Casina di Rosa is a great place

by Mr. and Mrs. Pawlow, U.S.A.

Originally published on Slow Travel

###Location

Casina di Rosa was in the small village of Civitella Marittima near the border between the Grosseto and Siena provinces in Tuscany. The village is very peaceful and beautiful, but most importantly, and one of the main reasons that Casina di Rosa is such great place is that Civitella is right in the middle of many outstanding other locations. It is nearly equidistant to Rome, Florence, Pisa and Lucca. Siena, Grosseto, Volterra, San Gimignano, Montalcino, are all with in 40 minutes or so. Pitigliano and Montepulciano are just over an hour away. It would be very difficult to reach all of these places as quickly in another city or village.

###Nearby Amenities

The town itself is quite nice as well. There are two bakeries, a butcher, two Italian bars, a florist, linen shop, two great restaurants, and a small grocery store in town. All of which are roughly a two minute walk from the house. All of these places are fantastic, from the great selection of local meats at the macceleria, to the friendly barista making pour after pour of Amaro late at night at the bar.

###The House/Apartment

The house is in great shape and has everything needed for daily life, including a kitchen stocked with necessities for cooking a nice Italian meal. There are no other tourists in town, only the 300 or so other people that live in town.

###Garden

There is a small area to sit outside in front of the front door. We did not use it at all.

###Furnishings/Cleanliness/Living Areas

The furniture is in fine shape, and everything was very clean. There is plenty of space to put clothes away in the bedroom. There are two couches in the sitting room and a table in the kitchen that can sit four.

###Bedrooms/Bathrooms

The bed was large and comfortable. The shower is a typical small Italian shower.

###Kitchen

The kitchen was great and used several times. There is just about everything you need to make any meal you want. There is a fireplace as well in the kitchen, which adds to the pleasant ambiance.

###Agency and Representatives (and price)

Gloria and Marcel are extremely friendly and resourceful. They speak English very well and are always available to help with problems and make suggestions. The price was €400 for the week during Easter, which we felt was very reasonable.

###Do you recommend this vacation rental to others?

We would certainly stay here again and really encourage others to do so as well. This was our first trip to Italy and it served very well as a home base to explore the immediate region. At the same time though, I could easily have stayed solely in Civitella and spent all my time reading in the sitting room and talking with the residents at the bar.

###Things to do in this area

As mentioned the easy access to the neighboring cities is one of the highlights of Civitella. The restaurant in town is highly recommended by everyone who stays there it seems. The menu puts a very dynamic and elegant on traditional and simple dishes. While it was quite good, I prefer more of a casual menu with even simpler dishes, pasta al ragu con chingale, being one of my favorite. For similar dishes that were fantastic, I Tre Cantoni 10 km away in Paganico, and I Grafi in Montalcino are stellar and highly recommended. All of the shops in town are great, and I only wish we had such things in the US.