The Italian Taste mobile (0.2.2)
This morning we have decided to leave the coast and follow an itinerary suggested by the Italian Touring Club (TCI): a long route through typical Italian small villages. How beautiful they are and how many historical buildings they have! They are worth seeing! Leaving Grosseto we have taken the main road known as 322 (the road of Colli di Maremma Wine) that runs through the municipalities of Scansano, Montemerano, Manciano, Pitigliano, Sorano, Sovana e Saturnia. This can also be a gastronomic tour. It's a very beautiful road, often surrounded by vegetation, sometimes with sharp U-bends and farmlands that are worth seeing. Yellow cornfields just reaped, endless vineyards, olive groves with young or ancient plants. All that combined with cypresses, oleanders and prickly pears ... Gentle hills intensively cultivated, a lot of farms (in Tuscan "poderi"), bed and breakfast too. Carlo and I have asked ourselves how all these bed and breakfast could work. We have found a first answer as soon as we have reached the first small village: Scansano. But what Scansano? the town of Morellino wine? sure, that's the center where Morellino di Scansano is produced. This small village has few historical buildings, it's nice but its importance is due to its wine famous all over the world. If you want you can visit its Archaeological Museum and its Museum dedicated to the Grapes and Wines. It's rich in little shops where typical products are sold: wines, honey, pasta .. We have seen a bottle of Sassicaia for 100.00 €. Gulp! Instead of visiting Scansano we have preferred to continue on our way. Our aim? visiting Pitigliano and Sorano and reaching Saturnia. We must soon tell you it isn't enough a day to visit all these fantastic places. Here it is the answer we were finding for: "bed and breakfast" house a lot of people that spend at least a week end in the Grosseto hinterland. But a day has been enough to let us decide to go again the next spring and know better this fantastic area. Pitigliano appears unexpectedly, after a bend, ... a breathtaking sight! The hamlet is completely hewn out in the tufa rock and leans out over a precipice. We've parked outside the historical center that is inside the walls. The historical center is little but rich in memories included the Jewish ghetto. Dur to this Pitigliano was known as "Little Jerusalem" in the past. We've entered the historical center through a gate in the walls. On the left there is an impressive waterworks built in different times. Further on, on the right, there is Orsini Palace (Palazzo Orsini). You have to know opening and closing to visit its Museum (obviously different from the hour in which we have been there!). Plan accurately your visit to Pitigliano. Here you can find more details about Jewish ghetto and here some detail on Pitigliano history. In the website Parco degli Etruschi (in English Etruscan park) you can read more detail on opening and closing to visit better Pitigliano and its memories. We've contented to visit the courtyard of Orsini Palace (its museum was closed), walk down Via Roma looking at its nice little shops full of Italian and Tuscan food., visit the Cathedral and looking at fantastic landscape of Meleta valley below. At two o'clock we've had lunch in a nice restaurant. We'll tell you about this restaurant in another post. For the high number of tourists we've had to wait for a table. We've tasted some specialties due to life in common of Jews and Christians. At three o'clock when we've finished eating it was too late to visit the Jewish ghetto. What a pity! We'll return in spring, certainly! The following small village we've seen is Sorano. We arrived at its fortress (Orsini Castle) through the road for S. Quirico and so we've lost its fantastic view. We suggest to arrive in its historical center below to be able to see the fortress from the bottom upwards. It's better! But locals suggest to reach S. Rocco (a little chapel on the SP 22, two kilometers before Sorano) situated in a large natural terrace with a panoramic view, surrounded by vegetation, from which it is possible to admire the medieval small village of Sorano delimited from deep throats and Orsini Castle. Obviously we have known that after arriving ... Inquire very well about the opening and closing for visiting the Sorano fortress with a guide. It's better. With few euros you can walk down its communications trenches (underground walks of the 16th century castle). A fantastic experience! We've struck by the view of Sasso leopoldino or Masso leopoldino, an enormous tuffaceous rock that was flattened and a tower was built upon it. We've seen it from the castle. Another pearl of fantastic beauty in this small village. The little village of Sorana is built around this Masso leopoldino. In the west the famous tower-houses high up above the valley and in the east a series of houses on the sides of narrow winding streets that go down to the valley. We haven't been able to see all that Sorano offers. Too short time! Saturnia has been waiting for us at 30 kilometers. But driving along 30 kilometers of winding roads means at least 30 minutes and it was late. And then ... we've left Sorano in a hurry to our great disappointment not to have seen all that we wanted. Too short time and too many things to visit and to see. To the next spring, Sorano! Bye-bye. The last stop: Saturnia. Practically we haven't seen anything. Its thermal baths are enclosed, you must pay for entering. It was half past five ... closing was near. We have made a great mistake! We were to reach Saturnia early in the morning, have a bathe and then beginning the tour. Never mind! We'll return, Saturnia. But we have been able to make a beautiful photo to show you: look at the little, nice falls of Saturnia. A lot of people having enough time go there to have an healthy bathe as you can see. But what are the baths of Saturnia? They're a prestigious spa. The establishment is constructed on the top of the stream of sulphurous water which originates at a depth of 200 meters at a temperature of 37°C. To know more detail about the baths of Saturnia consult its website in English. Well, we hope our travel notes come useful if you're planning a journey in Italy, our wonderful Italy. Visit Grosseto, its coast and hinterland. They're fantastic! Post your comment or opinion if you visited this area in the past. It's important to share all our experiences! Greetings from Italy Carlo & Loretta