Villa Brignole, Monteaperti

Some of us chillin' at Villa Brignole

Every time Living It Yoga visits another venue in Tuscany, we experience such hospitality that we are almost overwhelmed by everyone's generosity. From the welcome on our late arrival to the rearranging of rooms, nothing was too much bother for our hosts. Lorella had been Grainne's and my contact in March and now Annamaria was taking over the role of manager and making sure that everything was as it should be.  Andy and I were given a fabulous apartment and the original breakfast room in the villa had been turned into our yoga cum socialising room.

Yoga Room

 We felt blessed as we were living in a very historical part of Tuscany. Monteaperti is famous for the Sienese defeating the Florentines in 1260... and as many of you know Siena is one of my favourite cities. Our 2014 venue, Villa Brignole, is situated just 7 km from Siena, in this special of places, with the most outstanding views across Tuscan vineyards.

View from the villa towards the south.

We managed to pack in everything we wanted to do and some more. Meditation was at 7.30am every morning and the hatha morning routine scheduled at 8am, just before our scrumptious breakfast. All in preparation for whatever the day ahead would entail. Most evenings there was a yoga class on offer to stretch our bones and muscles and as the theme was the 5 Energetic Elements, we also got to stretch out minds!

Week's Programme: - and you really had to be there!
Sunday - visit to Monteriggioni and out for dinner at a typical rustic Tuscan restaurant.
Monday - visit to San Gimignano for the best ice cream in the world

The Maestro himself!

... returning home to the villa for dinner cooked by Andy and myself!
Tuesday - spa visit at Rapolana Terme. Only fabulous and then in the evening, out for dinner to an Osteria. I am still amazed at the number of antipasti that were produced for us.
Wednesday - for some of us, chillin' with deep relaxation practices followed by an at home/villa dining experience.
Thursday - Siena for its' "theatre", its' cuisine and its' atmosphere. Dinner was at a restaurant where not only were we fed extraordinarily well but mine host was also a bit of a comedian and entertained us thoroughly.
Friday - was to be whatever people wanted and so the decision was made to visit a small town in the hills called San Gusme that Grainne and myself had visited in March...  and they remembered us! We enjoyed wonderful coffee accompanied by Torta di Nonna (Grandmother's Cake)... deliciosa!
Our visit to Villa Brignole ended with a celebratory dinner on the Friday evening, with all of us from a wide range of age and experiences coming together to enjoy all that was on offer and to share in the joy that is Living It Yoga...
Grazie tutti miei amici... you made the week wonderful! Can't wait to see all of your photos...