The green heart of Tuscany

Podere Sant’Egidio is surrounded by hectares of oaks, beeches and chestnuts, the utmost extremity of the National Park of the Casentinesi Forests.

In the spring let your eyes look down the fissures marking the beech bark to its base: there you will find the cheerful blossoms of snowdrops, the sunny cardamines and the wild hyacinth. Smell the world of scents enclosed inside the corolla before the leaves, falling off the branches, hide them all from your sight. In the summer let yourself be rocked by a horse ride along the banks of the Arno River, protected by cool leafy branches; in the evening go to one of the several food and wine festivals and taste Tuscan everyday life in small towns and villages.

Has the world around you suddenly turned yellow, orange, red in their infinite shades? It is the amazing autumn sight of fall foliage, which dyes the branches of beeches, maples, ashes with multiple colours. The sweetness of pumpkins, chestnuts and honey will tune your mood to the romantic ritual of the deer in love, which make the forest resonate with their powerful bellows.

It is winter now: wear your snowshoes, dive into the biting air and start listening to the slow breath of the forest in hibernation. Do not be afraid of waking it up while you are walking on the thick snow layer covering it. And when you feel like warming up in front of a fireplace, turn around and follow your footprints back to your home, Podere Sant’Egidio.