Tuesday, May 29th - A lovely day, temperature in the low 70's, a perfect day to explore some of the surrounding hill towns. After breakfast we headed to Montepulciano about 30-minutes away.  We walked the narrow streets of the old central town, filled with shops and churches. It was surprising how much english we heard on the streets from the throngs of visiting tourists. 

The shops catered to the tourist traffic and after a little more than an hour and a stop for a coffee, we headed on to Pienza, a smaller hidden jewel of a hill town. The village felt more real, not geared solely to the tourist trade. Shops were closed for the afternoon break, as they are in almost all Italian cities. We ate at a small restaurant featuring cheeses, especially pecorino which is made locally. We shared a half liter of a local white wine with a few shared cheese dishes. Daniel and I had a bowl of fogiole, a vegetable bean soup. All the dishes were very good.



Pecorino Cheese in Shop Window



Lunching in Pienza



Daniel Walking Steet of Pienza



Stairway in Pienza



From Pienza overlooking Tuscany Valley

After walking around for an hour, we decided to head back to the Villa Fontelunga (Long Fountain).  He stopped on the way back at a local grocery store and picked up a few bottles of wine. The most expensive was 3.95 Euros, a Chianti Classico Reserva D.O.C.G.  Silvestro told us that we should be able to get excellent wines in that price range, and he was right. The same bottle in the US would likely be in the $18 to $22 range. It was 18 Euros at our Villa, so we were happy to pay the 3 Euro corkage charge for bringing in your own bottle.




Villa Fontelunga



Paulo and me



Just Before Dinner



Garden Walk at Fontelunga



Dinner in the Gazebo

I worked on the blog for an hour or so, sitting outside on the patio with Daniel and Sharona, enjoying a glass of the Chianti we bought. We had arranged for dinner at the Villa tonight, a 3 course affair served in the gazebo off the patio. We started with several glasses of Prosecco and several starters, including fried zuccini, and fried sage leaves - both unusual and and quite good. Dinner began with a bowtie pasta with a pesto sauce followed by chicken cacciatori, and ended with a strudel for dessert. We had two bottles of wine with our meal, a house labeled white and red. We were the only guests partaking, and the setting and service was a delight.  Enjoy the pictures and more tomorrow.