On Saurday we drove quite a long way to the little town of Montepulciano. Now our source for Italy is usually Rick Steves and this and Volterra are his favourite hill towns and I can't say we disagree with him. We had a lovely day strolling through this picturesque little town, lunching on calzone pizza and drinking spritzes. It was a glorious day and we thoroughly enjoyed it. We headed from here to find this classic Tuscan scene which was hidden away in some tiny village. We had to drive over dirt roads but were pretty determined to find it and drive the road, pretty nice hey. They have just harvested their crops so a lot of the countryside is brown and not the usual Tuscan green.
From here we headed to Siena to try to go to the Palio. Unfortunately we were not willing to park over three kilometres from the town and walk in and we had had such a lovely day we really didn't feel like crowds of people. So we headed home and up the mountain.
The next day we headed to Volterra where they were holding their annual medieval festival. We are suckers for these especially when the setting is so good. Well, what a day. The whole town was bedecked and the people were in costume. It was fantastic and made the decision to stay overnight down there so we could see the night time festivities as well.
One of the main things was a flag throwing competition from the various quarters of the city. I loved this. They would march up through the town, with trumpets and drums, to the main square. It was so colourful and exciting.
They had a section set up as a camp and village with arts and crafts going on. We sat there and watched a falconry display.
This was an archeological park and apparently the towers that dominated it was a prison where they keep a lot of the mafia bad boys so they are away from their families. They had weapons, tents, crossbow demos, weaving, etc. in this relaxing and cool green space.
They also had a big area of the town given over to great food stalls. It was not expensive and was delicious. We thoroughly enjoyed tasting many different foods and John particularly loved the mulled wine.
From here we headed the next morning to San Gimignano. It is such a pretty town and evyone who has been to this part of Italy loves it. It very touristy but there's always a good reason for this. We were going to stay for an hour but ended up being there for nearly five. Bought some souvenirs.
Now today we have just arrived home from another day in Florence. We visited the Academia to see the David and the Medici Chapel. Michelangelo is such a genius and Florence was his city of choice. The David is gob smackingly beautiful and one could stand and admire all day. We had a delightful lunch and headed home.
Feeling a bit seedy today. John and our hostess drank a couple of bottles of vino and a litre of beer last night. I found him face first in the fireplace and had to scold him and put him to bed. Seems to happen every holiday.
We have also just had news that our baby is back in hospital with high fever. So so worrying. Also Eileen, John's mum, had a fall and is also in hospital. So Matilda and Eileen, we are thinking of you and hope you will both be better soon.
Ciao.
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