Day 28 & 29: Travel to Sorrento

It took a full day to get from Siena to Sorrento. We started with a taxi from Siena to Florence, then a train from Florence to Naples, and finally a hotel car from Naples to Sorrento. It was a long day, but fairly easy. We are staying at hotel we've stayed at before, Antiche Mura (Ancient Wall). Since it was late when we arrived, we just went to the end of the block to a cafe in Piazza Tasso.

In the morning, we had breakfast next to a lovely garden with lemon trees everywhere.

This is part of the ancient wall our hotel is named for.

At the end of the block is the sea.

It's wonderful to be back in Sorrento.

 

Day 27: Montalciano

Started out early for Montalcino on a small group wine tasting tour. Our guide was a wine maker, so he was super knowledgeable. This was one of the most pleasant tours I've been on.

Since Danielle has been making wine in Montalcino, he took us to the homes of two friends. The first was the Monlino di Sant'Antimo winery, whose Rossos and Brunellos were both delicious. 

The woman at the head of table is one of the two daughters who run the winery now.

Then we went to Cava D'Onice, where a young family makes delicious wine. We had lunch at their place.

I don't know how I missed it last time, but there is a hand-rolled pasta all over Tuscany called pici, which is like a fat spaghetti. This one with fresh tomatoes was yummy.

We then went to the town of Montalcino--very cute and wine shops everywhere.

We ended at a third winery, but I'd had enough wine by then.

A lovely day in the Tuscan hills. We leave tomorrow for Sorrento. This was the morning scene from our hotel.

Day 26: Relaxing in Siena

 It was a lovely sunny day today, so we took it easy and enjoyed the town. We did a lot of people watching from the main Piazza--Il Campo.

I love how you can get a table for a drink and stay as long as you want.

Back at our room, the view is lovely.

Day 25: Pienza and Montepulciano

 Steve is still sick with a cold, so I went on a small group tour of the Tuscan countryside without him. It was a lovely sunny day. This area is so beautiful--the nine hour trip went by in a flash.

Pienza is a charming town. Lots of cute alleyways and stunning views of the countryside.

The area is famous for it's sheep's cheese, Pecorino and all kinds of other varieties.

After an hour and half of wandering in Pienza (perfect time), we went for a lovely lunch at a farm near by. They made their own cheese, wine, and olive oil. We had great food and marvelous views at lunch.

We then drove to Montepulciano for wine tasting and wandering.

The town hall looked very similar to the one in Firenze, which made sense since there were alliances between Montepulciano and Florence.

A beautiful and tasty day.

Day 24: Farmer's Market & Santa Maria della Scala Hospital

Another overcast day today. Steve has a cold so I went out on my own. I started at the Friday farmer's market. It was a fun little market.

It was right next to a park I've never been in before. This horse statue is very appropriate for Siena with its Palio every July and August.

Even though it was overcast, this is a pretty cool view of the Duomo from San Domenico.

I walked up by the Duomo--always stunning.

Took a closer look at the statues that replaced the originals, like this lion.

Across the piazza is the Santa Maria della Scala Hospital Museum. It was massive and still used as a hospital until 1980. This one huge room was full of frescos from the 1400s that told the story of the hospital. Beds were underneath these frescos.

The museum also held all of the original fountain of joy statues from Il Campo Piazza.

There were two temporary exhibits that were truly surprising. The first was a celebration of international children's book illustrators. I had only heard of a few. In addition to the art work there were books of all of the illustrators and a couple of reading area.

There was also a special art exhibit on horses. Love this one where the reins go off the canvas.

The Santa Maria della Scala Hospital Museum was really a pleasant surprise.