a day in Tuscany

So sorry about these intermittent posts, but time hasn't been on my side these past weeks. Anyway, I'll try to post all about the rest of our Italy trip till the end of the week, and then return to a few things more crafty ...

We love car trips, especially because it gives us the chance to get to know parts of the countryside that otherwise would not be possible. And in Tuscany this is even more true, considering the beautiful landscape and so many off the beaten path little villages.



Last time we had visited the most popular places (Siena, Arezzo, Lucca, San Gimignano, Orvieto, Pitigliano, etc) so this time, following Giovanna's suggestion, we decided to head down Val D'Orcia. Our plan was to visit Montalcino, Pienza and the smaller villages of San Quirico and Bagno Vignoni, which are all quite close to each other. Initially we thought we might have time to also see Volterra or Cortona, but these were a bit further away, so that's something for next time as well.

From Firenze we drove south slowly through the Chianti region, passing by Greve in Chianti and Castellina. We stopped here, walked around for a bit and inevitably ended up doing some wine tasting and shopping.




Castellina in Chianti

When we finally reached Montalcino it was a bit before lunch time ...




Views from Montalcino


Care for some Brunello ?


Lunch at a small trattoria near the fortress


One of the main piazzas

After lunch, time to visit San Quirico d'Orcia ...





... and after that, Bagno Vignoni. This was probably my favorite place of the day.









Later in the afternoon our last stop was beautiful Pienza











Which we left just in time to watch the sunset from the roadside





And finally the end of a perfect day, with dinner at Piazza del Campo in Siena



More photos at Flickr here