The nearby town of Montalcino came highly recommended.
Montalcino is famous for its local wine Brunello di Montalcino, made from the sangiovese grosso grapes grown within the comune. The number of producers of the wine has grown from only 11 in the 1960s to more than 200 today, producing some 330,000 cases of the Brunello wine annually.
This was very evident by the huge number of enotecas (wine shops) in town!
We strolled around until lunch time, many shops were closed because of the Easter holiday but there were rewarding views around every corner..
Unfortunately my brand new (bought for this trip) bag had come adrift the day before so a priority was purchasing something to put my essentials into and with a cheapish replacement purchased and lunch consumed, we found our way back to the car and moved on.
The forecast rain was threatening at this point but held off as we approached Sant Animo abbey. The abbey, nestled in a valley dates back to Charlemagne and was previously a Benedictine monastery. It had fallen into disuse but was resurrected in 1992 and is now used once again by a small group of Benedictine monks. The grounds surrounding the abbey are a popular picnic spot and although we arrived after lunch there were still many families on picnic rugs and kids playing soccer.
The drive home was dotted with tiny viewing points crowded with crazy tourists all wanting to the take quintessential Tuscany photo. It reminded us of crazy tourists in American National parks when there is wildlife on view, people parking haphazardly and other traffic just goes around . It seemed to be quite the norm, no one was getting upset 🤣
By the time we reached San Quirico the rain had become much more persistent and continued into the evening and overnight. The next morning light rain was still falling and armed with a brolly we found the post office (6 euro for two postcard stamps???), discovered that it was market day and checked out our local sights.
Fortified by supplies from our local pasticceria and with the sky clearing we gathered our maps and notes and headed north toward Siena, in part to supplement my woefully bad packing given the cooler damp weather.
Our mistake was in giving Siena only half a day. What a spectacular city and despite the damp day, a very busy city. We lined up for tickets to visit the magnificent Duomo which was well worth it but reluctantly decided in the interests of time to skip the ‘panoramic’ tower climb. I can only imagine how busy it must be in high season.
The inlaid marble mosaic floor is one of the most ornate of its kind in Italy, covering the whole floor of the cathedral but is only completely uncovered for a few weeks each year. It was partly covered when we were there but what we did see was stunning.
The interior features black and white marble stripes (the colours of the civic coat of arms for Siena) on the walls and columns.
Having now developed hunger pains we stopped to buy a slice of pizza, traditionally eaten from the paper bag on the go, and navigated the winding pedestrian streets to the iconic Piazza del Campo.
Even if you’ve never been to Tuscany, you’ve probably seen a photo of this piazza….
Dominated by the Torre del Mangia at 104 metres high (which we didn’t climb but you can), it is also the venue for the famous Palio de Siena.
The Palio is a horse race that is held twice each year, in July and August where ten horses and riders, bareback and dressed in the appropriate colours, represent ten of the seventeen contrade, or city wards.
The rules governing the race are fascinating, read more here:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palio_di_Siena
but include the requisite bribery and corruption that you would expect in an Italian horse race! I love the fact that a riderless horse can still win and the loser is considered to be the second placed horse not the last 🤣
I would love to return one day for the running and pageantry that surrounds the event.
Photo courtesy of google images
Having had no luck in the shopping department but now listing Siena as one of our favourite spots we found our way back to the car park and drove home in time to spruce up for our dinner booking just around the corner.