Once again deciding to follow my fellow blogger’s suggested route we set off in light rain toward Radicofani with its hilltop fortress that was apparently ‘worth a look.’
The village had obviously commemorated Liberation Day yesterday..
The church was also decorated with olive leaves/ branches presumably in relation to Easter.
We continued the steep uphill walk in light but persistent rain only to be told by someone coming down that the fortress was closed. We went a little further to the Cemetery which was quite unusual and very colourful before deciding to turn around.
From there it was back to the warm dry car and on the road to Sorano. The winding (very bad condition) road to Sorano gained some serious altitude and at the top of the ridge we noticed this fellow sitting in the rain.
He is a Maremma, still used in this area to guard flocks of sheep or goats as apparently wolves are still a problem here for stock. There were no people or dwellings anywhere nearby but just over the hill were his charges 😊
A few kilometres further on we got our first view of Sorano, quite unlike any other hilltop village we had visited this far.
Parking was the usual challenge but once out of the car we found ourselves situated close to the fortress entrance and strolled through to see the village cascading down the hill below us.
It was lunch time and there didn’t seem to be a lot of options which would explain the lengthy wait for a table at a cosy little establishment tucked into the hillside. A leisurely lunch fortified us for more exploring and the required stair climbing 😊
The views were stunning around every corner and from the rooftop of the church as above. Particularly interesting were the many different Easter decorations adorning doorways, much like we would have Christmas wreaths.
The problem with parking the car at the top of the hill is, of course, the climb back when you’re done – given the amount of pasta and bread we’ve eaten this week, probably a good thing!
From here it was on to Pitigliano, another town hugging the side of a hill.
Pitigliano
Shadows were lengthening by now so we headed for home, retracing in part the way we had come earlier and were surprised to see our faithful Maremma in almost the same position and his flock nearby. He wandered over to say hello but I didn’t know the etiquette of patting him whilst he was working so we just exchanged pleasantries over the fence before moving on.
The weather (including the all important light) continued to improve on the way home such to the extent that cameras were out in force at the photo hot spots and of course we made a few stops ourselves…
What a difference some blue sky makes!
Heading home we had the onerous task of packing up to face, tomorrow we would move on from San Quirico although I suspect we might be back one day 😉