We also had a portable GPS that came with the rental car. It took us right to our first stop – Orvieto in Northern Umbria no problem. After that, Tom Tom became an adventure adventure. But I’m getting ahead of my story.
We parked on the lower end of town, and then hiked up to the Duomo/Piazza via a street along the cliffs, so we had excellent views of the surrounding countryside. The huge Duomo is beautiful, and then we strolled around some side streets, where Carol bought some copper utensils for further decoration of our kitchen (we have a few). Refreshingly, prices are cheaper here than in Rome.
There are several advantages to the Hill towns – city centro is off limits to tourist vehicles, so everyone must park on the outskirts of town and walk. The locals who are allowed to drive are not many, and they generally know what they are doing. Some of the streets are too narrow to allow cars, with low archways and pathways worth exploring all over. We checked out a few other buildings, and headed back to the car after 90 minutes or so.
On the way out of town, we stopped to see the Etruscan necropolis – incredible pre-Roman gravesites.
Driving north to Tuscany, I had charted an ambitious course of Montepulciano, Pienza, and Montalcino. As it turns out, we had time to hit the first two hill towns, but skipped Montalcino in the interests of time. Montelpulciano was easily our favorite of the three stops. But it wasn’t easy getting there. For some reason, Tom Tom took us the long way to town, and, as we neared it, wanted to send us in the other direction. It was the first time – but not the last – I decided to ignore her (female British voice – really quite pleasantly insistent when I don’t do as she commands).
We parked just outside the city walls, and stopped for lunch at a restaurant just inside the walls on a side street. The food was good, but again the game of “make the customers wait for the check” got old. At least I paid before the Brit at the nearby table did, and he was waiting longer to pay. The difference? I flagged some random busboy down and asked for the bill, while the Brit simply sat there, clutching his Euros as though his unsubtle move would get someone’s attention. Amateur.
Then, we climbed up the streets of the town (not sure if it is harder to type or to pronounce) and wandered into random churches, piazzas, and past the clock tower with the Pulcinella figure who strikes the clock (I do love to listen to the bells in Italy – nearly as refreshing as looking at the fountains.)
On the way back out of town, we stopped in an entoteca (wine shop) and purchased some Vino Nobile wine (that they are shipping) after a tasting. (By the way, we have done very limited tasting on this trip, because the idea of driving after having several tastes at several different wine shops or wineries is NOT a good idea.)
We then stopped in the town of Pienza, a small medieval town worth wandering. Much smaller than Montelpulciano or Orvietto, it has around 2,000 residents. We got some gelatto, saw some churches, and enjoyed the wildly laid out streets.
It was getting late in the day, so we headed north to the small town of Radda en Chianti and the hotel. Tom Tom took us on a circuitous route through the countryside – winding, pretty backroads, then dumped us on a highway. From there, things got weird. Somehow, we ended up in Siena, where it sent us on a dead end route. Several other mis-starts later, we found a road that would take us there. I lost all faith in Tom Tom, and we eventually found the long way there, relying on the map, our judgement, and not so well-marked roads.
There were a few tense moments, as we at some points had no clue where we were, or how to get where we were going. The girls wisely did not say a thing in the back. I know this is shocking news to people who know me, but I prefer to be in control of a situation. Life just works better when I am.
Welcome to the Palazzo Leopoldo, such a lovely place. . .
As we came to town, we had to call the hotel (the Palazzo Leopoldo) so they could meet us at the barrier and let us into the central part of town. It’s a very small town (1,000 people) in the heart of Chianti country. Daniel came out and showed us where to go – even parked the car for us. It is neat driving the lumbering Ducato through the small streets.
The hotel rooms in Rome are reminiscent of Manhattan – except even smaller. Each room we have in Radda is large enough to play half court indoor basketball. Our room has a fireplace that Maddy can walk into (and she’s not short). Oddly enough, the bathroom is quite small, with Clark Kent having had more room to change in phone booths than we have in the shower.
The dinner was the subject of an earlier post. . .with Bruno as our host.
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