Wind, Wine & Walking

Final days, there have been a few but today was our last day touring Tuscany. Once again we have been spoilt by LaMaesta and the hospitality. However this time it was also made special by Marg, Alan and the artists.

Many memories will be taken from this part of our trip and we feel privileged to have been able to share this short time with Rosalinda, Stefano, Lilla and Virginia.

Today was a day of new places and we were in the front of the pope mobile with the Canadians in the back and Stefano at the wheel. The Artists were in the van with Rosalinda.  Our first stop was on route to Montalcino where we needed to wait for the wagon to catch up after a fuel stop.

Pope Mobile

Stefano was able to show us the many types of outdoor cooking appliances from the car window whilst we had our short wait.

Italian BBQ Centre?

Our first real stop was walking the top of the walls at Montalcino. It was a spectacular view but we couldn't believe the wind that was blowing, if it was much stronger I think they would have closed it to us tourists!

Montalcino

A little windy.

Montalcino

Next stop was out of town and to Abbey of Sant'Antimo where we were provided a short (about 15 minute) chanting and singing session.

Returning back to Montalcino we stopped off for some lunch and had a tasting of the Brunello di Montalcino red wine. This was the most lovely wine we both have ever tasted.

Time for new ones?

Katie, Alan and Jenny

Next stop was the hilltop town of San Quirico D'orcia, some time was made for some Gelato, but as it was mid afternoon most shops were unfortunately closed.

We love interpretive signs.

This evening was spent at LaMaesta where we have made our own dinner from some fresh frommagio, pasta and prociutto and tomato sauce.

Our final Tuscan sunset for 2014.

Tomorrow - All rails lead to Rome

Happy Anniversry Baby - Cortona and Arezzo

Cortona, made famous by Under The Tuscan Sun and many other things of course, was our first destination today. As in the past we were transported in the black pope mobile, however this time we were with the Canadians Kerry and Kathy.

A 'La Maesta' at the back of our accommodation titled La Maesta

Starting at the top along side the Church of Santa Margherita, we followed a different route down this time, rather than taking the pilgrimage route we went through the steep streets of the town until we reached Piazza Garibaldi and Via Nazionale. This street Via Nazionale is also the only flat street in the town all others are on an incline of up to 40 degrees. 

Photos never show how steep a path is.

This rock is fitted in the corner to stop men urinating, if they do it will run onto there shoes.

This lady was having a conversation with her neighbour, by shouting at her one floor below.

We wandered the streets and made a few souvenir purchases for the kitchen at home.

We decided to have lunch at a place that had lovely views. Walking in we spoke to the waiter and he advised the kitchen opens in 20 minutes but we could have a drink and wait. That sounded good to us, so we took a table along the rail overlooking the Tuscan countryside.

At 12:20 he gave us the menus and as we placed our order we advised we would need to be out of the place by 1pm as our bus was coming then. He said no problem the kitchen will cook fast. To make things easy we went non Italian and both chose the hamburger.

It was around 12:50 and we started to get worried as the meals had not arrived, after gesturing to the waiter he indicated it was coming. 

Waiting

Waiting...

Well by 1pm time was up our bus from LaMaesta had arrived, the Canadian couple were waiting and we didn't have lunch on the table! At this point we decided we weren't going to be walked over and went to the bar.  We advised the waiter we would be leaving and as the meals had not arrived as promised we would like to pay for the drinks. Then with a whir and a ding the "dumb waiter" behind him opened and the hamburgers appeared. Standing our ground and knowing people were waiting on us in the piazza, we refused the hamburgers (which looked lovely) and asked for the bill of the drinks.  The waiter jumped on the phone and we could tell he was giving the kitchen a blast. He returned the handset to the telephone and could not apologise enough to us, he even offered them as takeaway.

In the end we asked to just pay for the drinks, he said no need to pay as the restaurant had made a mistake and the drinks were free, no need to pay. We then said thank-you and goodbye and within moments were in Rosalinda's van being whisked to the house where the Under the Tuscan Sun story as based on. 

The afternoon was spent in the town of Arezzo, taking in the sights.

Piazza Grande

Piazza Grande

Parco della Fortezza Medicea

View from Parco della Fortezza Medicea

 

Arezzo Flag

Tomorrow - Montalcino, final day in Tuscany.

Orvieto and Italian trains

An early start was needed to get the train at 7:55 to Orvieto, about an hours ride south from Castiglion Fiorentino.

We are becoming quite good now at purchasing tickets on the automated machine and following signs in the station to the correct train.

The ride was uneventful, apart from being on the coldest carriage ever, which in a way was not bad as it is very warm and humid here currently.

The train station at Orvieto is not actually in the town, as the town is perched on a hill there is no way for the tracks to be lied.

The only way is to transfer to a Funicular that expresses you up the side of the mountain.

The town has a number of attractions of which we went to. These were, the town itself, the monumental Cathedral of Orvieto, underground tunnels, and Museo Archeologico "c. Faina"

The cathedral was very impressive from the outside the front facade was covered with numerous mosaics and also many carvings into stone.  Normally when a cathedral is this spectacular from the outside it is quite bland inside, however this was not the case.

We entered the cathedral and were both gob-smacked by the beauty, there were numerous works of art and much of the walls were painted with religious scenes.

Next was the underground, basically the hilltop is compressed volcanic ash, and is very easy to dig.  The caverns were dug as initial residences then over time were expanded and the soil used to create the homes on top. So now all or most homes have a cellar. We were able to view two that are publicly owned and tours are run through.  The tour guide was great and very informative.

Lunchtime we used our best friend TripAdvisor to look for a restaurant and found a lovely family owned place away from the crowds.  Thankfully the menu was in English at the back but when our waitress read the daily specials it was all in italian. We picked up some words like formaggio, pasta, primi, secondi and bianco (cheese, pasta, first course, second course, white). So not being able to order from the special menu of the day we were able to make some selections from the menu, and we were impressed, and pleased we took a little time to find the little treasure.

Finishing off Orvieto we walked the streets, had a Gelato, and took in some of the vistas.

To be sure we never miss a train we always get to the station a little early, in this case it was about 20 minutes early. We stamped our tickets and then looked on the screens for our train. It was at this point we realised it was Ritardo 50 (delayed 50 minutes). There was nothing that could be done than have a cold drink and ice cream.

Tomorrow- Siena