Cosmopolitan UK - 09.2019

COSMOPOLITAN · 127

I

had reached the point where I just

needed to hit the emergency stop

button on my life and escape. You

know those moments when you

feel yourself getting annoyed with

everyone and everything? When a

cross look on your commute sends

you into a spiral of self-loathing and

you snap at even those you love most?

I needed peace, green hills, great food

and unfettered access to a cellar of

wine. I needed Borgo Pignano. I just

didn’t know howmuchI needed it

until I got there.

LA DOLCE VITA

You might consider a

palatial 18th-century Italian

farmhouse (turned elegant,

restored country estate) too

romantic a destination to travel

to alone. I certainly did at first, but

I was so wrong. Borgo Pignano is no

ordinary hotel. Found deep in the

Tuscan hills, it’s also a working farm

set in 750 acres of land, complete

with its own waterfall and hiking

trails. It has a yoga studio with

individual and group classes

bookable on request, an artist

studio with at least one artist

in residence and renowned

classes in painting and

sketching, its own soap

laboratory with workshops

using natural ingredients

grown on the grounds,

horses for trekking, a

small spa and exquisite

cliff-side infinity pool.

The rooms are all

unique, some with

four-poster beds,

some with frescos and

deep-set marble baths. There’s

a library, an art gallery with

revolving exhibitions and even a

Romanesque chapel. For dining,

Villa Pignano is peaceful and quiet,

while the riotous farmhouse-style

Social Table next door is where

guests – groups, couples, solos – talk

to each other through mouthfuls of

Florentine steak, cooked over the fire,

and excellent Sangiovese wines,

grown on vineyards that are

widespread in this part of Tuscany.

BACK TO BASICS

I spent my weekend reading and

swimming, learning to sketch in

the artist studio, walking the tranquil

grounds for hours and, at night,

trading stories with other guests

over sweet Vin Santo and homemade

cantuccinibiscuits until the

embers of the communal fire

had died out. I left Borgo

Pignano a nicer, calmer, more

refreshed version of myself.

I felt full – of life and boar

ragout – in every way.i

Rooms from £265 per night (with

breakfast); Borgopignano.com.

BA flies to Florence from £53, or

Pisa from £34 (both one-way).

GET THERE ✈

Dear Instagram,

please make a

‘Tuscan sunset’ filter

WHERE:Amy Grier

found her arty side

at Borgo Pignano,

Tuscany

THE BOHEMIAN

MINI-BREAK

GO SOLO

One in six people

now holiday

alone (up from

12% in 2017)*