Lucignano- Southern Tuscany

We are now transferring a bit further south to Lucignano. This is a tiny village and they seem to be having a celebration for the emergency services from the surrounding villages. It is a big affair with lots of flags and trumpet playing and we happen to witness the tail end of that.

We are going to be based in the even smaller village 1.5km down the road of Pieve  Viecchia. The weather predictions are for a somewhat wet few days so we will have to work around  that, we only have one pink umbrella and a well travelled blue poncho.

We find that Lucignano hosts the best gelato in a 50km radius and we think  that this will have to be sampled and tested  a lot.

The town of Lucignano has cute nooks and crannies which we explore, so far only a minimal drizzle.

It’s time to move into our new accommodation and our host welcomes us with a bottle of Chianti and home baked afternoon tea. She has allowed us to check in sooner which means we can settle into the very cute apartment. This place comes with a lovely garden and pool area, unfortunately I don’t think we will get a chance to soak in that.

Our rooms are nicely decorated and bright, Maria Luisa and her Grandmother were both in the fashion industry so there are little accents of that around the apartment.

André heads out for some afternoon photography, the scenery here is again very different , much more pencil pines and rolling vineyards with the odd castle thrown in on a hilltop. Tanya and I catch up on processing photos and some logistics of clean clothing.

We reconvene for dinner and André eventually joins after we feel we must sample the cheese platter while we wait. It is a really intimate restaurant with great ambience and has a whole page of vegan/ vegetarian options. Tanya and André select the black gnocchi with grilled squid and a hint of mild pesto on the edge of the plate  ( the photo doesn’t do it justice because it’s black)  and I choose the carrot, beetroot and spinach gnocchini  in a delicate pea and roast hazelnut sauce.

We think there is a food critic sitting at the table next to us as she is sampling multiple dishes and testing slowly the flavours. The waitress is also very attentive to her wishes. Their final course is an amazing frozen dessert poured with a hot , liquid chocolate sauce which melts the outer layer and reveals a white centre supriso. Tanya definately wants that but it will have to wait till our next visit as we are really full !