After our wonderful, and energetic, time in Vernazza, we quickly settled into our semi-rural digs in delightful Panzano, a charming Tuscan hilltop town located in the Chianti region.

Our villa style apartment was everything you’d imagine for Tuscany. The front door opened directly onto the town piazza, the back door onto a fabulous garden complete with outdoor eating area, overlooking the rolling Tuscan hills.

It was deliciously Tuscanish!

Being early spring, it was the perfect time to watch the trees changing from bare to green, the vines starting to shoot and the flowers beginning to bloom.

There were sunset drinks on the terrace with our neighbours. Kathleen (from the USA) lives there four months of the year and her brother was visiting for a couple of weeks. Sonia, the owner of the apartments was a delight and available when needed, but did not speak much English at all.

Sonia lived right next door and was the proud carer of 15 cats and one Border Collie which she was pleased to show us because of his Australian heritage. Managed to snap one of her lovely cats sunning himself at our back door.

You know you’ve settled in well when the barista at the local cafe begins making your regular order of espresso macchiatos when you walk in. And, the local shop keepers begin to forgive your terrible Italian language skills.

We very much enjoyed the afternoon piazza life, where locals gathered to chat, children played, old men sat comfortably side by side in the sunshine, aperitifs were consumed. It didn’t take us long to fit right in.

Panzano felt like home.

We walked every day around the town and into the countryside, soaking up the vibe, spying interesting architecture, discovering unique statues and perusing menus, deciding whether to cook with our freshly purchased Tuscany produce, or eat out.

Sunday mornings was market day in the piazza, and we were woken each Sunday to the sound of stall holders erecting their stalls. The fresh produce was top class.

Dario Cecchini

One of Panzano’s many claims to fame is Dario Cecchini.

Quite a famous butcher who is larger than life in person, and who (from local gossip) owns quite a bit of the town. His prominent flagship store is located just off the piazza, and is known for its premium cuts of meat (Tuscany is a meat region by the way), a glass of chianti and a chunk of bread spread with cured pig lard served while browsing. Jeff kept going back each day because he couldn’t decide what to have for dinner 🙂

Meet Dario Cecchini

There is also his famous lunches/dinners catering to hoards of tourists and locals each day where you are served meat, meat and more meat. Plate after plate in varying degrees of rawness. It goes for a few hours, the time going quickly with unlimited Chianti. I chose the vegetarian option, and we didn’t need dinner that night.

More walking…… We decided to take a longer walking tour around the district. Off we set thinking we would be ambling along beautiful country roads while looking at vineyards, wineries and the beautiful landscape. And there were lovely country roads along the way, but we also discovered it was 8.5 km track of an orienteering challenge, looking for the red and white markers amongst the undergrowth in some parts. After a couple of wrong turns, some backtracking and Google maps we finally made it back after nearly three hours tired but pleased with our efforts.

Some easier walking days around the district led to surprising discoveries. One day we came across a church with a beautifully quiet and serene cloister. Originally built in the 10th century, it was updated to it how it is now in the 12th century. What surprised us most were the exquisite artworks inside.

More walking.

Looking back towards Panzano perched on the hilltop. And, an example of a large Waywood Shrine. Some are simple, some are quite ornate and you see them everywhere along roads, at corners, bends and tucked into walls.

Eating in

With so much fresh produce plus having a great rustic kitchen, we took advantage of home cooked meals often, Here’s a sample:

Eating out

Asparagus was in season and on most menus, and of course, plenty of meat options, plus quite a lot of vegetarian options too.

Loved Panzano. We’ll be back!

Catherine & Jeff xx