Sometimes the best plan of action when traveling, is to get lost. Kathy and I were in Tuscany and had a day to ourselves. Our students also had a free day to wander about and hopefully stay out of trouble (which they did). We decided to get into the van and head east to see what was over the hillside. We ended up driving on a road that was following a winding river, which was surrounded by small farms and villas. We came upon this small dirt road and decided to pull over and take a hike. Following the river’s banks we found this villa atop the hillside, overlooking the surrounding valley. It was an idyllic setting.

The Val d’Orcia valley is part of the Province of Sienna in Tuscany, Italy. This landscape is one of the UNESCO’s World Heritage sites. The area has been well protected and remains close to how it looked and functioned as an agricultural area, since the Renaissance. Wandering through this valley is like stepping back in time, the old villas, small castles, stone bridges and farm lands are beautiful and enchanting.

The image I took is an eight shot panoramic. I love the way a panoramic captures the landscape in the way we encounter the physical space. In this instance, the image I took shows one of the possible routes you could have walked back home to your villa, hundreds of years ago, as well as today.