Many people dream of spending a weekend in Tuscany. This region of Italy is associated with hills, vineyards, and charming old towns. Tuscany also means good wine, food, great views, and, according to visitors, an amazing magical atmosphere. It is no wonder that Tuscany attracts many tourists. Some come for a longer stay, and some for a short visit.

Tuscany is a region with capricious weather, especially in spring and autumn, which can ruin plans to visit this attractive region. This is exactly what happened to us, so we had to change our ideas about weekend in Tuscany. Here you can read what we saw on our first two days in Tuscany. And what did we do on the other two days when water was pouring from the sky? More on that below.

A weekend in Tuscany: Abbazia and Eremeo di San Galgano and Monteriggioni.

The never-finished abbey and hermitage of San Galgano is located about 30 km from Siena; When you arrive at the site, it is impossible not to notice the impressive remains of the monastery from a distance. Built intensively for about 70 years, i.e. from 1218 to 1288 in the Gothic style, the building began to decline from the 14th century, which was also caused by famine and plague that raged in the area. In the meantime, the Cistercians, who were supposed to be residents of the monastery, established close relations with Siena, turned their backs on the local community and finally moved to Siena. Left to its own devices, the monastery began to deteriorate: some parts of the abbey collapsed and the monastery became a picturesque ruin.

 

 

The abbey is covered by a research and reconstruction plan; gradually all previously closed rooms will be opened to the public. Currently, we can admire the scriptorium, i.e. the room where the monks worked, the chapter house, the remains of the cloister and the interior of the church. A ticket to the abbey and hermitage costs 5 euros. You can park your car for free in the large car park located 500-600m from the monastery. Very beautiful ruins, occasionally used in films and for concerts, are in my opinion worth a visit. In such places I’m always impressed by the talent of the builders and I regret that people lose their manual skills.

Montesiepi Hermitage.

When spending a weekend in Tuscany, it is difficult to miss the Montesiepi Hermitage, which is 100 years older than the abbey. It is located near the monastery, a hill that you have to climb along a forest path.

There is a legend associated with the hermitage, or rather not a legend, because the story is based on proven historical facts, and as Italians believe, it is as fascinating as the story of King Arthur and his Excalibur. Saint Galgano Guidotti, the hero of this story, was a knight – a rake before he became a saint. He changed after the death of his father; when he was about 30 years old, Saint appeared to Galgano in a dream. Archangel Michael. Under the influence of the Archangel, the knight-rabbler decided to turn his life upside down; during this radical change, sanctity became an inseparable element of his dreams, including his waking dreams.

One day, a divine messenger appeared to him and led him to the nearby hill of Montesiepi. There, Galgano met the Twelve Apostles, who suggested that the best way to radically change his life would be to become a hermit and build a house for the glory of God, the Virgin Mary, and the apostles. Hmm, the story sounds like the former knight was on drugs.

In any case, Galgano found the prospect of living in solitude tempting and began searching for a place for a hermitage. And since a man who meets the Apostles cannot simply find a worthy place for hermitage, because that would be too easy, his horse chose the place. The visionary horse led Galgano to Montesiepi, stubbornly stood still, and refused to move. Galgano considered the choice of the stubborn horse a mystical experience, and from that moment on, he became a hermit.

As a sign of his renunciation of his former life, he plunged his knightly sword into the ground, thus evoking the cross of Christ. Rumors of the new hermit spread quickly throughout the area and pilgrims began to come to Montesiepi asking for prayers and miracles. One day, while Galgano was away, someone broke the sword, so Galgano placed it in a more solid base: the Montesiepi boulder, the same one where it stands today. Today, the sword is protected by a glass cover.

In the round building of the hermitage there is a shop where you can buy handmade local products. They have good herbal teas there.

Frosini

On the way to the abbey we came across buildings on a hill; this is the mini-village of Frosini, where 45 people lived in 2001. I don’t know how many live there now, but probably fewer.

 

 

This really small place is old, because the first mention of the Frosini castle appeared in 1004. In addition to the remains of the castle, Frosini has a dozen or so cool stone buildings, a well, a garden, a monument and a closed church.

According to local legend, a ghost appeared there, announcing the plague epidemic in the 14th century. Within a few months of his visit, all the nasty inhabitants of the castle died; the epidemic did not spare the less nasty inhabitants of the neighboring villages either. Only one man survived the plague; he hid in the fortress for a few years and avoided infection.

There are two hotels in the town, so even with its small size, Frosini seems to attract tourists and can be quite a nice base for a weekend in Tuscany. A charming, very Tuscan and very peaceful town that will definitely allow you to escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

Monteriggioni and Colle di Val d’Esa

The next place we visited during the weekend in Tuscany was Monteriggioni – a very nice-looking borgo from a distance. ‘Visited’ is too big a word; ‘dropped in’ sounds better, because the visit took us 10 minutes. Recommended (on the internet) as unusual, Monrerriggioni is not extraordinary in my opinion. Just a borgo, I’ve seen much more interesting ones, so we could safely skip this one.

Heading towards the next place to visit, we saw walls on the way. We stopped to see what was hidden behind them. Hidden away is Colle di Val d’Elsa – a very pretty town with a long street leading from the main gate to the old town.

 

 

The newer part is located lower down. In the Middle Ages, Colle di Val d’Elsa was a field of endless battles between the supporters of the Pope and the supporters of the Emperor. To avoid constant invasions, the town provided itself with fortifications that welcome visitors to the old town. Apart from its impressive walls, Colle di Val d’Elsa can boast the production of crystal and precious glass.

Due to lack of time, after a dozen or so minutes of walk, we returned to the car. Nevertheless, I intend to take a closer look at Calle di Val d’Elsa on the occasion of my next weekend in Tuscany.

 

Florence

Florence is usually a must-see for a trip or a weekend in Tuscany. We didn’t plan to do it because I’d already been there, and besides, I don’t like crowds of tourists. But since the weather canceled the rafting and Florence was the only place where it wasn’t pouring that afternoon, we visited the showpiece city of Tuscany. Florence is supposedly the most stunning city in Italy. Indeed, the panorama consisting of the brick-colored roofs, the towers and domes of the churches and the river towering over them is beautiful. Florence has many wonderful buildings; I like architecture. However, in general, this city doesn’t arouse my enthusiasm, in my opinion the more snobbish and less touristy Siena is nicer. Despite this, I think Florence is absolutely worth visiting.

Since Florence is very well-known, I won’t write about what to see and do there.

Apart from its numerous monuments, the city also supposedly offers top-quality steak restaurants. Tuscany is generally considered one of the regions where meat is the best. Or the best, depending on who you ask. As a former vegetarian, I still avoid meat, but this time I decided to try whether I like meat at all. We chose Trattoria Dalloste, recommended by one of the locals, and on his advice we ordered a 1kg 300g steak for the two of us. We also had wine and a salad, for which we paid 160 euros, which is quite a lot. I ate a small piece of my portion and I have no idea if the steak was good.

I have no reference because I haven’t eaten animals for over 25 years and I simply don’t know what good meat tastes like and whether what a trattoria serves is delicious. I didn’t like it. That doesn’t mean the food was bad, it means I don’t like meat. So I’ll quote Mauro, who says that the steak was delicious and didn’t have to be chewed, like beef. In his opinion, if you want to spend some money on a steak, a trattoria is a good place to have dinner on a weekend in Tuscany.

What else to see in a weekned in Tuscany: Volterra

When planning a longer visit, or maybe just a weekend in Tuscany, include Volterra in the province of Pisa in your plans. It is a picturesque city with a very long history, starting with the Etruscans. And a very atmospheric, very Tuscan town. The city has a rather specific urban layout, which reminds us of its Etruscan roots. You can still see part of the majestic defensive walls from the 5th-4th centuries BC. Porta dell’Arco and Porta Diana, the two entrance gates to the city, are part of the defensive walls. Volterra also has its own Acropolis, on which there are several buildings and the foundations of two ancient temples. And of course, Volterra abounds in numerous Roman remains.

 

 

Numerous streets lead from the main square of the city, encouraging a slow stroll, so exactly ehat you should do spending a weekend in Tuscany. Unfortunately, I tend to walk fast, but sometimes I slow down and then I notice a nice door, a strange plant, or a dog pretending to be dead so as not to go home…

Volterra, like Lucca, is the perfect place to slowly enjoy the unique Tuscan climate. Walking one foot after another, we crawled to a viewpoint by the sea. In good weather, you can see Corsica from there. The weather in Tuscany was absolutely not kind to us this weekend.

We decided to have dinner at Osteria La Pace by the fortress, which is now a prison. I don’t check the reviews on TripAdvisor, Mauro does it with passion and it turned out that the restaurant is great. The thick spaghetti was ok, mine with tomatoes, Mauro’s with wild boar sauce. The second course consisted of meat with something (it was Mauro’s) and ravioli in truffle sauce. And it wasn’t ok. Mauro had to chew the meat thoroughly, and the sauce in my dish was made of overcooked truffles that tasted like socks. I like truffles, but I find them inedible when cooked. We also had salad and wine; we paid about 80 euros. Of course, everyone has different tastes, at the next table there was a group of Polish tourists raving about the food; we didn’t like the second course.

Ascoli Piceno in Marche.

A the end of our weekend in Tuscany, we dropped in at Ascoli; if I remember correctly, it was my 4th visit to this city. A short one this time, because only for lunch and ice cream.

If you don’t have an Italian partner, you can’t imagine how long it takes to find a place to eat, because Mauro can’t just eat at the first restaurant he comes across. He has to compare the menus with 20 nearby ones, read the reviews, it can’t be a tourist spot, etc. Maybe other Italians aren’t so annoying when it comes to food, but I dare say I doubt it. That’s just how it is. And when we finally find a suitable restaurant, it’s very often too late for lunch because the kitchen is closed. That’s what happened this time. So we went to Migliore Olive; we were there 2 years ago. The restaurant/olive shop is in the city centre.

Ascoli Piceno specialises in olives. They’re a local delicacy, so everyone eats them stuffed with whatever they can. So you can buy olives in Migliore, but you can also eat other things there. Last time we had a great mix of olives, ravioli and something else. It was cheap and tasty. Now it was just cheap, although not as cheap and tasteless. The olives are still very good there, but the mushroom pasta and gnocchi with sage were disgusting.

If anyone thinks that there’s no nasty food in Italy, they should go to Migliore Olive and order a meal from the menu. Or to Siena, unfortunately I don’t remember the name of the restaurant.

Walking around Ascoli ended a 4-day-long weekend in Tuscany. I liked Volterra and Lucca the most and if I’d never been to Tuscany, this is how I’d imagine the region. If you really want to feel Tuscany, then in my opinion these two cities are the best places to breathe in the Tuscan climate.