Chianti Sculpture Garden

On Wednesday morning (October 29), we were up and on the road by 9:30 a.m. We didn’t know where we would end up at the end of the day, but we knew we wanted to visit the Chianti Sculpture Gardens. We began our journey toward Siena, which took us off the highway through some beautiful country.

The Chianti Sculpture Gardens, Parco Sculture del Chianti, “where art and nature meet,” are located on top of a Tuscan hill in 32 acres of forest, with a gallery of modern art in a restored pottery factory and home of the owner. The imagination and the resources to put these works of art from over 20 international artists into this one park is fulfilling and inspiring to its visitors. Here is a view from the courtyard of the gallery:

Now, take a walk through the garden with us and see the fun we had. Dayna was, of course, in her normal blasé mood.

And then for a little more fun:

In the parking lot of the Gardens, we had to decide where we wanted to head next. We considered Urbino and hadn’t made it to Cortona yet, but after consulting Rick, we decided we were through with Tuscany. I know it is a harsh thing to say, but one can take only so much natural beauty and old buildings. So off to the Adriatic Sea and the city of Ravenna. In setting the GPS, “Marcie” asked if we wanted to stay off unpaved roads, to which we replied, “Hell no!" (please don’t tell Avis). In the short unpaved sections of road we saw, Dayna took some of the neatest pictures we have taken of the countryside.



In Ravenna, we were met at the door of our B & B, Casa Masoli, by a little, but very alert and active, Italian grandmother. After confirming we were to stay only one night (she spoke no English), she showed us where we were to eat in the morning and then opened a door to show us our room. We thought she was going to take us through this rather grand common area room with arched high ceilings, a love seat, desk, chairs, and a fainting couch, when I noticed there was also a bed in the room. Yes, it was our room, with a bathroom that Rick Steves has correctly described as fit for royalty. What a score for 70 Euros.




Not ready to call it a night, we ventured out for an evening stroll and a bite to eat. A lovely city and we’re anxious to explore it during daylight hours. It is known for its Byzantine mosaics and many of you know that I have worked in mosaics, so I’m pretty excited to see the work of ancient masters!

Note: This has been a joint post by Howard and Dayna