Discover Tuscany’s Blog: exploring Tuscany and all its hidden corners…

Have you ever heard about Geocaching?
We hadn’t until a good friend of ours told us about it a few months ago, knowing how much we love to go hiking and discovering new places.
So we found out that Geocaching is a treasure hunt game played all around the world by a huge community of people. The goal is to hide and search for treasures (hidden in containers called caches) knowing only the coordinates. With the help of a GPS, every participant searches for the caches hidden by others, takes the treasure inside and leaves a similar treasure in exchange. Each cache has a logbook which you can sign so others know who else has found the treasure and, if you take a photo of you with the treasure, you can share it with the community.

Continue Reading about Geocaching in Florence

Who knows how many times browsing through a book or calendar on Tuscany you were left enchanted in front of an image of green rolling hills of such an intense color that left you marveling at the great photographer or at at least at the great skill on touching up those photos. The truth is that neither is absolutely necessary to experience such scenery! Val d’Orcia, commonly portrayed on calendars and postcards of Tuscany, is splendid just like that, with incredible landscapes, intense green and yellow hues and stone villages sitting atop hilltops that take your breath away.

This past week we spent two days in the beautiful Val d’Orcia, visiting the towns of Pienza, San Quirico d’ Orcia and Montalcino.
On Sunday the 7th, Pienza hosted the closing day to the traditional Fiera del Cacio, a festival dedicated to cheese and, in particular, to the tasty pecorino cheese made in Pienza and in Val d’Orcia in general. The small village streets were set up with stalls that offered tastings of cheeses as well as other typical local products including cold cuts and honey. A real paradise for foodies such as ourselves!

Read more about our trip in Val d' Orcia

Anyone interested in games and a Joust this weekend? This coming up Sunday, September 14, Bagno a Ripoli’s historical center will be the setting for the the Joust of the Star. The four quarters or contrade of the town compete against each other starting at 4 p.m. in several games, including a tug-of-war and various relay races with eggs, in sacks and with hoops. Points earned at these games and in the later Giostra della Stella, or Joust of the Star, count towards winning the Palio.

Continue reading about the Palio delle Contrade...

This past weekend we tried something different from the medieval festivals we’ve come to love and went to Scarperia to step back into time, but not so far back: only about five centuries back into the Renaissance. The festival took place on September 6 and 7 as part of the festivities that precede the Palio del Diotto that takes place on September 8 of every year in Scarperia.

Continue reading about Scarperia in the Renaissance...

We danced once again with Compagnia la Giostra during our last visit to Volterra Medieval Festival ! View and listen to this happy (medieval?) music !

Here is a little video I made during a show by the flag throwers of Massa Marittima in Volterra, during the Medieval Festival!