PAUL McCARTNEY'S BIRTHDAY WEEKEND IN MONTALCINO

As a break from the preparations for the London Olympics opening ceremony, Sir Paul McCartney decided to have a stint in Montalcino. The Tuscan wine town does get its fair share of celebrities, but this visit is definitely special, as the ex-Beatle and his wife Nancy Shevell didn't spend just any weekend in town, but the one leading up to Sir Paul's 70th birthday today on the 18th of June.

The famous couple flew to Rome in their private jet and then moved on to Castiglion del Bosco, Montalcino's private club and upper class hotel. It would be interesting to get the details of the McCartney's menu during their short stay. Tuscany is not an easy destination for vegetarians. We can only hope that Sir Paul's eating habits raised some awareness in the local hotel and restaurant industry.

According to the Telegraph Paul McCartney and wife are supposed to fly back to London today, where they'll celebrate a low-key birthday party. Hopefully they'll be bringing along a few cases of Brunello di Montalcino for their guests. (I guess one of the many advantages of travelling by private jet is that you don't have to worry about hand luggage and liquids. But then all that worrying about your carbon footprint...).

In any case Happy Birthday from us too.

SANT'ANTIMO ABBEY - TUSCANY'S ROMANESQUE TREASURE

Sant'Antimo abbey near Montalcino You don't have to be a catholic to remain spellbound by the eternal beauty of the Sant'Antimo abbey. The Tuscan church and monastery can turn a stubborn skeptic into a reborn spiritual. At least for the time of the visit.

SWIMMING, READING AND DINING IN BAGNO VIGNONI

Whilst the sell-out of tourist destination is a well known plague all through Italy, t here exists a tiny town in UNESCO Heritage Val d'Orcia which forgoes made in China souvenirs and just opened a bookshop instead. Bagno Vignoni is one of Tuscany's oldest tourist destinations. In fact the historic spa town has never been anything else than a tourist destination, and the ratio of inhabitants to visitors must always have been at least 1 to 10. Having looked after medieval pilgrims, ailing popes and saints ( St. Catherine of Siena used to live here for a while), Bagno Vignoni isn't tempted at all to put out plastic chairs or pizza takeaways for present day travelers. I used to live close to Bagno Vignoni and have fond memories of chasing my first -born around the town's main square which consists of a steaming hot water pool (a must-see sight for urban architects!). Our healthy mornings were usually finished off with a slice of fudge chocolate c

VAL D'ORCIA: A MAP OF THE UNESCO HERITAGE SITE

About 40 minutes south of Siena and a bit over an hour from the Tuscan coast, Val d'Orcia lies to the east of the Maremma and to the west of Montepulciano and Umbria. The UNESCO world heritage site is made up by the territories of Montalcino, San Quirico d'Orcia (with historic spa town Bagno Vignoni ) , Pienza, Castiglione d'Orcia and Radicofani. The Orcia river crosses two more municipalities (Castel del Piano and my hometown Cinigiano ), where it divides the province of Siena from the province of Grosseto (Tuscany's two southernmost areas) before flowing into the Ombrone river. View VAL D'ORCIA MAP in a larger map

Mapping MONTALCINO

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