseback rides and walkers.

Then all of a sudden the sky beyond the hilltop where Civitella Marittima, our village, sits went dark. Thunder could be heard in the distance. It didn’t take long for the storm to arrive from Monte Amiata. The countryside suddenly went silent. No cheerful birds, no grumpy cows, no happy hens. Just lowering clouds quickly gathering over the village and over our house, and the rumble of thunder. The rain came “wrapped up” in a whirlwind, with more thunder and lightning. The storm didn’t last more than 20 minutes and left us with a brighter, dazzling sun. All of a sudden the air was cool and clear; a thin, smoke-like steam covered the roads; a distinctive smell of wet straw and earth filled the air.

It was sunset already and while the western sky glimmered over the vineyard colouring  the vines in an intense pink, to the east, a beautiful red full moon was raising in a bright blue sky over the silver olive trees.

Just another perfect summer day in the Maremma.

(Please, click on the symbol on the bottom right-hand corner to see the photos full-screen. If you don’t have Flash, you can see the photos here)

I am not a huge fan of day-tripping on days like Pasquetta and Ferragosto, when 90% of my fellow countrymen get on the road, but I love picnics and barbecues!!!

So we took it very easy, and had an Italian-style barbecue (no hamburgers or hotdogs… well, hotdogs for the kids… but only pork ribs, steaks and sausages) at my parents’ place in the countryside.

The countryside in Tuscany is really beautiful right now, with the bright green fields, the first early spring flowers and the fruit trees in bloom.

Too bad that for the first half of the day, the weather was not as good as we would have hoped. It was cloudy, windy and it ended up raining too.  So we had to gather around the fireplace with a glass of wine in our hands!

The sacrifices you have to make to adjust to the rhythms of Tuscan country life…

In the afternoon, though, around 4pm, the sun came out and the temperature went up. The light was just beautiful and the day turned in the perfect April day we had hoped for. We then decided to go for a walk.

This part of Tuscany, called Alta Maremma, an area on the border between the Siena region and the Maremma plains, is full of great “strade bianche“, country lanes, mostly closed to traffic and ideal for easy relaxed walks in the beautiful countryside.

So we put our rubber boots on and followed our dog! A friend, and my sister-in-law with two of her children and her husband came with us on this fabulous walk.

I am not sure who was happiest jumping through the muddy puddles,  our dog or our 7-year-old niece Chiara! They both certainly  had water all over themselves!

The kids loved the walk: we had to walk through a little stream, we saw cows, and… even a huge parrot! Surprising Tuscany!

And when we got back, it was the perfect time for “merenda“, an afternoon snack, and another good glass of wine! A perfect Pasquetta in the countryside!

But yesterday, I took my dog out and all of a sudden I realized something: while we stress out with the many unnecessary drama we put ourselves through everyday, time passes and nature takes its course, and after the bad days, even the apparently insignificant things around us that often go unnoticed can bear the promise of better days to come.

I found myself standing in the warm springlike sun, looking down where my dog was sniffing the ground. I noticed that the first thin, tender, shaky, bright green blades of grass have started peeping out  from under the layer of mud left behind by weeks of incessant rain. I raised my eyes, and I saw that  the branches of one of the trees in the next garden are already covered in small lumps that will soon become buds and then leaves or flowers. In a corner, by a pile of old broken tiles and other abandoned building materials, a cloud of minuscule bugs were flying frantically in a sparkling cloud.

And then I saw it: a bold wild daisy, fully in bloom, bending under my dog’s curious nose! A real taste of spring in the heart of winter. These last few sunny days have made us forget the boring days of heavy rain in Tuscany, and even if the “real” spring is still far away, it’s nice to see that the coldest time of the year is almost over!

The roses are fully in bloom and are spectacular. The jasmine at Casina di Rosa is also in bloom and smells so good!

But the most spectacular thing I saw today (besides a really cool woodpecker nest in a plum tree!) were the olive trees completely covered in white flowers! Most people don’t even know what an olive tree flower looks like.

Here you are then: take a look at my photos of a day of May in the Tuscan countryside!