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  • Matt Padula

Under the Tuscan Sun


Well, here we are well into the Summer of 2020. It's safe to say none of us expected this to be our summer; when we decided to move here last year, we had pictured the summer of 2020 as a crazy 8-9 weeks of traveling around Italy (and Europe), hosting lots of friends and family (oh the audacity! We actually set up a Google calendar, in February, for all of you to sign up to visit! Oh the hubris!). But we are very happy to be relatively safe and healthy, and wish the same for all of you.

A week - near Castiglione della Pescaia

No pity needed; we have had to embark on our exploration of Italy all by ourselves, and we will make the best of it and share some highlights with you. But it's funny, several times a day Barbara and I will look at each other and say "can you imagine how much ___________ would be enjoying this if they were here!?!?)


We had planned an elaborate driving trip into France (formerly my favorite European country) as soon as school ended in late June, but between navigating each country's quarantine rules, and some concern with driving across borders, we decided we'd stay in Italy for now. Hopefully we make it into France before we start up again in late August.


So, where to go? We really wanted to hit the beach and also go a little south—in Italy, the further south you go, the more sand (and the less pebbles) you get on the beach. So a friend suggested we try the "Tuscan beaches." Now I fancy myself a bit of a geography expert, but I must admit I didn't realize Tuscany had beaches—I thought he was messing with us! When I think of Tuscany, I picture the (a) Rick Steves version—the rolling hills between Florence and Siena, dotted with ancient hilltop towns, fields of sunflowers, and old stone houses converted into wine-soaked B&B's—combined with (b) the recent phenomenon of inflated property prices due to a massive influx of British and American expats and second-home buyers (hence the derisive "Chianti-shire" label now used to describe the famous area).


But I was so wrong—as you can see from the map, Tuscany has a massive coastline, and yes the southern half of it features amazing sandy beaches. We found a really nice resort-y hotel, using my well-honed hotel search technique:

  1. I go to TripAdvisor and do a search of all the hotels in my preferred location;

  2. I sort them by 'traveler rating,' best to worst;

  3. Then I keep scrolling down until I find one that (a) has a pool or the ocean in its first photo and (b) we can afford;

  4. Then when I realize I've had to go really far down the list and I don't really like the hotel I found...

  5. I start over, increase my definition of "what we can afford" (by about 40%), and go back to Step 3, and "ecco qua," we have a place to stay!

La spiaggia

So we enjoyed this very Italian version of a beach vacation—you find a nice, family-friendly property, which is set back from the beach so everyone can enjoy it...you get your personal beach setup: a massive umbrella and two comfy lounge chairs. There's a gym and a few pools and of course an amazing restaurant (we arranged for "half-board," meaning an outstanding breakfast and dinner every day!).


If the Italians know how to organize anything, it's the umbrella set up on the beach—Galileo himself would have been proud of the perfectly arranged rows of umbrellas (see photos). Here they were three deep, stretching about 100 yards along the beach—interestingly, there's a small up-charge if you want to be in the first row (no thanks!). I spent most of my time catching up on my NYT crosswords and reading a great non-fiction best-seller from a few years ago; Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari; I highly recommend it! Here's a short video of the daily walk to the beach and some photos:

Morning sun along the Med, 'Baywatch' Italian style,

enjoying Liverpool's first EPL title; bathing beauty Barbara!


It was a relaxing week, and an introduction to how the Italians are coping with travel safety in the age of the coronavirus. At arrival, we learned that the hotel had just re-opened that day, so we figured out how stay sanitized and socially distanced along with the super-helpful and safety-conscious staff. They sat us at the same table for all meals, took our temperature upon entering, and everyone was gloved and masked as they brought us each dinner course. Breakfast was interesting—it's usually a buffet, so although they let us walk around (masked) to ask for stuff, we couldn't touch anything—a good way to learn some more Italian! All in all, they did a fantastic job making us feel like all precautions were being taken. And always multiple GF options of course!

A great start to our dinners (check out the smoothie as an appetizer); "buffet" breakfast


We took two fun side trips, both short drives from the hotel. Castiglione della Pescaia is an ancient seaside town with, as the name suggests, a castle/fortress and a brisk fishing industry.

Later that week we drove down the coast to a real gem of a town—Porto Santo Stefano sits at the base of Monte Argentario (Silver Mountain?)—it's the most picturesque coastal town; if you've ever been to Catalina Island ("Step Brothers" reference), it's like the town of Avalon, but more stylish and less crowded.

After a week of total relaxation and modest pampering, we figured we needed to experience the Tuscany everyone talks about so last minute we arranged for three nights at an 'Agriturismo' right in the heart of the region. This industry has really taken off in the last several years—what used to be a way for famers to make a little extra money, and possibly get some cheap labor from people looking for an authentic experience harvesting olives, has become an entirely new class of lodging; a lot of larger, family-owned working farms have made significant investments to become top-tier accommodations that generate revenue well beyond a simple bed and a rustic meal. There were dozens of these beautiful properties in our immediate area, all offering gourmet meals, pools, and horseback riding, and truffle hunting. Almost all were set up to host parties and weddings, and merchandised their farm's products (wine/amaro/grappa, honey, jams, etc.)


We stayed at Diacceroni Agriturismo Biologico, a sumptuous place with incredible views. We also did half board here (it's blissfully isolated, so there's really no where to go for dinner so embrace the hospitality!). The highlight each night was the lovely chef—once we were seated and had some wine in us, she would come over carrying a blackboard with the days' menu on it, and have a discussion with us about what to have for dinner!

Above: Views from the Diacceroni; Below: La piscina and some meal-time visitors

We couldn't drive through Tuscany without making a few stops at some classic sites: On the way to the Agriturismo we hit a few of the famed hilltop towns, including Rick Steves' favorites Siena and San Gimignano. Absolutely stunning examples of "charming" medieval Italian cities that were built to defend themselves—strategic hilltop location with good sight lines and steep approaches, fortified walls, and high towers as the last refuge against attackers. Fun to visit, but (a) pretty crowded even in a down year like 2020, and (b) hard to drive to and from if you get even a little carsick!

Views from Siena: Top: Outside the city walls;

Bottom: Il Duomo; site of Siena's palio; that red ochre color!


One out-of-the-way place we had heard about were the hot springs of Tuscany, in particular "La Balena Bianca," or white whale, a massive calcium formation with waterfalls and yes, warm water with free access for soaking! Just drive to the nearby parking lot, walk about 10 minutes, and there it is! Hard to find but worth it (check out photos)!

La Balena Bianca
Ciao zia Amelia!

Our final stop was in Pisa, and not so much because of the leaning tower, but because my beloved Aunt Amelia, now 95, was born there (and moved to America when she was a couple of months old!), and we promised her we would pay homage when we could!


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And ciao to all of you - thanks for reading all the way to the end!


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