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lillibetOn our way out in the morning, we met Francesco, our host. He showed Jason how to connect to his computer in the main house. They had planned to have an ISDN line installed in the reception area by now, but the company decided not to offer it out this far, so their plans for a faster connection are on hold. Jason brought his laptop, so he is able to upload and download our email, which is how you're receiving these messages.
We had noticed that the other car in the lot was from Camden Town, just up the road from us in London, so we stopped by the pool to say hello to the owners. They are a Ukrainian couple who have lived in the UK for the last decade and now live in West Hampstead. They're here with their nineteen year old daughter, whom we have yet to see.
Finally we set off to see something of Tuscany. We started by driving over the mountains to Siena. The roads here are quite amazing and there seems to be a different, beautiful vista around every single one of the myriad hairpin turns. The Italians take these at speed and seem somewhat confused by the idea of braking for a turn, but they are also happy to pass me when I'm not going fast enough for their taste. Generally, except for the speed issue, I have found Italian drivers to be very polite. For example, any time I indicate that I'm changing lanes, they slow down and let me in. Since the last place I drove was in Boston, this kind of behavior is quite shocking.
We arrived in Siena and spent a while driving around, trying to figure out where to park. Finally we settled on a lot outside the walls that has an escalator up to the main level of town. Since we knew we'd want to come back and explore the town more fully, we were mostly just stopping for lunch, which turned out to be a couple of slices of pizza in a hole-in-the-wall. After lunch we strolled around town a bit, seeing the gorgeous campo, or main square, which is round and steep, like an amphitheatre, with cafes all around the perimeter. We thought about the Pinacoteca Nazionale museum, but they had just closed for the day, so we wandered past their Duomo, picked up some gelato, bought a 6-pack of litres of water and headed back to the car.
From Siena we drove south into the area known as "the crete" or "the badlands." This is very different terrain from the lush, wooded hills we'd come through in the morning. Although still hilly, these hills are dry and covered in clay soil.
We arrived in Ascanio just before 3pm and strolled around for few minutes until the Museo Cassoli opened. This is a collection of the work of two 19th century local artists, father and son, who mainly focused on portraiture. After a brief visit there, we headed down to the Museo Etrusco, which was still closed, in spite of the sign on the door claiming its afternoon hours started at 3pm and it was now well past that. We found the tourist information office, where a helpful man explained that he couldn't find the guy with the key and that the other museum our guidebook recommended, the Museo d'Arte Sacra, was closed and its collection was being absorbed by a new museum under construction.
So we left Ascanio and went on to the Monte Oliveto Maggiore monastery, founded in 1313 by the Olivetans, or "White Benedictines," a breakaway group of reformist Benedictines. The monastery is lovely, with a main church boasting a 16th century choir with beautiful inlaid woodwork and gorgeous ceiling paintings. Its setting is also stunning, looking down over rolling, wooded hills. But its main claim to fame is the fresco of 36 panels depicting the life of St. Benedict. The first nine were painted by Luca Signorelli and the rest by the artist known as Il Sodomo.
From there we drove on to the walled hilltown of Montalcino, whose castle shell houses an enoteca, or wine bar. We had a glass of Barello Montalcino and a plate of salami and pecorino made in nearby Pienza and sat in the late afternoon sun of the courtyard to enjoy them. In the square outside the castle we found a stall selling hats and since I had, as always, forgotten to bring one with me, a new hat joined my growing collection.
In the growing dusk we made a brief stop at Bagno Vignoli, where the main square centers on a large pool used for bathing by the Romans, but not since. We stopped briefly in Pienza, another walled town, and strolled through it looking for the Latte di Luna restaurant recommended by the _Food Lover's Guide to Tuscany_, but when we found it, they were full for the evening. So we ended up in Montepulciano for dinner at the Diva & Maceo restaurant. We had an okay meal. Jason had a nice caprese (tomatoes, mozzerella and basil--the mozzerella here is so flavorful) while I had a plate of pici (a local pasta, like thick spaghetti) in a cream sauce with shaved truffles on top. That was tasty enough, but got boring pretty quickly. Jason's main course was a tasty entrecote steak with porcini mushrooms, while mine was grilled rabbit that didn't look very prepossessing, but was moist and flavorful. Tuscan meat plates or "secondi" don't typically come with vegetables or starch, although there's sometimes a little bit of greenery on the plate. Generally we've been ordering half a litre of the house red with dinner and been very satisfied with that.
