Travel
Villa I Giullari, inset: the en-suite.
ANDREW FRASER TASTES THE DELIGHTS OF ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACES IN THE WORLD
TUSCAN TEMPTATIONS
The last 20 years have seen pretty much every place, from Bilbao to Basingstoke, pitching themselves as the new Tuscany. It’s all the Emperor’s new clothes. Tuscany is the new Tuscany and it’s time to go back.
Beautiful, artistic, elegant – I stayed at the gorgeous Villa I Giullari, a five bedroom stately pile up in the hills above its capital Florence but still just a 20 minute walk from one of the world’s most delectable cities.The villa is part of a beautifully restored farmhouse out in a small Tuscan hamlet. Set amidst rolling countryside, a break here offers the best of both city and countryside. There’s an outside infinity pool, where you can gaze at the regal landscape and down on the city, a huge state-of the art kitchen, five en-suite bedrooms and a huge living area with high beamed ceilings. The owner of the property can even arrange feasts for you courtesy of a local chef – and Tuscany Now, which lets the property, can arrange you your own Tuscan cooking lessons courtesy of world-famous local chef Anna Bini. (tuscanynow.com/annayour-chef-in-tuscany) If it’s graceful scenery, incredible food and stupidly handsome men you are after then this is the place for you. And oh my! The food! Florence does one type of food, Tuscan – but blimey this stuff is good. I tasted the best ravioli of my life at the aforementioned Anna Bini cooking school; little parcels, tender as a heart, stuffed with herby Tuscan sausage and presented in a lemon cream sauce doused with parmesan. Incredible! Florence abounds with Michelin starred eateries but you don’t have to pay through the nose to feast like a king. My favourite place was Club del Gusto in Via dei Neri – the Tuscan equivalent of a builders’ caff, where Italians with dirty boots and mucky overalls settled down to huge bowls of pasta prepared front of house by the owner taking centre stage. Washed down with a huge glass of glorious Italian red, a meal sets you back less than £5 a pop. On my first visit I inhaled a huge bowl of sausage, mushroom and tomato pasta – the next time fusilli covered with crushed walnuts, fresh made pesto and parmesan. Egg and chips this ain’t.