Travels low cost: June 2011

Saturday, 4 June 2011

Siena and the Crete Senesi

We spent the day visiting Siena (which I had already visited back in '95, but I couldn't remember anything about) and the surrounding area, one of the most beautiful Italian landscapes I've ever seen.

Under the pretext of having parked far away, outside the walls, we had a ride to the city's most hidden alleys, we visited the Duomo and we finally came out in the crowded and touristic Piazza del Campo with its Torre del Mangia. It is always a good sight.

Do you wanna see all pics taken in Siena? Then click here

Torre del Mangia in Siena.

In the afternoon, we made the same route back, passing by the Crete Senesi, which are simply spectacular. The area has a characteristic hilly landscape, almost bare of vegetation, where biancana badlands and clay gullies alternate in a suggestive way creating, at times, a lunar landscape. I let Sebastian drive (as he did for the whole trip) so I could always get out to shoot pictures in bursts.

In the evening, we decided to eat in the farm’s restaurant. Sebastian wanted to taste the Florentine… they brought us the menu and he read… Florentine € 12.50… mmmm… I got some doubts... but he didn't want to miss anything, so he also got some fries. We ate, and all was good, we drank some good wine (after all, it’s homemade), we laughed and joked, then they brought us the bill… and we didn’t laugh anymore!! Shit, the Florentine alone cost 54 euro!! Sebastian was surprised!! Explanation: on the menu it was written 12 Euro for 50 grams = 450 grams = 54 euro. After the initial discomfort, I started to laugh, and if I think about it, ahahahaha I still laugh!

Do you wanna see all pics taken in Siena? Then click here

Total cost of the weekend per person:

Farm 37.50 € x 2 nights including breakfast

gasoline and highway: 60 €

lunch and dinner: approx. 40 euro per day

Friday, 3 June 2011

Volterra and the disappointment of Twilight

A very short distance separated us from Volterra, where we arrived in the late morning. I had thought I could have spent all day there but in the end there weren't so many things to see. There’s the usual cathedral, the usual square, the usual medieval village… all nice things, but certainly nothing impressive. Above all, I thought I could have found Pattinson!! Or at least some remnant of his passing, but nothing – it seemed as if he had never been there.

The medieval village, however, was very pretty and built in the typical old Italian style; there're still the food stores and the cobbler! We got two buns stuffed with ham... mmmm how delicious! The midday sun was annoying, though, and we aimlessly dragged ourselves through the streets, getting a little bored, so we decided to head back to the car by passing through the park. Just the time to get in the car, and yet another thunderstorm stroke.

Do you wanna see all pics taken in Volterra? Then click here

2011 © Giovanna Puccia. All right reserved.
Sienese hills.

2011 © Giovanna Puccia. All right reserved.
My Tower of Pisa.

When we arrived at the Fattoria Casabianca, we got stunned: acres and acres of land (more than 650), in the territory once inhabited by the Etruscans, where the woods and the Mediterranean scrub are the natural habitat of wild boars, deer, roe deer, porcupines, and buzzards, and where the vineyards paint rolling hills.

In this huge farm there're five ancient farmhouses built in 1200 and refurbished respecting their original architectural identity. Next to the reception, there's a room available for guests, for wine tastings or meetings in a warm atmosphere. And it was right in one of these rooms, that a real tragedy would go down…

2011 © Giovanna Puccia. All right reserved.
The view from our Farmhouse.

2011 © Giovanna Puccia. All right reserved.
Our Farmhouse.

2011 © Giovanna Puccia. All right reserved.
The entrance to the farm.

Do you wanna see all pics taken in Volterra? Then click here

Keep reading... Keep reading.... My travel story continues in the next post!

Thursday, 2 June 2011

A fantastic weekend in the Siena’s hills

About 6 months ago, we purchased an offer through Groupon.it, which included 2 nights (with

Breakfast included) for 2 people in a standard room in a Tuscan farm, for a total of only 75 euro.

We chose to leave on the weekend of June 2, which is a holiday in Italy and Switzerland, and making it a long week end, we had 4 beautiful days in Tuscany.

So we planned our mini tour: one day in San Giminiamo, one in Volterra, one in the area of the Siena hills or in any farm to rest, and the last day in Siena.

But let's take it slowly.

We left early and we reached our accommodation in San Gimignano in the afternoon. I had booked a B&B inside the San Gimignano walls for 60 euro per night, but the accommodation was so disappointing that I don’t even remember its name. We spent the afternoon exploring this old town that I had visited back in '95 during a school trip, but which I didn’t remember almost anything about.

Sometimes it rained, so we often stopped in our room or under some porch to rest. We also found a restaurant recommended by both the guide and the locals. Fine, we booked it for the evening!

Do you wanna see all pics taken in San Giminiamo? Then click here

Keep reading... Keep reading.... My travel story continues in the next post!