Many who travel to the region of Chianti are in search of three things- wine, food, and landscapes. However inadvertently, they will also find a relaxing escape to a place that seems as perfect as the carefully crafted plots of land it rests on.
The classic ‘Tuscan landscape,’ which has been portrayed countless times in writing and art, is quite alive here in a unique patchwork quilt of land that stretches as far as the eye can see. Perfectly paralleled rows of olive trees, contained in a well planned parallelograms, are bordered on each side by other free form angular shapes containing various vineyards or small groups of Cyprus trees speckled occasionally with a well preserved farm house that most likely produces something from the land it calls home. Although a good part of the land is cultivated, utilized of for its bountiful wealth of nutrient rich soil, it is carefully monitored by its care takers and treated with a sense of aesthetics and respect. All the cities in Chianti have significant jewels of history and every part of the region holds an integral position in upholding their spectacular traditions in food and wine.
Do yourself a favor and take a drive down the ‘Via Chiantigiana,’ (or ‘Chianti Road’ that connects many of the important villages in Chianti) find a place to sit, look out to the hills in the distance.. and listen. Listen to the birds calling in the distance, watch the smoke float innocently from a farmhouse chimney into the expansive sky, and enjoy the amount of beauty you can take in by just sitting in one place for a spell.
The view alone may be enough to feel accomplished after a journey to Tuscany, but there is much more to do here than just sit and stare.
