Weekend of Relax and Prosciutto: Part 1

The Italian holiday weekend could not have come at a better time. After weeks of stressing about some major changes and big decisions, I decided it was time for a break. So with June 2 as a national holiday, and with my first weekend concentrating solely on Slice of Tuscany, my friend and I decided to get the heck out of Dodge and do some "research" for my new business.

We booked some spots throughout Tuscany where we could easily get to on his bike, and those that could easily be day trips for visitors to Florence. The plan looked like this: Thursday night at La Villa Miranda in Radda in Chanti; Friday and Saturday at Castel Bigozzi outside Monteriggioni. I giri tours/trips on the bike to explore during the day. The only hiccup in our plan was the forecast, which called for rain every. single. day. Great. We set out anyway and had ourselves a pretty darn good time.

Thursday we left Florence in sunshine - two people, two backpacks and one motorcycle (= 1 very sore backside, by the way).

 
We headed straight for our friends at La Villa Miranda. We arrived when the rain started so decided to sit and dine on house wine, prosciutto and pecorino, fried artichokes and Miranda's very famous ravioli...followed up by some limoncello of course. That afternoon the rain stopped and we were shown our room for the evening. We had been promised a "beautiiiiiful!" room in their Relais Santa Cristina villa which has a pool, an amazing view and a dining room. Instead we were taken to the lesser, more home-like rooms in the regular villa because S. Christina had a problem with the hot water heater. That evening, still in the clear of the rain, we took the bike and drove around outside of Radda. During twilight we started climbing a hill towards the small town of Volpaia.

Our entry at La Villa Miranda

The view from our room

We arrived in Volpaia and it was just like a fairytale. We decided that at one time, the "town" which probably is home to 150 people, once once all one single castle now broken down into a few homes and restaurants. Every home was dripping with beautiful flowers and the views down into the fog covered valleys were stunning. We felt as if we were sitting in a Walt Disney scene that was once drawn by hand but then forgotten by time.

Shots of Volpaia:

That night we went back and ate again at La Villa Miranda. Prosciutto (for the second time) and pecorino, a secondo of cinghiale (wild boar) for me, and a secondo of rabbit for him. Followed that with tiramisu and limoncello. It was a great meal but nothing that you couldn't find at other restaurants.

Friday morning we were greeted with sunshine so I of course threw on my suit and was jumping up and down ready to get to the pool. Finally after lots of grumbling and griping from the other party, we walked down the road to the Relais Santa Cristina to use the pool. We were dumbfounded walking up to the villa. It was gorgeous. Beautiful rows of grapevines and towering old cypresses lined the way up to the villa. The pool was lovely and there was nobody around as we laid out and caught some rays. Oh did I mention it was only 9 a.m.? I was really excited... We stayed there until I felt sufficiently burnt (about an hour) and then left to check out.

Relais Santa Cristina at La Villa Miranda:

Upon check out, we received our bill, which even with the friends and family discount, we did not feel was extremely friendly. We paid 200 Euros for a night in a room that was not extraordinary, a fairly simple lunch and a normal dinner. All in all, I would definitely recommend going to see Miranda and the gang, but let me organize it for you for a set rate and for a night in the much prettier and pool-adjacent S. Cristina.

Around noon, we took off again and headed towards location #2: Castello Bigozzi in Strove, just outside of the Medieval town of Monteriggioni.

Part 2 - Castello Bigozzi and Montaione coming soon!

If you would like more information on my trip, how to make reservations, or to get deals at La Villa Miranda, please contact me at sally@sliceoftuscany.com