BAGNAIA
2016
The Jaguar XJR is one of the very last classic Jaguars and one of the last British 'blower' machines as well. It's subtle but under that hood there is a huge Roots-type supercharger....that's why I love this model so much
This vintage USA ad gives an impression of what Jaguar aimed to do when it designed the XJR. The combination of the classic XJ (X300) four-door bodyshell with the last development of the much-loved 4.0 litres inline 'six' mated to a mighty Eaton supercharger created, in 1995, a magnificent automobile for the true gentleman. The XJR was a powerful, fire-breathing driving machine designed to match the BMW M5 and Mercedes E500 of that era, but she maintained the elegance of the best Jaguar saloon-racers, honouring Jaguar's motto 'Grace, Pace and Space'. The subdued bodywork modifications, the huge but not garish alloys with lots of rubber on the asphalt and the impeccable refinement of its drivetrain and chassis made the XJR a true masterpiece, very expensive at the time and now unfortunately quite rare. There was no better car to choose for me and Anna for a complex (and fast) trip of more than one thousand kilometers in just a few few days from Bologna to Siena, Forte dei Marmi and many other interesting places around Toscana....
Terme di Petriolo
Having won a round of the QN national golf tournament, I was invited to play the final round at La Bagnaia, a splendid course with a 5-star luxury resort near Siena. I had been there some years ago for the road test of a new version of the Porsche Boxster and I thought that it was a beautiful resort; unfortunately the hotel was closed for renovations so we were hosted in nearby 'Terme di Petriolo', a 5-stars hotel with spa. The restaurant was quite good, but the ambience was not on par with the Bagnaia's
La Bagnaia Golf Resort
The entrance gate of the Royal Golf La Bagnaia is impressive
The Golf Club parking lot is ample
La Bagnaia is a very nice golf course. It was the first time that I played there, and you need to learn a lot of things about its greens and bunkers before getting any decent score. Anyway it's a great course
Delivering our bags to the Caddy Master
Castello di Casole
After the end of the QN golf tournament at La Bagnaia we drove to 'Castello di Casole', a magnificent hotel on the top of a hill in the countryside between Firenze and Siena. After a long renovation, now it is a splendid luxury resort.
* * *
Sadly, reaching the resort was a mess as there are no road signs worthy of this name to show where the hotel is, which is on top of a hill; our 4 (four!) satellite navigation systems (latest-model updated Garmin, Tom Tom, Google Maps etc) couldn't find the hotel and thus we had to wander along muddy roads to try and find one road sign to show where the hotel would be. When we finally reached the hotel, the XJR was muddy, the entrance was blocked a lot of German cars driven by Far Eastern guys, it was raining and nobody did help me unload my suitcases...
* * *
Luckily Luca, the bartender, mixes an excellent Martini cocktail based on a great classic, the Tanqueray 'Ten'. Luca is a pupil of Federico, the extraordinary bartender of 'Il Pellicano', and thus he is a already a Master of the game. His Martini was perfectly stirred, not shaken, the olives are of the right size and color. This great Martini, and a quick agreeable chat with this young gentleman, put a smile back on my face and so I was ready for dinner at the 'Tosca' restaurant in the same resort; this was one of the best dinners I had during the last weeks and I was very happy with that.
Ristorante La Tosca
A great place with a very sophisticated menu
'Tosca' is the restaurant of Castello di Casole, and it's one of the best we've tried in the latest months. My mood had been greatly improved by the meeting with Luca (the bartender) and his Martinis, so we were ready to enjoy the dinner and it was quite a treat. From the tasty amuse-bouche to the surprising 'Capitolo Foie Gras' (yes, in the 2nd pic above what looks like a cherry is NOT a cherry, it's foie gras sublimely remodelled...) and the splendid 'Piccione Tosca' (bottom pic) everything was exquisite and really 'different', for once in the right way
The steamy 'Tour di Cioccolato nel Bosco' (nitrogen?) was a fitting final touch to a splendid dinner. 'Tosca' is heartily recommended, if you can find the hotel.....
Forte dei Marmi, Pesce Baracca
After a short stop in Bologna, we decided to take advantage of the local holiday (4 October is San Petronio, protector of Bologna) to drive to Forte dei Marmi and enjoy a few hours of sun and relax. Luckily I left the Porsche in the garage and chose to take the XJR again, as her automatic gearbox, luxurious interior and powerful A/C kept us relaxed during 2 long queues on our route to Versilia. As it is easy to see in the pic above, the weather was fine and Anna was not unhappy to be there
Eventually we arrived in Forte and as our beloved 'Fratellinis' is closed on Tuesdays, we decided to try its next-door relative, 'Pesce Baracca': we were not disappointed. They gave us a superb Fritto Misto di Pesce and everything was very satisfying.
Pesce Baracca is part of the same family as Fratellinis and the luxurious Bistrot, all of them strategically placed along the seaside boulevard of Forte
We started our trip with the odometer showing 171717 kms and parked the XJR in her garage showing 172736 kms. We therefore had covered 1019 kms between Bologna, Bagnaia, Petriolo, Castel di Casole, Bologna again, Forte dei Marmi and return. The average fuel consumption of the mighty XJR improved again and it was 12,2 lt/kms (roughly 24 mpg) which is not bad when you consider that when I bought her, and before fitting new Lamdba probes, FC777FX needed 22 litres to cover the same 100 kms, or 13 mpg if you prefer....
The only glitch: a LED of the renewed clock fails to light up now
