Getting behind the wheel in Italy shouldn’t be taken lightly because Italians express themselves with their hands when they speak, and their feet when they drive, so all four limbs could be in motion at once! But we wanted to explore Tuscany and the best way to do that was by car. So we took the risk - but played it safe by getting the car in serene Siena as opposed to frenetic Florence.
We rode a bus 30 miles south to reach Siena and the drive was both scenic and stress-free! We arrived in a little over an hour, just ahead of a rainstorm. Siena is small so you can cover most of it on foot and not get too lost, but we took our fair share of wrong turns down wet and slippery lanes before finding our Airbnb. Thankfully, our co-host, a young student from Beirut met us and together we pushed and pulled our luggage up three flights of stairs. Our “cozy” (that’s Airbnb speak for tiny) apartment was tucked up under the eaves of a 300-year-old building. It was fine, just a little smaller than we are used too.
Our Airbnb was in the Giraffe Contrada - note the red and white lamp posts.
This was our third trip to Siena but the first time we’d actually stayed there. We looked forward to getting lost (on purpose) and exploring the magical streets of this ancient city. A highlight was the massive cathedral that rivals Florence’s Duomo. Inside we found works by Michelangelo and Donatello and the Piccolomini Library - a small wonder filled with magnificent “illuminated” manuscripts dating back to the 11th century.
The ceiling of the library was mesmerizing. So were the floors, the walls - and of course the manuscripts.
We climbed to the top of the outer walls for an expansive view of the city and the countryside beyond. Back on the ground, we strolled the Piazza del Campo that fans out in the center of the city. It is the site of the annual Palio - a horse race that is so much more.
The city is divided into 17 distinct neighborhoods called Contradas, each with its own moniker and flag. The undying loyalty of those born within the borders of their Contrada is on display every summer at the Palio, an event filled with rivalry, pageantry, and tradition that culminates in a madcap horse race around the Campo. Our Airbnb was in the Giraffe Contrada - which I was happy about because Giraffes are my favorite animal. In fact, The Order of the Giraffe actually won the Palio last year even though the rider fell off - we learned it’s the horse that crosses the finish line that counts!
On our second night, which happened to be a Saturday, we were finishing dinner when we got a frantic text from our daughter Kelly in Seattle. We’d given her permission to drive our car while we were traveling and unfortunately, it was towed from a no parking zone.
I am sure she would have preferred to just get it out of hock with us being none the wiser, but the towing company would not give her the car without a notarized letter from the owner, that’s Michael, stating she had permission to collect it. And for every 24 hours the car sat in the lot there was a $30.00 fee over and above the exorbitant towing fee.
We jumped on the phone with Lincoln Towing and explained we were out of the country and it might be impossible to get a letter notarized - certainly not until Monday. They wouldn’t budge. But finally, after I sweet-talked and Michael badgered and we both pleaded, a woman at the towing company told us to try notarize.com an online notary service!
Our Airbnb WiFi was weak and we could see we’d be uploading and downloading files so we headed to the nearest hotel to use their internet. After two expensive glasses of wine and a $25 service fee, Michael’s handwritten note was notarized “live” on Skype by a man in Virginia. We downloaded the official document just before the bar closed at 1:00 am and Kelly was able to take it to the towing company the next day and get the car. I am telling this story so that if you ever find yourself in need of a 24-hour, anywhere in the world notary, this site is a Godsend.
We picked up our rental car with a mental note to avoid no parking zones. In fact, since we still had a night left in Siena, we asked the rental company if we could return the car to the rental lot. They said yes, so we headed out knowing we had a safe place to park the car at the end of the day. One less thing to worry about.
Our first destination was San Gimignano with a second stop in Volterra. It was another rainy day, so we used our imagination to picture hillsides dotted with villas and spiked with cypress trees (you know, the postcard version of Tuscany). Even so, we enjoyed the winding roads and glimpses of the landscape between showers.
a handful of other intrepid tourists in San Gimignano.
We were able to park fairly close to the city gates - another benefit of thinning crowds and a rainy afternoon. There is a lot of well-deserved hype about this ancient city of towers. It is full of interesting sites and while it is a must-stop on a Tuscan itinerary, it didn’t feel overly touristic. We wandered for about an hour along with a handful of other intrepid tourists before ducking into a warm trattoria for lunch. Homemade Minestrone was just what we needed before driving onward to Volterra, a walled city perched on a mountain that dates back to the 8th century.
As we wound our way up to Volterra a thick fog drifted down to meet us. By the time we reached the top and parked the car, we were shrouded in mist. It was about 3 o’clock in the afternoon and the Piazza San Giovanni was deserted. It was eerie, in fact, it felt like we’d traveled back to the 1500s and hunched over monks, hoods drawn against the rain might round the corner at any moment.
We returned for Siena for one last night and found a little trattoria in our neighborhood that could have been a movie set. The tablecloths were checkered, the candles were jammed in wine bottles, the menus were worn at the edges (as were the servers) and the food was straight forward. Like Nana would make.
In contrast, another night we stopped at a hole in the wall pizza takeaway and met a young man who’d immigrated from Islamabad in Pakistan. We often meet young people in Europe who have left war-torn or impoverished countries to find a better life. And almost all of them become wistful when talking about their homeland and are proud of their home countries, but doubt they will ever go back. We pray someday everyone can live peacefully in their own homeland, but in the meantime, our young friend has learned to make an excellent pizza!
