• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4

Our kids wanted to go to Venice - my wife and I wanted to go to Tuscany. Here's how we hit the autostrada and did both.

On a recent spring break in Italy, after wandering by boat and foot through the Venetian fairyland, we rented a really nice four-door Alfa Romeo at the Venice garage and shifted gears. The transition from Venice to Tuscany is arresting. Automobiles substitute for boats, castles stand in for palaces, and meat replaces fish. Our kids really enjoyed the change of scenery on this EuroTrip, a road trip actually -- especially when we pulled up to our "hotel."

Torredepecci, a Villa of Distinction

Too small for the Michelin map, the tiny hamlet of Stigliano rests in the green hills a dozen kilometers southeast of Siena, consisting of little more than a cute restaurant on a tiny square, some picturesque stone houses and a couple of inns. Ours was a small property called Torredepecci, offered by the rental company Villas of Distinction: four units housed in a solid rock tower, a prized example of 13th century Siennese fortifications against Florence.

Despite its origins in war making, today Torredepecci is bathed in peace. We occupied the top two floors: a spacious bath and comfy double bedroom, a large living area and kitchen and a stunning top floor bedroom in the former battlement surrounded by Tuscan light and spectacular views. The spiral staircase leading to the sunbathed top floor totally unsettled my wife (and makes this unit of the castle questionable for tiny kids), so we offered the king size bed and accompanying vista to Maddy and Jamie and slept a la Ricky and Lucy in the double beds.

The modern amenities contrast quietly with the thick stonewalls, wooden ceiling beams and Tuscan views. The kitchen is equipped for cooking full meals (including a microwave), although it may present a bit of a challenge for those accustomed to Viking ranges and granite countertops. A convenient washer and dryer in the basement of the tower came in really handy (I presume it was the owner who graciously hung our damp laundry on the clothes lines overlooking the town square).

We loved shopping at the supermarket in nearby San Rocco a Pilli for our simple breakfasts of coffee, juice, country sausages, bread and cheese. We even hunkered down in our tower with supermarket pizza one quiet evening -- frozen pizza in Italy!? San Rocco also has a few cute restaurants, a pasticceria for pastries and gelato and no other tourists.