Italian Culinary Adventure 2003 ~ Day One ~ Asciano

Grounds At Villa Le Focaie in Asciano, Italy

Villa le Fociae - Asciano - Day One
Saturday, May 24th. 2003

After a seemingly short flight from Toronto, we arrived in Rome happily surprised to find the rest of my family had already arrived ahead of us, on schedule as well. We picked up our luggage and rental van, and soon hit the road to locate the farmhouse we had rented for the week in Tuscany, located a short drive from Siena. I rented Villa le Focaie from a company called Tuscany Now, and chose it due to it's location in central Tuscany. It is an 18th century country house set in the rolling limestone hills famously known as the Crete Senese, and owned by a well known jockey, who has won many races in the Siena palio. It was about a 3 hour drive from Rome to Asciano, the small town near the farmhouse where we were to meet the owner. We stopped only once for a quick lunch in an Autogrill along the highway, enjoying a typical panini of prosciutto on a crusty roll.

Asciano had all but closed up when we first arrived, as most stores and businesses closed between 12:30pm and 3 or 4pm. It was a nice little town, with a few stores and restaurants that were just a short drive from Villa le Focaie. We finally met up with the owner, who led us back to the farmhouse by car and gave us a short tour of the house and grounds. The house was situated in beautiful rolling hills, and the well kept grounds had a large swimming pool, as well as areas to lounge, either in the sun or under the full grown trees in a hammock or swing. The house itself was actually divided into two homes. The owners built their own home in the bottom half, while a four bedroom, three bathroom unit was created above. Tiled throughout, with high ceilings, and large wraparound windows open to the picturesque countryside, we immediately felt at home and after choosing our bedrooms unpacked and investigated the grounds. Click on photo for larger view!

Since we were planning on eating most of our breakfasts at home, as well as some dinners, after relaxing and washing up, we headed back into Asciano which is only 3 miles away to find a grocery store for supplies. Although small, the store had everything we needed, and after driving around the area a bit to investigate we headed back to the farmhouse to unpack. Although the kitchen was very pretty and old fashioned in appearance, it had all the amenities, including a full sized fridge, microwave, and even a dishwasher. We had called ahead, and they had even set up a crib for our 5 week old granddaughter. The owners were a very pleasant couple, who invited us into their home for a drink to welcome us. The husband no longer races in the palio himself, although he does train race horses who race in many races across the country. We were shown the horses which were beautiful animals, kept in immaculate condition in the barns behind the house.

At about 8pm, we returned to Asciano and ate a light dinner at the little pizza restaurant in the center of town. Soon, we all headed off to bed, after a long day of travel, looking forward to the next day's adventures.

Tuscany Now
Tuscany Now offers almost 200 hand-picked properties across Italy, including villas, farm houses, small castles and even private hamlets. Each one has a private swimming pool or direct beach access.

Contact Info:
From the UK dial Tel 020 76848884 Fax 020 76848880
From the Europe dial Tel 0044 20 76848884 Fax 0044 20 76848880
From the US dial Tel 011 44 20 7684 8884 Fax 011 44 20 7684 8880

INTERNATIONAL HOUSE
10-18 VESTRY STREET
N1 7RE LONDON, UK

Continue to view more photos of VILLA LE FOCAIE

Continue on to Day Two in Siena HERE

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Buon Appetito!
Deborah Mele 2003
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