MY SUMMER HOLIDAYS AT CASTEL MONASTERO

“This year more than ever I needed to get away from it all and relax, and out of all the hotels that I know and that I have talked about in recent years in the different magazines I contribute to, I chose Castel Monastero because of its mystical aura as a former monastery in the heart of the Chianti region, which makes it the perfect place to balance body and mind. Here, where nature is all around you and almost seems to take over, you really know you are getting away from it all from the moment you set foot in the hamlet’s little square, where I’ll never forget the breakfasts, aperitifs at sunset and dinners at Gordon Ramsay’s “Contrada” restaurant. The “Aquae Monasterii” Spa at this marvellous resort – a member of The Leading Hotels of the World group – is located in two large farmhouses. Outside there’s a three-tier cascading swimming pool, whose “sound effects” increase the sense of relaxation. Inside, a thousand square metres of wellness, with eight treatment rooms, a hydrotherapy course that includes sauna, Turkish bath, multisensory showers with chromotherapy and natural essences, and a pool with toning water jets. And the jewel in the crown: a high saline density sea oil pool, designed exclusively for the Castel Monastero spa by the medical team of Thalasso del Forte, the Forte Village Spa. Here, as I floated every day for 10/15 minutes, my muscles relaxed and the swelling in my legs miraculously went down. And later on, following the precious advice given to me by the spa manager Francesca Nuvolone, I was entrusted me to the gentle yet powerful hands of Fabiana Marcocci, a massage therapist with a wealth of experience who performs draining, LPG and Marma treatments, the last one being an exclusive, special Indian massage, and I was “reborn” and ready to face returning to work after the holidays. The final steps of getting back into shape involved a series of yoga sessions and walks in the peace and quiet of the Tuscan countryside with my dog Aki, a shiba inu puppy, who totally enjoyed his five star holiday and even became the resort’s mascot for a while.”