Week #7: April 16-23

On Sunday, we had a driver take us to Montalcino to taste some of the world famous Brunello di Montalcino.  We stopped at a lovely small winery, owned by a woman and her two adult daughters called Patrizia Cencioni.  Our tour driver, Patrizio, recommended this place and we were lucky enough to get a private tour and tasting.  Brunello is a very regulated wine — it must be 100% Sangiovese grape, it must be from grapes grown in Montalcino and it must be aged 5 years — and those are just a few of the many rules.  In Montepulciano, the grape here is also Sangiovese but they call their specific type the Vino Nobile di Montepulciano.  Same rules apply along with other very tightly regulated growing, fermentation and aging processes.  In the US, it would not be surprising to find an imported Brunello di Montalcino in the $100+ range but here they are not as expensive because there is plenty of competition so they need to keep their wines around the same price as all the other producers.  Where the can charge more and not be so constricted by the rules is in the Super Tuscans they make.  Super Tuscans can be any percentage of any grape as long as that grape is grown in Tuscany.  Here, you can find Super Tuscans with sangiovese, merlot, cab sauvignon and petite verdot plus the other traditional (but less well known to Americans) Italian grapes.  After our tasting, we went to lunch in the centro storico of Montalcino and I, of course, had ravioli con burro e salvia.  It was really a lovely day.  After our tour, we decided to get some exercise and walk the hills of Montepulciano — it’s been relatively cool here and windy but it was good to stretch our legs.  We, of course, stopped at the Caffe Poliziano for some dolce.

Update: 4/23/2020

It’s Sunday again and we’ve had a full week.  I’m 100% healthy and feeling really good, which is such a blessing.  We picked up our rental car on Monday last week in Perugia so this week was a chance to tour some other small towns in Tuscany before heading down to the south of Italy, near Naples.

Town #1 — Perugia.  We really liked this town.  Took the train all the way from Montepulciano which in retrospect, we would have been better to just pick up the car in Chuisi (which is the first stop from Montepulciano anyway) rather than transfer to a new train and head east.  Driving was quick and relatively easy so next time, we won’t bother with the east bound train.  We would definitely like to go back and explore Perugia more.  It’s in Umbria, not Tuscany but it has the same feel as Montepulciano (though it is much bigger.)  It’s up on a hill but it has a very handy little people-mover called the MiniMetro which you can use to get up (and down) the hill.  It’s 1.50 € and very easy to use.  We took it all the way to the top of the hill and planned to walk down.  There is a lovely view, of course, then plenty to see all around the city.  The two main sights are the Piazza IV Novembre / Fontana Maggiore and the Galleria Nazionale dell’Umbria.  It must have been graduation day from the local University because we saw many young women dressed up and wearing laurel wreaths on their heads with red roses.  It was fun to watch the celebrations.  After touring Perugia, we picked up our rental car and I drove back to Montepulciano.  We did have an exceptional lunch in Perugia which we both highly recommend the restaurant called Ristorante Altomondo.  And of course, you have to stop at one of the many chocolate shops in town where Perugina chocolate is made.

Town #2 — Cortona.  Tuesday, we drove to Cortona which is not too far from Montepulciano.  Again, another walled town on a hill!  We enjoyed walking around the town though it did seem a bit steeper than Perugia.  The town is super cute with little shops and restaurants.  In the main piazza, called Piazza della Repubblica, you can climb the steep steps of the Palazzo Comunale for a view of the countryside in the distance.  The many medieval alleyways present the opportunity for some great photos.  We had a tasty pizza lunch sitting in a cafe watching the world go by.  We stopped for a gelato and a view from the Piazza Garibaldi and stumbled on a very pretty park with a long walkway for strolling the afternoon away.  But, we had other walled towns to explore so off we went to….

Town #3 — Castiglione del Lago.  This walled city is right at the edge of one of the largest lakes in Italy, called Lake Trasimeno.  There is a fortress right along the lakeshore.  You enter the town through a large gate and walk through its small cobblestone streets.  This city is very small — only really two streets run the length of it.  Far in the back, right along the lake is the Fortress.  You enter through the museum in the Palazzo della Corgna.  You do have to buy an inexpensive ticket to see the fortress and I promise, it is worth it.  After seeing some rooms of the indoor museum, you navigate out toward the fortress.  There is a small walled walkway, basically an above-ground tunnel.  Luckily, it has windows all along the tunnel which offer some pretty cool views.  After you walk through the tunnel, you follow some stairs up to the walls of the fortress.  At each corner, you have the opportunity to walk up the stairs to corner towers.  At the last one, there are set of about 75 steps.  They are modern and wide so perfect for me.  Narrow, closed-in and sketchy staircases are not my favorite at all.  The views from all the towers are magnificent.  To the west, you can see as far at Montepulciano and to the east, you can see a panoramic view of the lake.  This is an activity we both highly recommend doing should you find yourself in this tiny medieval city.  We were sad to learn that we missed the start of their Tulip festival which was taking place a few days later.

