We are staying at a medieval castle just outside of Siena. This place is so cool. It is situated on a hill, so it can be seen from far away, and really stands out because of the design. It is shaped as a square, and each corner has a tall tower with crenelations on top. It is surrounded by tall cypress trees, olive groves, and flower gardens.
The castle is owned and occupied by two sisters who have had the castle in their family since the 1800s. Niccola, son of Laura, speaks English and helps run the operation. They rent two rooms as a bed and breakfast, and also a separate apartment on the lower floor off the courtyard. One of the two rooms is inside one of the castle towers. It requires about 100 steps to get to the bedroom, including two narrow spiral staircases – quite a workout! You definitely need to be healthy, have good knees, and pack light to stay here. But it is soooo worth it, as you have the entire tower to yourself. This includes big windows on all four sides with long distance views. You can see Siena on the hilltop on one side, and awesome views of the rolling hills lined with vineyards, olive groves, wheat fields, and spotted with cypress trees and big stone farmhouses. Molto benne!
However, there are also some not-so-good things. The bed is extra firm, as in extra hard. The pillows are flat. It’s somewhat clean, but not really clean, as they don’t seem to have a dedicated cleaning crew. And there are workers trimming the olive trees with chainsaws staring at 8am everyday. Since there is no A/C, we sleep with the windows open so everything outside can be clearly heard. This didn’t wake us up, as we awoke around sunrise each morning anyway.
Love this place, would definitely stay here again.
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