From the multimedia museum to the mine train

The visit to the Abbadia San Salvatore Mining Museum Park is structured in three parts, each one fascinating. The first is represented by the multimedia museum The ‘Geography of Mercury’, where, like a script, everything revolves around this metal element and immerses the viewer in the narrative of mining life: the myth, the territory, the work, the men and the material constitute the chapters of the story; multimedia technologies take the visitor on a fascinating journey: “there are numerous mining parks ̶̶  explains Massimo Sabatini, president of the Terre di Toscana Consortium ̶̶  but very few focused on mercury and it is no coincidence that we are twinned with Idrija in Slovenia and Almadén in Spain which, together with Abbadia, formed the three main poles of mercury production in Europe. In the museum you will find films, videos and oral testimonies of those who spent their lives in mining.”

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The Art Hotel Lucerna, a window on the world (and the Tyrrhenian Sea)

A historic and ground-breaking Riviera hotel, the Lucerna was founded in Castiglione della Pescaia in 1958 by Nello Raffi, Laura’s grandfather. In the same year, just think, that the famous Riva del Sole hotel opened. It was in 1972 that her parents Gino and Brunella started working so much there that the young Laura spent her youth here, breathing the air and life of the hotel in the management work as well as in the extraordinary ambience of encounters and acquaintances with the legendary characters of the time.

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I Due Cippi, the school of meat

The great knowledge of traditional products and old-fashioned recipes here offers unique dishes with true flavours that enrich the menu with originality and refinement. All raw ingredients used are carefully chosen and selected with attention to their source of origin  ̶  in the first place the succulent Chianina meat which, depending on the season, is accompanied by very high quality ‘side dishes’ such as porcini mushrooms and local truffles.

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A friendly place for cycle touring  

 “The Castiglionesi Trails are about 100 kilometres of paths in the depths of nature that connect the coastal area with the Castiglionese hinterland  ̶  explains Enzo Riemma, president of the Maremma Experience Consortium  ̶  making use of bike professionals, our associates, and folk from the Associazione Albero delle Idee who have been engaged in these activities since since 2013 in collaboration with the municipal administration we believe we can make these routes more usable for cycling tourism lovers.”

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Casina Kitch: to be eaten strictly hands-on

The format and concept of Casina Kitch is that of a gourmet Hamburger joint: high-level hamburgers starting from a personalized bun recipe, with local low-food-miles products  ̶  an effort  that Gabriele takes care of personally and daily: “I designed the place without ever thinking of having a freezer”, he tells us as he employs an uncompromising express cooking concept.

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La Loggia del Chianti: when the cooking educates the palate

There is a real air of novelty at the Loggia del Chianti: from this year Simone resumes his role in the family business, determined to leave his mark in what has always been his parents’ place.
A professional rugby player, in the past he has dedicated time and love to this family project, but lately he has understood that to take a step forward he had to dedicate all of himself to the restaurant.

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Jutta Wilhelm Coerper – Artist and Designer

Jutta was born in Coblenz in the Rhineland in Germany during the War, and went to study art and design in Dusseldorf.  She had always dreamed of leaving Germany to travel, and spent a year abroad studying and working in Rome.  When, after 6 years of art school, the possibility to spend a period in South Africa working for a textile company presented itself, the young Jutta jumped at the opportunity. 

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La Vecchia Cantina di Montepulciano – A History in Wine

Founded in July of 1937 as a cooperative of fourteen local winemakers who banded together to facilitate both the production and the sales of their wines.  Vecchia Cantina bottled its first wine in 1940 during the war.  After the difficult war years, in the 1950’s and the reorganization of the lands, the Vecchia Cantina acted as a driving force for wine production in the area, a role that they cover to this day with the over 400 member vineyard owners and over a thousand hectares of vineyards producing around seven million bottles of wine annually.

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