Montelpulciano, Pienza, Montalcino

Renamed the washed out road trip. Started the morning clear and bright, a drive to Montepulciano, Renaissance town of beauty. We wandered the streets, stopping in at many of the wine shops, climbing higher and higher along the switchbacks to the top of the city and the Piazza Grande. The weather was looking questionable and we decided to have lunch in a wonderful outdoor restaurant while we could still enjoy the scenery and all the dogs that were on the patio. Making a quick stop at the Temple of San Biagio outside of the city, we decided to forgo the tour and headed out to
Pienza, a charming town that was the summer residence of Pope Pius II. Hoping to try the local delicacy of pecorino with honey, we arrived just as the restaurants were closing for the afternoon (restaurants usually close from 2:00pm-7:00pm). We wished we had more time to spend there but the thunderstorms were getting closer and we still wanted to try to get to Montalcino and the Abbey of Sant-Antimo but as we arrived into the Abbey parking lot the skies finally unleashed all its fury and we were stuck in the car for 30 minutes amongst torrential rain, hail, thunder and lightning. The soil from the surrounding vineyards was running in rivers down the hillside, turning everything brown and it was amazing how fast the roadway started to flood. There was no possibility of entering the Abbey so we decided to head home for the day - it was a long day in the car so we stopped at great pizzeria in Siena for dinner, making the ride home along the winding roads a definite adventure in the night. Moving day tomorrow, off to Donnini.Läs mer