Village Italy - 2014
Chianciano, Volterra & San Leonine
Sunday, September 14
Chianciano, La Pietriccia and San Leonine, Italy
We left our hotel in Orvieto at 8:30 in the morning, walking the cobble stone streets to the elevator that took us down to the parking lot and our bus.
An hour later we were in Chianciano, Italy for a guided tour of an Etruscan Museum. The museum is considered on of the finest Eturscan museums in Italy. The majority of the items on display were found in the area around Chianciano. The Etruscan period was from 768 BC – 264 BC.
We left the museum around noon and drove a short distance to La Pietriccia a local winery and hotel where we met the owner and Chef Stefno Mazzetti
Chef Stefno Mazzetti
The afternoon was lots of fun. Everyone in our group helped in the preparation of a Tuscan meal.
Before going to the kitchen, we enjoyed a appetizers on an out door patio with a wonderful view of Chianciano in the background.
We were served cabbage and garlic spread on toast, bruschette, local hard and soft parmigiano cheese and two kinds of wine.
Appetizers on La Pietriccia’s patio
When we finished our appetizers, Chief Stefno gave us a cooking lesson as everyone pitched in preparing the food we all enjoyed later in the day.
The meal included baked tart of carrot, sienese spaghetti, pork, veal and beef sausage, apple sponge cake and wine.
After mixing all the ingredients for pasta, we took small pieces of the dough and rolled it out into long thin pieces of spaghetti.
I help mix everything that went into the sausage and Dianne helped prepare the baked tart of carrot.
Taking a small ball of sienese pasta and hand rolling it out into long pieces of spaghetti
Preparing meat for the sausage
Preparing baked tart of carrot
Late afternoon, after everything had been prepared and cooked, we sat down to a delicious Tuscan meal. Before leaving the chef gave us recipes for everything we’d prepared and eaten. This was a memorable event.
It was a short drive from La Pietriccia to our next destination, Hotel Belvedere di San Leonino, where we spent the next two nights.
The hotel, consisting of a number of restored farm buildings from 1721, is set in the Tuscan countryside among olive groves, vineyards, cypress trees and woods. It was a beautiful and tranquil place.
Hotel Belvedere di San Leonino
Shortly after arriving we gathered for happy hour and then enjoyed a delicious dinner set in one of the hotel gardens.
Monday, September 15
Volterra and San Leonine, Italy
Breakfast at Hotel Belvedere di San Leonino
Our guide Lisa took us on a walking tour of Volterra. One place we stopped for a short history lesson was the Etruscan gate. The gate, built around 600 BC is part of the remaining original wall surrounding Volterra.
Following breakfast in the hotel dining room we left for Volterra, Italy.
Volterra was once one of the most important Tuscan towns. It began as an Etruscan village and later played an important role in the Roman Empire.
From the Tuscan gate we walked to Alab’Arte, a small shop where the owner and artisan, Giorgio
Finazzo, demonstrated making an alabaster dish. Georgio didn’t speak English, so Lisa translated explaining the steps in making the dish. Dianne bought a dish made by Giorgio.
Lisa with alabaster artisan Giorgio Finazzo
Dianne with her alabaster dish
It was noon when we left Alab’Arte, so we stopped at Trattoria Bada Granzo for lunch. I order spaghetti carbonara with bacon and egg and Dianne had ravioli filled with ricotta cheese and spinach in a butter cream sauce. The food was delicious.
Trattoria Bada Granzo
After lunch we spent the next two hours wandering throughout the city center, all within the 2,500 year old wall that surrounds Volterra.
Volterra
We returned to our hotel and had a couple of hours to explore the surrounding Tuscan countryside before happy hour and dinner.
Tuscan villas near Hotel Belvedere di San Leonin
Once again, our happy hour included various types of local cheese, olives, bread and a selection of wine. Our group sang along as David played his guitar.
Dinner was served in a beautiful outdoor setting on the hotel grounds. We enjoyed vegetable fritters, roasted chicken, potatoes and a selection of wine. Dessert was flam with currants.
© 2014. 2015 Bill Juffernbruch