Saturday, May 12
Saturday started off with breakfast of anything with Nutella for Anna in a beautiful outside courtyard at the hotel. We headed off to the Torre Grosse, one of the 14 towers remaining in the city, to climb up the 230 or so steps for the most incredible views of the city and the area hills.
It was weird, when we went into the tower, the city was still empty, but in the hour or two we were up there, the city filled with tourists as the sheep, err tourists, arrived.
We were treated to viewing a bride and her groom right after their wedding in the city square.
Lunch was some wild boar prosciutto, cheese and local baked bread.
Later in the afternoon we left for our next stop, Castello Ripa D'Orcia, being careful to arrive between the hours they had the gate open, from 3 to 5:30. We again told the GPS to avoid freeways, and while it took us twice as long to get there, we visited many small hill towns we never would have seen including Monteriggiano, which was beautiful. Most of the postcards taken of Tuscan towns are of this town.
The castle was an amazing find. Three miles up a dirt road, you are sure you are driving off a cliff or something, then you come across this castle built in the 1100's. Our room was huge, 18 x 18 feet with a huge bathroom not counted in that. They warn you there are no televisions, and no internet, like that is a problem.
That evening we visited Pianza, which totally unknown to us was having a flower fair that day, and then off to Montepulciano for dinner. It was a bit of a surprise how early they rolled up the sidewalks there, if you are visiting, most everything closes by 8.We managed to find a great taverna with wonderful food.
The castle was completely silent and totally dark overnight, it was amazing how quiet quiet really is.