Breezy toscano living
Trip Start
May 12, 2005
1
51
79
Trip End
May 14, 2006
Montefollonico, Italy
Friday, January 6, 2006
Montefollonico isn't very far from Sienna, distance wise, but the Tuscan hills are travessed by a series of small, winding and confusing roads. Clare and Mark donned thier backpacks (for the first time since India) and hopped on a train to Montepulciano...very scenic ride. Went into a bar opposite the station to sample the local beer and wait for Memma, Bill, Gina and Sarah to arrive....we waited for quite some time and sampled ample amounts of beer!! They'd had a difficult time finding the place where we were staying; nobody in Montefollonico had ever heard of it, but after lots of detective work and Memma's italian skills they found Banitello; our "rustic tuscan villa" perched on a vista surrounded knoll....beatiful.
travels in toscano we did heaps of stuff and a whole lot of not much!!!!
*Montepulciano:
- famous for its wine, resturants and stunning setting, only 10km away from Banditello....
- visited on a cold day; great churches, super-tasty pasta lunch (Mark's bread encrusted fried pasta was as weird as it sounds!!!).
- Etruscan and roman inscriptions around town affirm the sense of history exuded from many of tuscany's towns/villages.
- bought some delicious prosciutto and capicollo for our larder.
- Mark, Bill, Sarah and Memma did a walk from Banditello up the valley towards Montepulciano, almost made it all the way but we were diverted by a quaint little winery and the inevitable wine tasting/purchasing.....
*Outdoor Lunches:
- on the grass outside our villa.
- in the sun (we were super lucky with the weather, yet again!!!).
- first installment of this ritual we guzzled quite a few bottles of wine (Italian wine is unbelievable, pay 5 euros and its going to be pretty special) and ate a little too much food; we didn't learn from this mistake and a few slothfull afternoons precipitated.
*Orvietto:
- another day trip destination for the Haebich clan to this dramatic clifftop fortification of a town.
- simply amazing Duomo (cathedral).
- pork rolls and Orvietto classico (really special white, less than 5 euros) for lunch in a little cellar opposite the Duomo.
- impressive Etruscan museum.
- stacks of little streets, piazzas and beatiful shops.
- massive well (over 70m deep) with two opposing spiral staircases; one for going up and the other for going down; built to supply water during sieges.
- ended the day atop the city walls overlooking the sheer drop to the west and the oldest part of town to the east; what a place to live!
*Montefollonico itself:
- about a 15 minute walk uphill from Banditello.
- great little sleepy village (at this time of year anyway) perched on a hilltop (aren't they all!!).
- had a realy special meal in a little resturant near the main gate; run by a very friendly lady, last night before they closed for a months holiday....really authentic/awesome food, we were all stuffed.
- great little deli with a huge assortment of local cheeses (the pecorinnos were a highlight), wines, vegies etc... run by a sweet elderly couple who took a real shinning to Memma.
- the butcher had been in her shop since 1957, got some fantastic pork off her and grilled it on the fire.
- really nice old stone church....
- the old part of town was very much intact, however new buildings were popping up down the hill.
*Sienna:
- mesmerising city....
- just the haebich's did a day trip here.
- usual medieval quarter, sloping piazza (holds a famous horse race every-year).
- didn't make it far into town before we were waylaid by a deli; stocked up on some nibbles and beer for lunch.
- sun was out, the piazza was a popular pickniking spot and we had a very nice lunch.
- really good pizza place, we went there twice....just about the best pizza we had in all of Italy.
- the Duomo here similar to that in Orvietto, just as impressive, mosiacs in the floor, intricate front facade, black and white theme...
- ended up spending a full day in Sienna did a spot of shopping as the sun went down...
- full of international students learning Italian (among other things).
*Assorted Little Villages:
- the haebichs did an afternoon of driving through a number of hilltop villages around Montefollonico.
- some really nice little places, not tainted by tourism...very insular environments to live in (don't think i could do it!!)
- great little churches, piazzas all the usual stuff.
- nice to reaffirm that there are still out of the way places in Tuscany (a product of the small/winding/time consuming roads).
*Pienza:
- Clare's favorite Tuscan village; full of charm, resturants, artisan shops, great views, wine/cheese/cured meat shops...... very hard to fault pienza.
- Had our second super special meal (after Montefollonico); mother daugther team in the kitchen, entertaining waiters; the food was simply magnificant, we rolled our way around for the rest of the afternoon.
- great little leather shop with really nice stuff; the old crafts and trades are kept alive all over Italy in a myriad of small scale, high quality businesses.
- had a really good chat with the owner, very interesting bloke.
Moving on
had a great stint here, really lucky with the weather, put on about 5 kgs each, sad to say goodbye to Sarah (her and Clare had some time together in Florence before she left)......
Had a big drive south to catch up with Memma's family in Calabria; stopped for a night in a place called Lago Negro; great hotel, snowed really hard, had one of our best meals in Italy here.......
Comments
Since when was there a train to Montepulciano?????
Maybe you meant Chiusi - that's the closest.