Hotel Airone Grosseto

Last night we had just made a new itinerary to include a visit to a National Park on the coast, but that was all thrown out the window as we received a text message from Kim's mum saying she wanted to come and join us. Kim was ecstatic!!! Another replan session as we did our much overdue laundry in Grosetto and our trip of Italy was to come to an end sooner that we thought as we had to get to Barcelona in 1 week. It worked out better this way as Kim's mum flies home on the 15th Dec ...

... hot soak was for our still achey muscles the rotten egg smell was hard for Kim to bear. She was able to block her nose and only breathe through her mouth so she did not gag - poor thing. A new item appeared on the menu tonight - delicious Tuscan pork and chicken sausages (the best ever!) with cous cous ala Gill, all washed down with a local sparkling Rose - yum!!!!! We thought we would have leftovers but no they were so good we gobbled up all 10!

Down the road from Montalcino we popped into St Antimo Abbey where the local monks say their (7!!) daily prayers in Georgian chants. We caught part of the 12.45pm prayers and enjoyed some down time while listening the chanting. The afternoon was glorious and once again we were in tshirts, so we made the most of it and had a picnic in the sun beside the Abbey.

... harvest, so were tried a tipple from a "young" 2004 bottle, which was a 5 star harvest year. For such a world famous wine I was not overly impressed. They say the flavor develops with age so maybe I should have splashed out and bought a bottle of 1997...but the price tag was above our daily budget...oh well can't try everything.

Dominic Lawson finds an ideal hideaway from which to explore a remote part of Tuscany

Published: 12:01AM BST 01 Jun 2004 - Telegraph




I have never entirely understood the English love affair with Tuscany. To
be buried among a breezeless series of parched hills and valleys at
temperatures that render infants either ...

Located near Porto Ercole on the south-west coast of the romantic Tuscan peninsula of Monte Argentario, this peaceful, secluded seven-bedroom property has breathtaking, panoramic views of the Mediterranean and islands Giglio, Giannutri, Monte Cristo and Elba - even Corsica can be ...

... a horse-breaking and cattle-roping competition when William Cody’s “ Wild West Show” was visiting Italy. The butteri continue practicing their traditions and can be seen at village fairs or on the last remaining cattle ranches in the area.

The park also has miles of beautiful beaches, practically deserted because you are not allowed to drive into the park and so access is on foot. You amble through the aromatic Mediteranean scrub (known as ...

I was so excited about going to Montalcino. Had read a book about it years ago and always dreamt of going there. It was so gorgeous too. See high up on a hillside, just like the rest and a population of only 5000. So pretty and I could have stayed for hours. There is a famous wine called Brunello which is from this area so 98% of the shops were wine shops! It was another of those ...

... We caught the bus back to Orbetello and got ready for dinner.

It was Friday night and the town was full to the brim with people up from Rome for a weekend of partying. Apparently the Italians decided to have a festival the first weekend of September to beef up tourism and it worked so well in Rome that Orbetello was having its own. The bands were setting up all over town. The women were dressed in resort wear and in spite ...

... has lots of the statues and such from the Duomo church that were removed for preservation. Saw some sculptures by Michelangelo, Raphaelo and the like. I waited in line over an hour to get into the Uffizi and had to shell out €9.50 ($13) to get in. The main attraction is Botticelli's "Birth of Venus". Most of the remaining paintings were religious in nature. I'm kind of burnt out on religious paintings (I've seen A LOT already on this ...