Driving through Tuscany is always a visual feast for the eyes, but it is especially beautiful in the fall. The rolling hills are green with rows of vineyards cascading down the hill spilling out from an ancient stone villa perched on top. A row of tall cypress trees marks the beginning of one property and the end of another. They stand in their dark green uniforms like a row of soldiers watching over their territory.
Italy is a Peninsula full of thermal activity, yet this is something you rarely read about in any guidebook of Italy. From top to bottom, Italy is speckled with hot springs ranging from high-end resorts to free cascades on mountainsides. Sometimes the hot spring will be a simple, natural pool out in a grassy field that will charge a small fee of €6 to enter. Such as Bagnaccio, where there is a snack bar, changing rooms and bathrooms and you provide the rest. I like Bagnaccio because it is a simple pool, low price and it has a nice grassy open area. I recommend packing a picnic, bringing a blanket or even lounge chairs and enjoying a couple of hours lounging at the hot spring. It is especially nice in Spring or Fall when you can soak up some warm sun while you lounge.
Recently a few friends from California were in the North of Italy and asked to meet us at the halfway point between us, which happily for us was Tuscany. We love an excuse to journey north and play tourists for the day. Our friends chose the lovely hill town of San Gimignano as a meeting place. The last time we were in Tuscany was about a month ago and the seasonal changes are beautiful to observe when driving through Tuscany.
Jeff’s Parents came to spend a month with us and we decided to take a little road trip up to the Tuscan and Umbria borders of our region of Lazio. We have chosen Montefiascone for our home base. It is an exhausting exercise to try and decide where to spend your time anywhere in Italy because there are so many choices.
So our three months in Italy has come to end much too soon. We have felt the temperatures drop as late summer became autumn and now autumn is turning to winter. The summer clothes have been safely stowed away until once again we are imagining ourselves frolicking on the beaches and strolling through town in flip flops. We have replaced those days with sweaters and boots and hats and scarfs. We are learning how to dry clothes without a dryer when they no longer dry on the line. Now we hang them on the wall heaters and heated towel racks and hope for the best.
