| Italy - 2006 - Tuscany (continued) |
| Dick and Bette and Brown and Anne rented a car for two days and did "our own thing". |
| Montepulciano | |
| Our first stop was at Montepulciano, which is a town built on the side of a steep hill. This is a view of the steep streets with some of the neighborhood flags--each neighborhood has it's own. It is so steep that we were advised to start at the top and walk down, then take the mini bus that drove back uphill through the narrow streets so that we could avoid the steep climb. The town hall is at the right. This city was special! | |
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Pienza |
| This view of Montepulciano and the San Biabio Cathedral below the town is like a postcard! When we stopped to take this picture, we saw a sign pointing to "homemade pecorino' and followed it to a state of the art cheese shop out in the country. Surprise! | Our next stop was the town of Pienza. We're admiring the wares at a wine shop here. Pienza has a rather plain cathedral that was the Pope's church at one time, and a hotel nearby was made from his living quarters. |  |
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| Castle of Spedaletto |
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| Agriturisimo is in vogue in Italy, and this Castle of Spedaletto is one of the more elegant ones that we saw. Bed and Breakfast here seemed to be luxurious, though we didn't see inside. The gardens around it were lovely. | |
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Bagno Vignoni |
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| In the Spedaletto were some of the larger sunflowers that we saw--the seeds are grown for their oil, a cheaper oil than olive oil. | This tiny spa has been in operation since Etruscan times. Hot sulfur springs drew people to seek their healing properties. Bette and I both bought souvenirs from this charming lady who had a shop just off the square. | ||
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The Bagno Vignoni town square was most unusual--it was all water! We stopped here at a hotel for cappuccino, a habit we cultivated during our whole trip. |
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| Rocca Di Tentennano in Castiglione d'Orcia |
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| We climbed up this castle to see the view from the top--at least Dick and Brown made it all the way! Olive trees and vineyards are the usual crops to be seen. The Val d'Orcia is a World Heritage site--the whole area! | |
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| San Quirico d'Orcia |
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| We stopped to see this town for a little while San Quirico d'Orcia's old wall and garden with very modern statues was unusual. The cathedral's weathered gargoyles were supposed to be one of the attractions. We were there just before lunch, and hoped to buy wine to go with our picnic, but we missed the closing time--darn! Italian stores close at 1 p.m. and don't open until about 4 or so. | |
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