Town #4 — Pienza.  Wednesday, we decided to take it a little easier and just drive about 15 minutes from Montepulciano to Pienza.  Yes, it is another walled city, and just as beautiful as the rest though this city is thought by many to be the perfect example of an ideal renaissance city.  It is a UNESCO World Heritage site and definitely deserves this honor.  It’s smaller than Montepulciano but a bit bigger than Castiglione del Lago.  The streets are quaint, cobblestoned with ancient houses lining them.  Here you’ll find spectacular views of the Val D’Orcia and these alone are worth the visit.  There are many cute shops and restaurants.  We decided on a restaurant outside of the walls of the city because the view was so perfect.  We had a lovely sunny day too.  Imagine our surprise during our delicious lunch at Ristorante la Terrazza della Val d’Orcia (Yes, I had ravioli with butter and sage again!) when three Italian fighter jets came screaming up the valley for a little training session.  We got to see them fly by a number of times, clearly practicing maneuvers.  We had our own private air show along with the amazing view and delicious food.  We both highly recommend a visit to Pienza.

Town #5 — Civita di Bagnoregio.  This amazing place is about an hour south of Montepulciano so on our way towards Naples, we decided it was worth the short detour off the A1.  We left for Naples on Thursday morning and arrived at the base of Civita di Bagnoregio just in time to hop on one of the busses that will carry you most of the way up the hill.  Notice I said “most”.  This trip is not for the faint of heart.  The walk from the bus drop-off spot to the actual city is long and arduous.  The walkway includes a long set of stairs and a long downhill then uphill climb.  As tiring as it was, we highly recommend doing it.  The city is worth the walk.  Again, like the walled town on the lake, this city is very small.  But the 360° views are unbelievable.  The gate, built by the Estrucans is tiny but allows entry into this little fantasyland of a different age.  Plus, they have a whole colony of well fed stray cats.  You can walk along the inner streets to see the shops, homes and restaurants.  Then take the time to go down the alleys to see the views of the countryside below.  There are no cars at all, though you may see a person or two on scooters.  You can rent a VRBO there but I honestly am not sure I could handle coming and going very often.  I texted a few people the photo of the place and said “Yes, this place is real!”  Don’t miss it if you are in Lazio, Italy.

On Thursday evening, we arrived in Caiazzo.  It is a small town about an hour northeast of Naples.  We are meeting my parents on Monday so we wanted to get closer to  where we will meet.  In Caiazzo, there is a restaurant called Pepe in Grani owned by a pizzaiolo named Franco Pepe who was recently featured on the Netflix show “Chef’s Table”.  Some very famous food critics have called Franco the best piazzaiolo in the world.  We stayed at an apartment right around the corner from the restaurant.  Because of an accident on the A1, we arrived in town fairly late and had to hurry over for our dinner reservation. Because of the popularity of this place, we got reservations back in December. We both thought the food was exceptional, particularly the pizza crust.  It’s our new goal to figure out how he made it so airy with so many bubbles.  I had a untraditional pizza (fig, lard and grano padano) and Lance has a traditional one (called the Margarita Spagliata), plus we got an appetizer and a dessert. We really enjoyed the meal.  The next morning, we shifted our plans a bit because the apartment did not have a washer/dryer as advertised.  We decided to leave Caiazzo and find a place to stay on the Sea.

We drove to Salerno and found a lovely cliffside hotel called La Lucertola in the town of Vietri sul Mare.  The hotel has a balcony that opens right to the sea and as I sit and type now, I hear the sound of the waves and can see the lights of Salerno.  This is small town but it comes alive on the weekend with many visitors –  hanging out on the beach, strolling the main piazza, or having lunch outside in the sun.  Lance has had an opportunity to finally run a few times on flat ground, with only one long hike back up to the hotel.  We have been choosing VRBOs over hotels for this trip but there is something nice about having a restaurant, bar, parking lot, etc right at your disposal. We didn’t find a laundry yet though.

On Saturday, we went to Paestum.  This site is the location of three of the best preserved Greek Temples in the world, even more so than in Greece apparently.  It was a picture perfect, blue sky day.  Paestum is about an hour drive from here, right along the coast.  We arrived, bought our 12€ tickets then took our time walking around the archeological site.  There are three Greek temples from when the Greeks lived here.  There was another group of people who inhabited the location called the Lucanians, who lived there after the Greeks but before the Romans.  Then came the Romans who built an entire town complete with a temple, forum, shops, homes and an amphitheater.  Outside the walls of the site, there is a small museum with artifacts found during the restoration.  The place is so well preserved, you can see the city laid out with roads, alleyways, etc.  The site is about 25 hectares, but scientists know that there is about 100 hectares more of unexcavated ruins under private property that has yet to be unearthed.  After the visit to Paestum, we stopped by the beachfront to stick our toes in the Tyrrhenian Sea.  The beachfront is adorable but it was quiet because it’s not quite summer yet.  The sand is lovely and the water clear.  I bet in the summer, these beaches are covered with vacationing Italians!

Tomorrow, Monday 4/24, we leave for Naples to rendezvous with my parents before heading to Positano.

Lots of people have asked about my Italian and I’m happy to report that I’m using it everywhere.  I order for both of us, I speak to shop owners, I strike up conversations whenever I can.  It’s not perfect (or fluent by any stretch) but it has been a joy for me to hear that I “parli bene”.  Not to get too sappy or profound here but …. We know how lucky we are to be able to take this trip for so long and experience so much of this country we really love, and everyday we both feel this sense of real joy at seeing all these amazing things, meeting so many wonderful people and experiencing this time away from our normal life.