Corsignano Pienza

Florence a delight, the architecture like nothing we have seen. We picked up a rental car and headed to Siena. Robyn was the navigator (only twice around a few roundabouts so far) and Chris had a senior moment, stalled in the middle of the road, still working out which side to drive on, wipers going full tat in lieu of indicator and trying to find the button start to get us moving again – hilarious and loads of laughs. Eventually found the way to ...

Good Morning!
Everybody's vote for favorite city has been Siena....overall. Great parking, a fantastic dome, a terrific plaza, and the most spectacular view of Tuscany. From the top of of a dome building, we could see miles and miles.
Lucca was great because we were able to enjoy it in the daylight this time.....with good maps, we were able to get in ...

... Florence they seem a lot tamer here).

At each turn Siena kept on showing off its Gothic style.

After a hard days walk we found Nannini's a Sienese institution serving some of the best cakes and gelato in town.

Later that day making our way back to the train station we jumped on the right bus going the wrong way, so our 10 minute bus ride turned into an hour long scenic drive of Siena. We don't feel it is necessary for everyone to do this, oh and we also missed our train.

... is in walking distance of the thermal SPA, succulent tuscan restaurants and landmarks such as Fosso Bianco and Cascata della Balena.
Bagni san Filippo is placed between Monte Amiata and Val D'Orcia offering nearby destination for daily adventures!

... 90 seconds. Often the jockeys are thrown off their horses as they make the treacherous turns. Also, the square houses the wealthiest families of Siena, a small church and the Fountain of Joy and is lined by restaurants, bars and small boutiques.

On the hill above the piazza sits the famous cathedral. Its façade is constructed of white and rose marble. The interior is a study in black and white columns in honor of the Siena coat of arms. This cathedral is a fabulous ...

... tart. Next we enjoyed a wild mint and fennel stamped lasagnette with wild pesto sauce (this was not basil pesto like what we eat in the west but a mixed herb pesto with olive oil and no other additives. I found this pesto slightly bitter which may have been caused by the artemis absinthe herb). The entrée was pheasant with wild boar sausage, sourced by our neighbour who hunts regularly, served on a bed of potato puree, braised purple cabbage and chestnuts from earlier. As if ...

... of Torre Mangia and got to see out at all the beautiful hills of Tuscany. Weve also done a lot of wineing and dining and people watching. The driving inside here is crazy, you actually need a permit to drive inside the walls. Our taxi driver almost hit about 100 pedestrians when we got dropped of at our hotel. So i didnt think we were very popular on our way in. You need to ...

NORTH TRIP BEGINS!!! The trip we have all talked about and waited for was now upon us. First stop: Pienza. Woke up early and started to four hour drive, but we were cool with it because we had a full bus just for the 23 of us so we were all able to stretch out and relax and sleep until we got to our first stop. We visited Agriturismo Podere S. Gregorio for a food tasting. We tried some Sangiovese grape wine( which I thought was very good) along ...

... obvious and, if one were to try the 1st after having the 3rd, they would spit it out. The last 2 wines were very special Brunellos. The two Brunellos we had were exactly the same bottle but one was from 2003 and the other from 2001. The 2003 cost 37 euro per bottle and the 2001 was 57 euro (the same bottle would cost $300 in a restaurant in the US). Both Brunellos were out of this world and I felt very undeserving of such fine wine. The 2001 ...

... in major cities) and high walled perimeter. Ancient Italy was composed of highly independent city-states, fiercely independent and self-sufficient. Florence's #1 enemy for hundreds of years was Siena. Siena, with visions of sea access, sparred continuously with Pisa, and so on. This was the pre-eminent history of the peninsula for well over a millennia and the lines of territories shifted constantly with one besting another, only to be later reclaim territory or be conquered anew ...