From Montepulciano we had over an hour's drive home, so it was about midnight when we arrived back at Il Doccio, very glad to fall into bed. Next, the race to the Uffizi...
We had noticed that the other car in the lot was from Camden Town, just up the road from us in London, so we stopped by the pool to say hello to the owners. They are a Ukrainian couple who have lived in the UK for the last decade and now live in West Hampstead. They're here with their nineteen year old daughter, whom we have yet to see.
Finally we set off to see something of Tuscany. We started by driving over the mountains to Siena. The roads here are quite amazing and there seems to be a different, beautiful vista around every single one of the myriad hairpin turns. The Italians take these at speed and seem somewhat confused by the idea of braking for a turn, but they are also happy to pass me when I'm not going fast enough for their taste. Generally, except for the speed issue, I have found Italian drivers to be very polite. For example, any time I indicate that I'm changing lanes, they slow down and let me in. Since the last place I drove was in Boston, this kind of behavior is quite shocking.
We arrived in Siena and spent a while driving around, trying to figure out where to park. Finally we settled on a lot outside the walls that has an escalator up to the main level of town. Since we knew we'd want to come back and explore the town more fully, we were mostly just stopping for lunch, which turned out to be a couple of slices of pizza in a hole-in-the-wall. After lunch we strolled around town a bit, seeing the gorgeous campo, or main square, which is round and steep, like an amphitheatre, with cafes all around the perimeter. We thought about the Pinacoteca Nazionale museum, but they had just closed for the day, so we wandered past their Duomo, picked up some gelato, bought a 6-pack of litres of water and headed back to the car.
From Siena we drove south into the area known as "the crete" or "the badlands." This is very different terrain from the lush, wooded hills we'd come through in the morning. Although still hilly, these hills are dry and covered in clay soil.
We arrived in Ascanio just before 3pm and strolled around for few minutes until the Museo Cassoli opened. This is a collection of the work of two 19th century local artists, father and son, who mainly focused on portraiture. After a brief visit there, we headed down to the Museo Etrusco, which was still closed, in spite of the sign on the door claiming its afternoon hours started at 3pm and it was now well past that. We found the tourist information office, where a helpful man explained that he couldn't find the guy with the key and that the other museum our guidebook recommended, the Museo d'Arte Sacra, was closed and its collection was being absorbed by a new museum under construction.
So we left Ascanio and went on to the Monte Oliveto Maggiore monastery, founded in 1313 by the Olivetans, or "White Benedictines," a breakaway group of reformist Benedictines. The monastery is lovely, with a main church boasting a 16th century choir with beautiful inlaid woodwork and gorgeous ceiling paintings. Its setting is also stunning, looking down over rolling, wooded hills. But its main claim to fame is the fresco of 36 panels depicting the life of St. Benedict. The first nine were painted by Luca Signorelli and the rest by the artist known as Il Sodomo.
From there we drove on to the walled hilltown of Montalcino, whose castle shell houses an enoteca, or wine bar. We had a glass of Barello Montalcino and a plate of salami and pecorino made in nearby Pienza and sat in the late afternoon sun of the courtyard to enjoy them. In the square outside the castle we found a stall selling hats and since I had, as always, forgotten to bring one with me, a new hat joined my growing collection.
In the growing dusk we made a brief stop at Bagno Vignoli, where the main square centers on a large pool used for bathing by the Romans, but not since. We stopped briefly in Pienza, another walled town, and strolled through it looking for the Latte di Luna restaurant recommended by the _Food Lover's Guide to Tuscany_, but when we found it, they were full for the evening. So we ended up in Montepulciano for dinner at the Diva & Maceo restaurant. We had an okay meal. Jason had a nice caprese (tomatoes, mozzerella and basil--the mozzerella here is so flavorful) while I had a plate of pici (a local pasta, like thick spaghetti) in a cream sauce with shaved truffles on top. That was tasty enough, but got boring pretty quickly. Jason's main course was a tasty entrecote steak with porcini mushrooms, while mine was grilled rabbit that didn't look very prepossessing, but was moist and flavorful. Tuscan meat plates or "secondi" don't typically come with vegetables or starch, although there's sometimes a little bit of greenery on the plate. Generally we've been ordering half a litre of the house red with dinner and been very satisfied with that.
From Montepulciano we had over an hour's drive home, so it was about midnight when we arrived back at Il Doccio, very glad to fall into bed. Next, the race to the Uffizi...
