Surrounding Area
Even if you do not leave home, you are surrounded by beautiful views, nature, wildlife, birdsong, fresh air and forest. The local forest is famous for mushroom picking and chestnut collecting. There are also some lovely, caring, international neighbors (Dutch, Danish & Spanish). The Agriturismo took its name (Podere San Biagio) from the small 10th century church right down the road. Musical events, poetry readings and very intimate small wedding celebrations take place here during the Summer months. There are so many beautiful nature walks starting right from your doorstep. You can walk to the river, you can take the scenic loop walk called the Capriola walk, you can venture across the Villetta Bridge (the tallest in Garfagnana) to enjoy lovely brick oven pizza and gelato or a refreshing swim in the river. There are many cycling routes, nature parks, lakes (Gramolazzo, Vagli & Pontecosi) and hiking trails ( Campocatino, San Pellegrino & Orichiela), horseback riding as well as a tremendous amount of local attractions. If you like skiing there is a small ski area ten kilometers up the the road from Poggio as well as Abteone a very extensive and famous ski area about and hour and a half away.
The seaside is one hour and thirty minutes away, a very scenic drive through the mountains. The hilltop town for Barga is very nice to have nearby (about 40 minutes) for its annual Jazz festival during the month of August as well as its many restaurants, art galleries and a truly outstanding cathedral.
The closest town is Camporgiano about three kilometers away where you can find food shops, bakeries, restaurants, a bank, a gas station, a mechanic, an extensive hardware store as well as nursery, elementary and middle schools. The largest town in the Garfagnana is Castelnuovo where you can find a large selection of food stores, restaurants, banks a movie theatre and most everything you may need. The Poggio/Carregine/Vagli Train Station just a short walk (20 minutes) from the agriturismo. From here you can travel to most anyplace you would like to go in Italy. Lucca is one hour away, Pisa an hour and twenty minutes and destinations such as Cinque Terre, Siena, Florence and Rome are all reachable within a few hours. The closest airport is Galileo Galilei in Pisa about an hour and fifteen minute drive.
Through an archway you exit the kitchen and enter the dining area with a custom made, extendable oval oak leaf table surrounded by a wrap-around panca also made local artisans. This room enjoys beautiful views through the large sliding glass door that leads to the sunroom. This twenty two square meter room is almost entirely made up of large windows so needless to say it has wonderful views and amazing amounts of sun. We had custom wooden shades made for the windows to block some of the intensity of the Summer sun. The floors are one half terracotta (a continuation from the dining area) and one half wood (a continuation from the sitting room). The dining room flows into the sitting room/fireplace room which has a large door that enters into the yard as well as a double pane glass panel door leading into the sunroom. The fireplace (which has fan-assisted vents to blow hot air) is finished with a local clay plaster as are two of the walls in this room. There are two large couches, a beautiful ivy motif stained glass window made by a local artist, a wooden ceiling fan, a video projector and pull-down movie screen making this room a cozy central heart of the house. The floors are wide plank natural wood laid by the same local artisans who made the kitchen which are really harmonious with the clay walls and fireplace contributing to the living/breathing feeling in this room.
The stairs leading to the second floor are custom design made of solid oak planks with a handmade wrought iron floral motif handrail.
There are two bedrooms one smaller (10.5 Mt2) and one larger (17.8 Mt2). The smaller bedroom has a full size, heated walk-in closet of 6.5 square meters. It also has castagne shelves, a handmade antique glass and wrought iron ceiling light and a ample size window with a wonderful view of the green fields and the mountains beyond. The second bedroom, a considerably larger room, has the same beautiful views, a variable speed ceiling fan with adjustable light and large, three section, floor to ceiling wardrobe. In between these two rooms is a large bathroom of six square meters with a large window, jacuzzi spa tub, Moroccan wall tiles, hand painted ceramic sink, a bidet, a large custom mirror, Moroccan light fixtures and full size ( floor to ceiling) radiator with towel hooks. The entire upstairs has custom, Tuscan wood flooring aside from the bathroom which is tile.
There is also a second antique glass and wrought iron light hanging in the hallway. There is a two pane, double glazed door leading from the hallway onto the upstairs balcony of 16.25 square which looks out over the front yard and the hen house beyond.
The ground floor (cantinas) which also has radiators, consists of three rooms: a laundry/storage/ utility room, a central room with bookshelves and bathroom/darkroom with large sink, darkroom setup counter, shelves and enlarger. The third room is a bedroom with ample storage for clothes, bedding and other stuff etc. , currently being used as a bedroom by our teen-age daughter and has door leading out to the following spoken about arched area.
Outside the cantinas (directly below the kitchen balcony) is a covered, arched area with an outdoor couch, an extendable wooden dining table, shelving and custom wall mosaics. Just beyond this this is the 9 x 4 x 1.25 meter swimming pool with wonderful open views of the mountain beyond.
