Panzano in Chianti

And we thought the scenery around Lucca had been beautiful, but here in Chianti it’s just magnified … tenfold. Steep hillsides covered in a blanket of fluffy green forests … patchworks of neatly-rowed vineyards … staggeringly lovely villas and old farm houses dripping down into valleys either side of the road. You honestly don’t know which way to look next. Being a sunny Sunday every Vespa owner for miles around was on the road — whole fleets of them in every colour, buzzing like angry wasps around bends and over the hills.

The main road into town passes just a couple of hundred feet from our B&B … but because of the one-way traffic system, you have to drive 9/10ths of the way around town to get there <grin>. At least twice we thought we’d taken a wrong turn (there was a market stall right across the road for heavens sake!) but at last, beside a rock wall was a postage stamp sized parking space, just big enough to squeeze the car into. Nicoletta and Stefano’s house is inviting and utterly charming and dates back to the 11th or 12th century … the website for Panzano actually has a photo https://www.panzano.com/ … if you scroll down to ‘Panzano from the north’ you’ll see the house on the left (the 2 windows and door on the upper floor are our apt), and those towers are right beside the garden. Inside the apartment there are beautiful sloping, wood-beamed ceilings … warm rugs on the tiled floors … nooks and archways … thoughtful artistic touches everywhere …. and without doubt, the most well-equipped place we have ever encountered. There are almost 2 dozen wine glasses (this IS Chianti, after all) … cosy rugs on every chair … boxes of tissues (you never get these in Europe) … a fridge full of food and drink (even beer) … aprons, rolls of foil … dishes of candy … hot water bottles for those chilly nights … and a classical guitar (where’s my music?). But it’s the million dollar view from the garden that leaves you speechless. Beyond the balustrade is an entire valley … 180 degrees of arrow-straight vines, golden-stone villas, dense woods and ribbons of roads as far as the eye can see. As you sit surveying all this grandeur (over a glass of wine), the heady fragrance of wisteria envelopes you, small birds flit from tree to tree, while blackbirds sing at full volume, and people walking by look over the fence to take photos and look on enviously. The artistic touches are amazing. Juliette, the resident cat, is very sweet .. she strolls out to say hello … sits companionably for a while … and saunters off. The turrets next door belong to a building owned by an Italian/Canadian couple who spent an inordinate amount of money to renovate (apart from multiple bedrooms, it also has a pool, sauna, massage room, and resident caretaker) … yet they only show up to enjoy it once or twice a year.

Panzano is a very small town of 1200 … spread along a hill top … with just a couple of main streets. There’s a forno (bakery) which also serves as a corner store with cheese, local sausage, porchetta, milk, etc. In this part of Tuscany the bread is made with no salt whatsoever … as a result the crust is REALLY crusty … but if you have some salty cheese or sausage, it balances wonderfully well. A small grocery store, some very good restaurants and Bars (bars in Italy are cafes that sell alcohol), and most importantly in Chianti, SEVERAL wine shops. One of the local butcher’s stores – macelleria (there are two) also serves food. If you like meat and lots of it, this is the place to go. (Strangely, he gets all his beef from Spain, not Italy). There is only one menu per day – everyone eats at the same time – lots of tartare and carpaccio (raw) .. although he does offer a vegetarian menu. And if you want to shake his hand or take his photo, it’ll cost you €2.

We met up with our friends from a couple of villages over … they’re from Duncan but plan on staying here for at least two years (providing Italian red tape doesn’t tie them in knots). Although they’ve been here 8 months already, that final confirming visa is still just out of reach. Hopefully a Visa this week.

Radda is a delightful walled town with tunnels, archways, hidden corners … and the BEST pizza we’ve had in Italy. Toppings were artfully arranged in quarters, but the flavours were excellent (first time we’ve had artichoke); the crust was delicate and crisp … and stayed that way till the last morsel. Like most towns, Radda relies a lot on tourism, but there was nothing tacky or over the top here … just quiet and tasteful.

Another attractive hill town is San Gimignano – with even more towers than Lucca, and could possibly the origin of New York’s Twin Towers (you be the judge). A little busier, but still some nice quiet areas. One walled courtyard had an old well in the centre … covered for safety … but standing atop was a dramatic red-robed figure with a fire-and-brimstone timbered voice reciting Dante (without prompts) to any and all who would listen. As I glanced up into a nearby olive tree what should catch my eye, but a dove swooping in with an olive twig in its beak as a gift for his lady-love in the process of nest building. Now, how cool was that?