Borgo San Luigi

Welcome to our weekend in heaven, tucked within the Tuscan Hills:  Borgo San Luigi.

This is the laneway bordered with the most impressive cypress trees. If you look very closely, in the middle of the picture on the right hand row of trees, you will see a branch that is bent over at a 90 degree angle, a sign of the difficult winter that they suffered last year, where most of the region was buried under snow for over a week.


This courtyard where we sat out one evening with a lovely bottle of Chianti, the great ambassador of this region. My window can be seen at the top left.

And this a picture of one of the rooms. The entire place just bellows: "Destination wedding!" I am not exagerating when I say that a few of us were moved to tears by the beauty of it all.

I love to walk in the morning. On Saturday, I got up early and went down the lane and walked along the road. I discovered that this region is also part of the famed Via Francigena, the route of pilgrims from Canterbury in England, through France, Switzerland and Italy, all the way to Rome. I got to walk probably less than .01% of the trail, but it was enough for me to be smitten for life. I passed mist covered fields, a little vegetable garden where the only plants that I recognized were tomatoes, olive trees overhanging the road, I tried to sneek what I thought was a golden/red apple only to realize that it was a persimmon. I heard bird calls of strange tones and smelled blossoms or unrecognized flowers. It was one again, magic.

All in all, there was no down side to our stay at San Luigi, the excellent food, the made to order cappucinos each morning, the snacks they served with afternoon drinks that were so plentiful you didn't need dinner, the quiet of the seating areas surrounded by breathtaking scenes, and the exceptional attention and good humour of the staff made this a much higher experience for each of us than the 4 stars that the Inn advertises.

(By the way, while driving through Rome near the end of the trip, we drove past a 7 star hotel. It is reputed that the staff knows what you want before you do.)