open mind, empty stomach

One of my fellow WWOOFers at Il Troscione, Tony, drove to Il Troscione and was nice enough to take us on a tour of southern Tuscany on one of our off days. We visited five towns in all and had a wonderful time.
Our first stop was Montemarano. It is a sleepy little medieval village with not too much going on. They do have a 2-star called Caino, that a couple staying at Il Troscione hit up for lunch one day. The male half of the couple described his experience there as “like having an affair with a beautiful woman.” Next, we went to Saturnia. This place is special for their sulfur hot springs. There is mud behind one of the mini waterfalls that you can cover yourself in, which I of course did.
Savona was another cool little medieval town. We had a very nice lunch there. My two companions each only had a first course, but I had to do it proper and go for two. I had pappardelle with wild boar ragu and wild boar “hunter style.” Lauren, a fellow WWOOFer, had the “mystery pasta.” The secret is kept so closely that they would not tell us the contents of her dish even after she had eaten it, but we suspect it was duck.
Sorano was our next stop. It is bigger than the previous towns and built on top of a cliff. There was an art exhibition in a castle that was really cool. For some reason, there were bottles of water outside of most of the houses.
We saved the best for last. Pitigliano is a bigger, more beautiful version of Sorano. It’s also perched atop a mountain and is very photogenic. There were far more people in Pitigliano than any of the other places combined. There was quite a bit going on when we arrived. They had a wine festival that also featured local cheese and cured meats. There was some sort of parade involving motorcycles. The synagogue had an open house with music and snacks. Unfortunately, we arrived so late that most of the food vendors had closed down. The signs offering porchetta were still up, but there was no more pig.
It was a very eventful Sunday that was topped off with a trip to the local pizzeria for some Neapolitan deliciousness.

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