Ok - I will need to do this one in a couple of posts, as we ended up staying in this area for nearly a month. It is really hard to explain, but this is likely our favorite spot on the planet. Tuscany is a fairly large area encompassing Florence in the north and La Spezia on the coast, down past Pisa and Grosseto. Just a small portion of Tuscany, the Val d’Orcia is a beautiful valley with rolling hills and many small hill towns.

There is something about the Val d’Orcia that just reminds you that life can be simple and at the same time complex - the rolling hills and beautiful sunrises and sunsets (not sure if I saw the sun “rise”part), and the amazing wines and artwork. Farmers working the land, as they have for hundreds (thousands) of years. The food is simple but amazing, and the people are incredible. Don’t come here on a “day trip” - stay for at least a week, if not a month or three. You just need to relax and enjoy all that goes on here.

And for us, we stayed most of the time we were here at Cretaiole, our favorite agriturismo, just outside of Pienza, on the road toward San Quirico. Our first time here was in 2011 and we fell in love with this area. We’ve been here in Spring, Summer and Fall, and it is amazing in every season. Poppies blooming in the Spring and the hills are green, and in the Fall, harvesting olives and hunting for truffles. At this time of year, everything is gray and brown, but those colors are amazing as well. The fields are mostly clay, and they really plow them to turn the soil - it is an incredible sight.

This spot always calls us back. We enjoy visiting with Luciano and his family, including Niccolo, his grandson who is doing his internship here, and helping the family. And, Nicco’s girlfriend Leoni is doing her internship here as well - what a bonus! I have a rather large photo album associated with this post (and I will add a few videos later). It is hard to pick just a few pictures from this amazing place.

Anyway, we arrived at Cretaiole and settled into our beautiful room, complete with lots of goodies, a kitchen and a fireplace (It’s 80 degrees, but who cares).

After a great dinner at 13 Gobbi in Montefollonico (pasta tossed in Pecorino), and a few fireworks to celebrate our arrival (oh, I think that was a local celebration in San Quirico), it’s time for bed.

But it seems the fireworks had just begun. We were lucky (?) enough to be here on the first Sunday of September - the weekend when Pienza has its annual “cheese rolling competition”! It seems all the small towns here have some type of competition every year, between “Contrada’s” or the neighborhoods within the town. Maybe the most well known is the Palio di Siena, with the horses racing around the city square - but there is also the wine barrel rolling in Montepulciano, jousting in Montisi, and here….well, they roll pecorino cheese! The best part of the evening was really the “pre-event” festivities, which included marching into the square and flag throwing (it was actually very cool). The cheese rolling itself…not so much. I think there were seven members on each team, with each getting three (or was it five) rolls - it took HOURS! They try to roll the cheese wheel past the stick in the center and then have it come to rest as close as possible, and points are awarded (or not) based on the result. I guess it’s like playing darts - with a cheese wheel! You can even get negative points (sorry Yellow team). It was certainly fun to watch for a bit (we left around 11:30pm), and the winners have bragging rights for the next year.

Since we had been here several times, we opted for only a few of the activities included in the weekly stay. We had to do the “farm tour” to visit with Luciano and we also decided to visit the Etruscan caves on the family property, as this would be Nicco’s first time leading the tour (no pressure of course!). He did a fabulous job, and has the same passion as his mother Isabella did when she led us on this tour 10 years ago, in her Hello Kitty sweats!

The Romitorio di Pienza is found on land owned by Luciano, and as such you can only visit on their private tour. Also known as a Hermitage - monks would “retire” and become hermits here - it is thought to have been built sometime in the 12th century. It had been used during WWII as a place for soldiers to hide, and as a result, much has been destroyed and worn away. But this is an incredible site, and as the rains come every year, the family “cleans up” revealing another few inches from the soil. We (I) spied an interesting piece of glass in the walkway - later, Nicco “swept” and revealed a maybe 300 year old bottle top, looks like a cup, for large jug.

We also enjoyed taking several hikes while we were here. You can walk on any of the farm roads here and there are great signs to help you on your way. I use my All Trails app, which really helps you get anywhere you want to go. One day we hiked into Pienza and back, stopping in town for a beverage (Spritz’s) and we picked up some items to enjoy a light picnic lunch on the trail. This hike was about 6 miles total, and the scenery is beautiful.

I think we covered pretty much every town and sight on the little map above, and some that are not on that map. We visited Bagni San Filippo several times during our stay to enjoy the hot springs and pools. While you can pay to visit some nice baths in town, we like to visit the park, where the water flows freely and you can find several spots to enjoy the hot springs. The “white whale” is a great sight (no - not me - it’s the calcium mountain) but we found pools further up the hill (and away from the more touristy area) where there are pools that range from 85 degrees to maybe 105. A great spot to relax with a bottle of wine!

Another day of hiking took us to San Quirico and back (about 7 miles total), and we happened to see part of their festival as well. It seems each Contrada gets to show off for one weekend, and have a parade - throw flags (seems like something that starts at a very early age here), and have a party! Anyway, the hike was great, and we really love this town - not as much going on as in Pienza, but you can tell it is a “working town”. It looked like we might get wet on the way home, but all the clouds (and lightning) thankfully stayed away!

Oh, and then there are Thursday nights…more commonly referred to as “Pici Night”. We got to enjoy this a couple times on this trip - and it is again one of the highlights. This is a little cooking class - learning to make the local pasta - pici - and a fabulous dinner with family. The first week we were here, it was planned that an expert pici maker would do the class. Well, they were a no-show, but Nicco jumped right in as he has seen Isa and his Grandma Liliana make pici maybe a million times! He did an incredible job, and in fact became the head pici chef from now on! Luciano of course shakes his head, because “only women make pici” - Nico will tell you times have changed! Carlo still does the best grill around - and we love him dearly! And tonight he has his younger son Filippo, helping out. Luciano also joins us for Pici Night, followed by some Vin Santo and Grappa. But he looks at me and asks- “haven’t you done this a few times before?” I say yes, of course - he says “then why is the pici still too fat?” Oh Lord - I failed again - I’ll have to come back to try one more time! And Luciano just loves “Google translate” - make sure you have it if you ever visit him (but you may never get your phone back!)

Ok - like I said, this will be the first of two posts from here. There are a lot of photos, and I will be adding some videos as well. The second post will show more of the other hill towns in this area.

For now - the best part for us - being here with Luciano and his family for the Vendemmia! The “one day” of the year when it is time to harvest the grapes, and get them processed. Of course here, this is family wine - not Brunello Di Montalcino or anything fancy - but it is still a very special day. We had the opportunity to participate in this event 10 years ago, and are lucky enough to be here again. Nothing beats a day of working in the vineyards and then enjoying a nice lunch together. Carlo lets guests participate in the harvest and this old tradition, and it is wonderful. Luciano is now 81, so not quite as active as he was in this 10 years ago - but he is still “the man”! And some of his friends still help out - my same “boys” from the past! We had a great day for sure.

Ok - sorry for the long post, but as I said earlier - this is maybe our favorite spot on the planet to visit. I will finish this one with our last visit to Luciano and Liliana. We had a light dinner with the two of them the night before, and he asked us to stop by the next day on our way out. We had a chance to visit a little more, and to see the grapes he had just hung to dry to make his next batch of Vin Santo and Grappa - sounds like he will complete this in mid-December. When we drove in, he had just killed over 30 chickens, they were plucking, and cleaning, getting them ready for the freezer for the winter...oh my! It is clear to us their lives on this farm have not changed much. They still do the same farm chores every year at nearly the same time. Liliana is quiet and speaks no English, Luciano loves his interaction with guests, he is really an outgoing guy! We then got to take a look at all the grapes hanging in the shed - it was amazing.

Luciano is one amazing guy as well. He was born here, and his earliest memories are from WWII with gunfire, etc. - he was maybe 5 at the time, and Pienza was shot up pretty well (and then rebuilt). He recalls US soldiers bringing candy to the the children. His family were sharecroppers and in 1980 he was offered one of the sharecropper farms "Cretaiole". He bought that property and his small farm in Pienza city limits and established one of the first agriturisimo’s in Tuscany, taking advantage of the tax laws and building an incredible property. Liliana was born in Montisi (one of our favorite towns as well), just about 5 miles from Pienza. The two of them are absolutely wonderful, and we are so glad to call them our friends.

I guess I just have one question. Luciano looks great in that picture, but he always seems to smile a lot more when I am not in the picture…hmmmm….

That’s it for now - another post coming soon.

All the best from the Val d’Orcia,

Tim & Eileen