Here are some pictures we took strolling through town. The people are very friendly and always say "bonjourno" and the ladies are so sweet walking through town or sitting on lawn chairs in front of their doors. Some of the doors are really beautifully carved and many doorway have a full assortment of plants and flowers to decorate their doorway and/or balcony.
Where we ate the first night
The other side of town
The narrowest street in Italy
The entrance to the narrowest street
On Wednesday we ventured to Montepulciano which looked pretty close but took about an hour to get to. It's an old hill town that has one of the oldest squares in the area. Today it's a popular wine tasting destination (surprising considering the steep winding road to get there!) and there are Enotecas around every turn. We had a fun time exploring the city and having lunch. The churches were not as elaborate as some of the others we've seen but we could n't help but notice that even the more "common" cathedrals had vast ceilings, beautiful arches, gold covered features and amazing 16th century paintings. They just don't make 'em like they used to!
We returned home for a swim and a home cooked meal prepared by our villa owner Jacopo. I took a picture of the antipasto plate. Jacopo looks to be about 28 in Todd's estimation. He spends four hours on the two properties each morning beginning at 5:00. The two villas are rented for each week from about April to October and during this time he keeps up this busy pace. He has two children ages 2 and 5 and lives by the lake about a half hour away. There are about 1,000 olive trees surrounding the property that are his and he has wine grapes near his home by the lake, Castiglione del Lago. His olive oil and wines are sold at the house. He is full of smiles. We only wish our Italian were better (or existent) so we could learn more about his story.
We had a nice relaxing evening. Tomorrow we will go in the morning to meet Sebastian's donkeys and goats. Everyone is very excited!
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Location:Ciita Della Pieve
OMG! Did you see any vampires? Did you recreate the fountain? If Angie and I were there we totally would have done that! You should have made Todd stand in the doorway under the clock tower! Were you like "oh, this is where she got out of the car to run through the fountain?" and "this is the street she ran up"? I think that is where Dawn got her wine holster, (although I think they have them here now) you have to ask her about that when you see her!
ReplyDeleteSeriously, you aren't going to Volterra, right? That'd be utterly crazy, to risk your lives like that, just for the photo op to share with MeiLei! MonteP is close enough---I'm sure Todd was just sparkling in the courtyard by the clock tower!
ReplyDeleteYou crazy kids!
xoxo,
Angie
I had no idea this was where they filmed the final scenes! I wish I had known, I would have been more purposeful with my photos. I did get a picture of Davis standing by the opening of the clock tower. :)
ReplyDeleteThis is a perfect example of how lack of communication can spoil potential photo ops... ;-). Ask Dawn about the tour she went on and the Australian tour guide telling them about the "Vulcans"!
ReplyDelete