Day 15: San Quirico d'Orcia
Another nice morning in the Val d'Orcia. After a leisurely breakfast (in shifts) at the hotel and some work on the computer, the group is off to Montepulciano, another beautiful Tuscan hill town to the east of Pienza. We drive past the extensive field of poppies that I had found the day before and stop for some more photo opportunities.
The scenery continues to be impossibly beautiful and Montepulciano is very impressive sitting on top of its hill as you approach from the south.
We stop first at the Church of San Biagio, a plain, Greek-cross style church sitting below the town with a lovely vista back toward the village of Montefollonico.
The interior is in restauro but still is impressive.
The group takes a short rest at the church before we get back in the car and drive up to the top.
We continue up as far as we can go and park at the last lot before we hit the "centro storico" which is a short easy walk to the main piazza and the duomo. The duomo has a stern, unfinished facade (it was a location in the film "The English Patient") and inside it is quite restrained. The art highlights inside are two Sienese paintings...one an impressive large altarpiece and the other a very stylized Madonna and Child.
The main square is surrounded by old palazzi and the town hall and is very handsome. Some of us make the short climb to the terrace of the Palazzo Comune (previously we had climbed to the top of the tower for a spectacular view but it is closed today) to enjoy the vista, and others take the time to do some shopping.
After a descent down the very steep main street (Montepulciano doesn't do well in the Zurer Travel Index of Level Hill Towns),
we climb back up to the top (we could have taken a bus), we finish shopping (Seth and Kerensa buy a ceramic platter, I buy a belt and Jonathan buys a salami, cheese and truffle paste sandwich which is advertised as an "out of the world sandwich" which he shares and which gets very good reviews from the samplers.
We plan to stop for a sandwich at a big restaurant/bar just outside of town (Pulcini) but we get enticed by the view from the terrace and find that you can only get sandwiches if you sit in the garden. A moderate sized feast ensues---salads, roast chicken, sausages, sides of beans, artichokes, and potatoes--with a pleasant local red wine to wash it down. All the tables on the terrace are filled with non-Italian tourists--the Italian customers are all inside eating bistecca fiorentina--but a good time is had by all.
We make one more stop on the way back to San Quirico d'Orcia at a farm that has a sign advertising plum marmelade. The proprietor interrupts his lunch to come down and let us sample some (and some olive oil) and we buy a half dozen jars of various flavors of preserves.
The afternoon in San Qurico d'Orcia is taken up with naps, work or relaxing in the garden of the hotel.
Ulf and Magdalena come over to San Quirico d'Orcia for a visit...I give them a short tour of the town and then we have a drink in the garden and a nice conversation. After we say our goodbyes (it's always good to visit with Ulf in Italy, which we have done for the last three years), the group reassembles to drive to the abbey of Sant'Antimo (south of Montalcino) for the vespers service which includes the monks singing the service in Gregorian chant.
San Antimo is a very handsome Romanesque church dating to the 12th century and it located in a lush green valley...it is hard to conceive of a more lovely setting.
About 50 tourists have come for the chanting which sounds wonderful in the beautifully serene church interior.
On the return trip, we take the back way past Castiglione d'Orcia on one of the roads that I think is one of the best drives in Italy....the whole route is gorgeous but there are about three kilometers when the road sits on top of a ridge and the vistas in both directions go on forever.
Tonight we are celebrating my birthday dinner at one of the newer restaurants in town...there are lot more people in town and Il Tinaio (the first choice) is booked solid. We had hoped to eat in the garden of the Osenna but it has gotten a bit cool to eat outside. The meal is uneven...some very good pastas--pici with boar and pici with mushrooms, some excellent gnocchi and very good crostones--but the service is a bit slapdash and it takes a while to get to dessert with the birthday candles that Diana has brought to mark the occasion.
After dinner, we stop at the Bar Centrale for some foosball and gelato......
before heading back to the hotel. A very nice day for all and a great birthday for me.
Tomorrow the crew is going to Siena.
The scenery continues to be impossibly beautiful and Montepulciano is very impressive sitting on top of its hill as you approach from the south.
We stop first at the Church of San Biagio, a plain, Greek-cross style church sitting below the town with a lovely vista back toward the village of Montefollonico.
The interior is in restauro but still is impressive.
The group takes a short rest at the church before we get back in the car and drive up to the top.
We continue up as far as we can go and park at the last lot before we hit the "centro storico" which is a short easy walk to the main piazza and the duomo. The duomo has a stern, unfinished facade (it was a location in the film "The English Patient") and inside it is quite restrained. The art highlights inside are two Sienese paintings...one an impressive large altarpiece and the other a very stylized Madonna and Child.
The main square is surrounded by old palazzi and the town hall and is very handsome. Some of us make the short climb to the terrace of the Palazzo Comune (previously we had climbed to the top of the tower for a spectacular view but it is closed today) to enjoy the vista, and others take the time to do some shopping.
After a descent down the very steep main street (Montepulciano doesn't do well in the Zurer Travel Index of Level Hill Towns),
we climb back up to the top (we could have taken a bus), we finish shopping (Seth and Kerensa buy a ceramic platter, I buy a belt and Jonathan buys a salami, cheese and truffle paste sandwich which is advertised as an "out of the world sandwich" which he shares and which gets very good reviews from the samplers.
We plan to stop for a sandwich at a big restaurant/bar just outside of town (Pulcini) but we get enticed by the view from the terrace and find that you can only get sandwiches if you sit in the garden. A moderate sized feast ensues---salads, roast chicken, sausages, sides of beans, artichokes, and potatoes--with a pleasant local red wine to wash it down. All the tables on the terrace are filled with non-Italian tourists--the Italian customers are all inside eating bistecca fiorentina--but a good time is had by all.
We make one more stop on the way back to San Quirico d'Orcia at a farm that has a sign advertising plum marmelade. The proprietor interrupts his lunch to come down and let us sample some (and some olive oil) and we buy a half dozen jars of various flavors of preserves.
The afternoon in San Qurico d'Orcia is taken up with naps, work or relaxing in the garden of the hotel.
Ulf and Magdalena come over to San Quirico d'Orcia for a visit...I give them a short tour of the town and then we have a drink in the garden and a nice conversation. After we say our goodbyes (it's always good to visit with Ulf in Italy, which we have done for the last three years), the group reassembles to drive to the abbey of Sant'Antimo (south of Montalcino) for the vespers service which includes the monks singing the service in Gregorian chant.
San Antimo is a very handsome Romanesque church dating to the 12th century and it located in a lush green valley...it is hard to conceive of a more lovely setting.
About 50 tourists have come for the chanting which sounds wonderful in the beautifully serene church interior.
On the return trip, we take the back way past Castiglione d'Orcia on one of the roads that I think is one of the best drives in Italy....the whole route is gorgeous but there are about three kilometers when the road sits on top of a ridge and the vistas in both directions go on forever.
Tonight we are celebrating my birthday dinner at one of the newer restaurants in town...there are lot more people in town and Il Tinaio (the first choice) is booked solid. We had hoped to eat in the garden of the Osenna but it has gotten a bit cool to eat outside. The meal is uneven...some very good pastas--pici with boar and pici with mushrooms, some excellent gnocchi and very good crostones--but the service is a bit slapdash and it takes a while to get to dessert with the birthday candles that Diana has brought to mark the occasion.
After dinner, we stop at the Bar Centrale for some foosball and gelato......
before heading back to the hotel. A very nice day for all and a great birthday for me.
Tomorrow the crew is going to Siena.
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