Ferragosto in Maremma

Ferragosto in Maremma

You can always tell how long an expat has been in Italy by their response to Ferragosto. At first, you’re convinced it’s a fantastic idea. A holiday in the middle of August speaks of siestas and the Italian way of working to live, not living to

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Thu 03 Jul 2014 12:00 AM
Credit | Dimitri via Flickr

Credit | Dimitri via Flickr

 

You can always tell how long an expat has been in Italy by their response to Ferragosto. At first, you’re convinced it’s a fantastic idea. A holiday in the middle of August speaks of siestas and the Italian way of working to live, not living to work. And besides, it’s too hot.

 

And then the idea loses its charm. You figure out that the Ferragosto holiday covers the entire month of August. You abandon plans to get anything done since the entire country is on vacation. The weather is rubbish, but you throw in the towel and decide join them.

 

Ferragosto is a hectic time to travel and one of the few periods when you’re fighting for breathing space at the major attractions with both tourists and locals. Unless you love the idea of elbowing people in the face at the beaches in Amalfi or lining up for days at the Vatican, Ferragosto is best spent somewhere anonymous, which just happens to be the Maremma’s M.O.

 

Any vacation in the Maremma is about soaking up its authenticity. The two-hour drive from Florence, past Siena and into Southern Tuscany is a descent into a culture that still celebrates summer with sagre (food festivals), where the local delicacies are served on plastic plates and the band always has an accordion.

 

Sagre

 

The Maremma will host hundreds of sagre on the weekend of Ferragosto (August 15-17). Most will serve a smorgasbord of everything the locals love to eat. But some, like Montepescali’s Sagra del Cinghiale e Tortello and Porto Ercole’s Sagra della Ficamaschia Dorata, are institutions. The former because it’s been cooking up wild boar and tortelli pasta for almost 40 years. The latter because it prepares a local pesce povera (cheap fish) in a braised tomato sauce that’ll make every seafood dish you’ve ever had seem bland in comparison.  

 

From seafood to seaside, to most Italians, Ferragosto is best spent with a beer and a front-row view of the beach. The Italian Touring Club recently crowned the Maremma’s beaches among Italy’s best, so you’ll want to save Castiglione della Pescaia and Scarlino’s Cala Violina for another time.

 

Panoramas

 

Instead pack a picnic basket and follow the Strada Panoramica from Porto Santo Stefano to Porto Ercole. It’s on the Argentario Coast, close to where the Costa Concordia cruise ship spent almost two year lying on its side in shallow waters.  The Strada Panoramica is strictly used by locals, who take the dirt road and tight corners like they’re driving rally cars. The coastal drive has no less than 20 beach spots. The top pick for families is Spiaggia Lunga, while 400 metres further down, Le Viste will satisfy anyone’s thirst for blue seas and scenic sand.

 

Another spot where you’re almost guaranteed peace is the Parco Faunistico del Monte Amiata, on the border with Siena. This was the 19th century utopia of self-proclaimed second-coming-of-Jesus-Christ David Lazzaretti, who built a monastery for his technicolour-wearing followers in the heart of parklands. The utopia crumbled after Lazzaretti was killed by carabinieri in 1878, but the ruins can still be visited as long as you have a pair of sturdy shoes and aren’t afraid of vipers.

 

Art (alone)

 

More than 100km inland, but still in the Maremma, Daniel Spoerri’s art garden in Seggiano is one of the few attractions that will be open for Ferragosto. The province has four official art gardens, one of which is the otherworldly, but world-renowned, Giardino dei Tarocchi in Capalbio. Daniel Spoerri’s art garden is just as evocative, if utterly underappreciated. Its more than 103 sculptures are spread liberally across 16 acres. The map is impossible to read, so you find yourself stumbling from Hitchcock-esque stone ravens in the orchard to bits of an old steam engine among the oaks like a lost traveller looking for signs of life.

 

If Ferragosto is hot, and early weather reports indicate it’ll hit 30°C, you’ll find me, and probably no one else, at Vetulonia’s impressive Museo di Isidoro Falchi. When it comes to art, the Maremma can’t compete, but it dominates with its wealth of Etruscan artefacts. Much of Vetulonia’s museum displays artefacts from its golden age, the 7th century BC, when the city was renowned for its jewellers, who learnt to weave fine threads of gold from their Syrian neighbours. The museum is two floors of the sorts of relics that would make even the biggest city gallery green with envy. The €5 ticket includes entry into the nearby archaeological sites and necropolises.

 

So whether you think Ferragosto is a pain in the behind or a stroke of brilliance, do yourself a favour and spend it well off the beaten tourist track. After all, when in Rome and all that…

 

Elisa is an Australian journalist who came to Tuscany for a year, fell in love (how cliché?) and decided to stick around. Not one to keep amazing holiday destinations to herself, she now writes a blog and travel guide about the infinitely beautiful Maremma, Tuscany

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