A view of Florence from Villa/Hotel Torre di Bellosguardo
I've been away. In Italy. Two weeks later I am back, with a few pounds of pasta weight in each saddle bag; a pining heart; and a head full of intoxicating memories.
I've been mixing up phone numbers, not paying attention in meetings, crying a little at the sight of my Outlook Express calendar... My trip to Italy -- which mostly consisted of day trips taken from the home base of a Tuscan villa in the Brunello wine town of Montalcino -- was so amazing, that I don't even want to talk about it.
So I choose to share photos instead. As I thaw into reality, more and more of the magic I experienced will no doubt trickle out, but for now, I'll keep the words brief and let the photos speak for themselves.
I've split the post into two parts. Today I bring you Part I -- 3 of the Top 5 Most Breathtaking Locations -- featuring: Il Giardino Dei Tarrochi -- "The Tarot Garden" -- in Capalbio; a private, 14 C. Tuscan castle near Seggiano; and the villa/hotel Torre di Bellosguardo, in the hills of Florence.
Oh my God, what gorgeousness...
The Tarot Garden and Residence, by Artists Nikki de Saint Phalle and Jean Tinguely
"The High Priestess"; the bathroom in the residence
Lead by her vision, French visionary, accomplished painter, sculptor, and film maker, Nikki de Saint Phalle (1930 - 2002), along with husband/artist Jean Tinguely, erected a luridly dazzling and wondrous sculpture garden originally inspired by Gaudi. The garden expresses 21 tarot cards as towering, earthly-shaped sculptures made of plaster and glass mosaic. Amidst the garden is an honest-to-goodness home, albeit briefly but none the less once inhabited by Nikki and Jean. Crazy, completely amazing, and bizarrely not at all out of place straddling the Italian provinces of Lazio and Tuscany, the easily walkable garden sears more than impresses itself onto your memory.
View of Tuscany through balcony of residence
Detail
Detail
14th C. Castle, Seggian, Tuscany
The castle
Basically begged a connected friend to get us invited to this privately-owned real-life castle, belonging to a well-to-do British family. They bought it sans furnishings, as a shell of what is pictured below, and restored it to a bare minimum. Bug-eyed, I dragged my jaw along the 500-year-old stone floor of the umpteen rooms and halls in this grand lair of history, wondering how many babies were born, how many bodies breathed their last breath in this place, and how in the world the current owners managed to outfit it as if it's looked just so for the past ever.
One of the living rooms
An en suite in one of the bedrooms; the sitting area in the master bedroom
One of the guest bedrooms
Guest bedroom; hallway
Villa/Hotel Torre di Bellosguardo, Florence
Villa and pool
One night. Splurge for just one night -- 300 Euro/night -- and you'll not ever regret it. Began in the 13th C., the Torre -- tower -- of the hill of Bellosquardo, rising above Florence, Italy, was built by Guido Cavalcante, who happened to be a dear friend of Dante. (Dante stayed here.) It was later bought and expanded by the prolifically wealthy Medici family, and now belongs to noble Amerigo Franchetti. A Franchetti family inheritance, the old villa sits at a truly breathtaking vantage point overlooking all of Florence, languidly offering room and board in a most authentic 15th C. domestic setting. Duke Franchetti is an obsessive gardener so the spectacular grounds run with streams, burst with vegetables and house donkeys, goats, chickens, parrots, and cats.
The orangery; writing desk in our room
Gardens; the bar
Common room; another common room, the ceiling of which is covered in frescoes
Another common room
Breakfast table on the second floor terrace
Just posting this has set me back another couple of months of recuperation...
Related: