030727 Colle

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Colle Stay

July 27, 2003,

Dear Friends and Family,

The villa and farm stays had turned out so well, we thought we'd try another "agriturism" for our stay in the Siena area. This time we had added phone and air conditioning to our list of requirements but recognized we'd have to up the budget a bit too.

Marianne turned to our Italian guidebook, "Caffelletto" and found a wonderful-sounding place: Piccolo Pieve with: TV, phone, air conditioning, parking "in the garden" and "memorable breakfasts". The picture of the entrance showed an ivy-covered old stone building, so she called and placed our five-day reservation.

We found the Colle de Val d'Elsa easy enough, following the guide book instructions. As directed, we continued past the town, into a neighboring village named Gracciano (was Rocky from here?) and turned 100 meters past the ERG gas station. This was another "white road", but at least it seemed pretty smooth and non- threatening to the car bottom. Finally, we found a cluster of old stone buildings and concluded this must be the place.

I say "concluded" because there had still been no signs indicating any sort of hotel or guest house here, not even the "Agriturism" signs that we'd been seeing all over Tuscany. Marianne recognized the guidebook picture, so we got out to look around. The building was clearly occupied, since we saw laundry hanging and, around back, there were even a couple of cars, but still no signs. We were thinking we had finally picked a spot we'd have to walk away from. Then we ran across one young woman who spoke no English but who called out to a neighbor. This neighbor said, in almost perfect English, that yes, despite the lack of any signs, there was indeed an agriturism here and she'd take us to the door. Now what would "Piccolo Pieve" really be like?

It turned out to be wonderful. The owner had turned the center of this 13th Century parish building into a four-guest-room "hotel". Our own room was large with a bathroom larger than any we've seen in a long time. And the air conditioning really worked. There were upstairs and downstairs lounge areas where we could read, relax, and work on diaries.

Cristina, the gracious owner-manager, was most friendly and helpful. She gave us guidance on local restaurants, a laundry lady (important for us travelers), and tourist attractions. The breakfasts were indeed well above average. Most of all, Cristina helped us feel completely at home.

Colle de Val d'Elsa was a pleasant town with all the basics for travelers: a walled old town (on a hill immediately above the current downtown), restaurants, gelato shops, and crystal stores. This last is a specialty of the town, although I have to admit, we were so busy with everything else we needed to do that we didn't even get around to shopping for locally-made crystal.

"Colle" also served as a wonderful base for several day trips, but that's another story or two.

So, if you find yourself in need of a place to stay in this part of Tuscany, give Christina's place a try. Don't give up just because you can't find the door. Someone will pop up to help; they always do.

John and Marianne

Websites:

Caffelletto B&B Guide: http://www.caffelletto.it/default.htm

The front door to Piccolo Pieve. No sign. No number. No indication it isn't just someone's home.

This walkway ran between the main building, including the small hotel and several apartments, and a home on the right. All the buildings of this "pieve" (=parish building) had been restored, mostly by people who now live there.

The garden for our four-unit bed and breakfast was huge and quite lovely. If the temperature had been a bit lower, we would have enjoyed it for sure.

We had a garage, even if the construction seemed a bit dated. We value such treatment for our home-away-from-home.

Our hostess Cristina put on a lovely continental breakfast - and helped with anything we asked.

The downstair living room had originally been a large kitchen for feeding the parish people and pilgrims. The whole home had been well restored and wonderfully decorated.

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	The front door to Piccolo Pieve. No sign. No number. No indication it isn't just someone's home.		This walkway ran between the main building, including the small hotel and several apartments, and a home on the right. All the buildings of this "pieve" (=parish building) had been restored, mostly by people who now live there.
The garden for our four-unit bed and breakfast was huge and quite lovely. If the temperature had been a bit lower, we would have enjoyed it for sure.		We had a garage, even if the construction seemed a bit dated. We value such treatment for our home-away-from-home.
	Our hostess Cristina put on a lovely continental breakfast - and helped with anything we asked.		The downstair living room had originally been a large kitchen for feeding the parish people and pilgrims. The whole home had been well restored and wonderfully decorated.