Relais La Saracina Pienza

... room in the afternoon and played cards on the terrace and drank the last of our beer. People were gathering under our terrace to take pictures and we had the terrace all to ourselves. This place has been so friendly and wonderful. Coletta and her sister E'letta have been such help. I think I spelled the names wrong and will check when I get home. We went back to the square to have another gigantic slice of ...

... It was the size of a small frozen Tony's party pizza from home. We then went to get Gelato (ice cream) and we walked the main strip with all the beautiful young Italians. It is Friday night and they were out full force and dressed to kill. It is amazing how we dress big and saggy in America (boys and girls) and here and when in London everything was tight, small to the waist in coats and shirts and tight jeans. The girls all wear the leggings with boots ...

I hope this works, it has been hard to attach some of the video because it times out. FYI to all my not so computer literate friends and family. When you first open the video, it will start and then stop in the middle to keep reloading and then start and stop again. This can get frustrating but is necessary until it is completely ...

Hello friends and family,<br>We have made it to Siena from Venice thank goodness and it was almost easy. We had to change trains in Florence and thought it would be crazy, but everything went smooth and then we got in Siena and could not find our room again. We got on the wrong bus even though when we gott on I asked the mean bus driver and he said, "yes, yes". Then when we asked some fellow ...

... there are more locals than tourists and every one likes to get out and about and socialise.<br>Jane manged to root out an 80 year old gold watch which belonged to the shopkeeper's uncle.<br> <br> <br>We wandered in to a terrific display of old radio and movie equipment dating back to Marconi. John &amp; Pat will appreciate the photos.<br> <br>For our last night we went to ...

On a drizzly morning we set off in the Panda and in an hour and or so got spat off the Autostrada at 130kmh!<br>Only about 80km further than we needed to go, so we followed a few back roads to arrive at the hillside town of Cortona.<br>After parking below the town's walls we were greeted by a posse of cats.<br>Guess what? Jane has bought another bag. Apparently two was clearly not enough, so now she has to carry the extra one.<br>The sun finally came out and we found ...

... races that happen once in July and once in August every year. Each town in the region around Siena is represented by its own horse, so major bragging rights are at stake. We started our day in Piazza del Campo, the piazza where the horses race. The oval-shaped piazza is surrounded by adorable outdoor restaurants, and turns into a hang-out place by night. <br><br>We wandered around for a while, and stumbled upon a ...

... it would take hours and a lot of writing/reading, we'll just go over a few of the highlights of the week. FYI: the BEST part was how we spent the majority of our time: doing nothing at all but sitting in the yard, drinking some vino and gazing at the Val d'Orcia views. The family that runs the agriturismo also has a farm closer to town and some land that has a hermitage on it. We spent a morning with Isabella touring the hermitage which is waiting for ...

After we left Montepulciano we went to the next hilltop to visit, Pienza. A very small town with Renaissance beauty everywhere you turn. The most wonderful thing here is the walkway all around the outside of the town on the mountainside wall! It is just stunning! This afternoon after siesta was over, everyone appeared and began strolling along the wall, eating their gelato, walking their dogs. Then we came upon a local arts and crafts ...

... streets with so much character and charm. Just what you'd expect from postcards and movie sets set in this country ...but it's still so much more amazing in person. we went to Multepulciano where the Contucci vineyard is located and were able to taste and buy local wine. Later we went to Pienza which is famous for it's cheese. One of the stores was full of shelves filled with blocks of different ...