The Campo in Siena - home to the Palio and the hub of daily life for locals and tourists alike.
The next day we drove from Siena to Montepulciano for a two-night stay. On the way, we stopped in Pienza for lunch and a look around the city. We were both hungry. It is always tempting to stop at the first restaurant we see. In fact, Michael was ready to pull over at a non-descript place at the edge of town. But I like to complicate things by consulting Trip Advisor or Culture Trip to help with the decision. There have been too many times we’ve said “how bad can it be?” and found out.
So we parked in the center and I did some research. There was a restaurant that got a nearly perfect review right in front of us, but it was “too fancy” for lunch. So I picked a popular “Cheap Eats” place that had great reviews but was a bit of a walk from our parking spot. Michael put his head down to concentrate on Google Maps walking directions - always tricky in villages. So we took this left, and that right and then another right and…our destination was just ahead on the left. It turned out to be the very restaurant Michael spotted coming into town!
Pienza itself is one of those “ooh…ahh” Tuscan villages. It might have crossed the line of having too many tourist shops, but that aside, the church is magnificent, the views over the countryside are breathtaking and the history is compelling. It would make a fine base for exploring the rest of the region.
Late in the day, we arrived in Montepulciano for a two-night stay. We met our Airbnb host’s delightful son Pasquale who had a bottle of local wine in one hand and a long list of things we should see and do in the other. Once we got our bearings it was easy to see that anything of interest would be uphill. Thankfully, our Airbnb was near base camp. Climbing to the Piazza in the center of the city is well worth the exertion. The views are amazing, the little covered alleys that shoot off the main streets are worth exploring and there are tempting wine bars everywhere.
Everywhere you looked in Montepulciano there were views like this!
The next day we woke to blue skies and cool weather. A perfect day for exploring this famous wine region and do some tasting. Our first destination was the tasting rooms of Avignonesi, a winery that has deep roots in the region. The grounds were exquisite and the wine was very good - but not tempting enough to buy.
After a picnic lunch, we headed to Salcheto, a winery that was less sophisticated but still highly rated. It wasn’t easy to find, in fact, we blew right past the narrow entrance road more than once. When we did make the turn we found ourselves winding deeper and deeper into the vineyard until we turned a corner and there it was. The tasting room looked back towards Montepulciano basking in the late afternoon sun. We enjoyed a very nice glass of wine and happily headed home in time to catch the sunset.
That night we went in search of dinner and both of the restaurants I’d tagged from Trip Advisor were closed. We weren’t sure where to try next when a boisterous tour group came up the hill behind us. As they passed we asked if they were heading to a restaurant - and indeed they were - apparently “One of the best in town!” So we fell in line and followed them to Trattoria di Cagnono. And we were glad we did.
Our last overnight stop before returning the car to Siena was at a Bed and Breakfast called Casa di Campagna in the small village of Sovicille. We booked it through Airbnb and the proprietor, Emanuele had heard us speak at the Airbnb Paris Open in 2015 - an event where hosts from around the world gathered for inspiration. He was looking forward to meeting us and helping us get the most out of our last day on the road.
The lodge was only six miles from Siena but it was surrounded by farmland and had its own extensive grounds, including a pool and a paddock with horses. Our room was in the main building and had a tiny kitchenette we didn’t need because we had dinner reservations at Il Grillo Morro the restaurant attached to the B & B. We would have breakfast there, too.
Emanuele is very proud of his surroundings and gave us a map circled with more places than we could possibly visit. So we picked his two favorites, an abandoned abbey, and an undiscovered local winery. As we rounded a bend in the road we could see the ruins of the San Galgano Abbey in the distance. And they would remain in the distance because the parking lot was about a half-mile from the actual site. The walk to the site was down a lovely lane under trees still clinging to their autumn leaves. And the walk back was under sheets of rain!
Photos from the day captured the haunting beauty of the ruins and the coming storm.
The Abbey was built between 1218 and 1288 by the Cistercian monks who placed their monasteries along important thoroughfares. The famine in 1329 and the plague in 1348 decimated the San Galgnano community and by the end of the 15th century, the few remaining monks moved inside the walls of Siena. The abbey was abandoned for centuries, but now you can feel the history as you touch the stones.
Trecciano winery was on the way back, so even though it was pouring rain we stopped to have a taste. We were joined by a young Israeli couple who were non-plussed by the weather - “isn’t is always sunny in Italy?” but happy to talk politics with Michael while we huddled under the porch outside the tasting room.
Apparently, the tastings are hosted by someone other than the winemaker, but since it was November and traffic was slow, it was up to the man himself. At first, he was gruff, but as we praised the wine he became more garrulous and more generous with his pours. While we were there a local stopped by with two big jugs and helped himself from one of the barrels. He wrote his name in the ledger to be billed later and waved Caio. We bought two bottles of wine that somehow we were going to haul to Rome with the rest of our luggage.
Back at the Casa we weren’t sure what to expect from a restaurant with a drunken grasshopper for a logo and a fair distance from civilization. We were the first to arrive, but before long the place was full of happy diners, including the winemaker we met earlier.
We were pleasantly surprised by the delicious food and the convivial atmosphere of Il Grillo Moro, the restaurant on the grounds of our Airbnb lodge.
The owner of the restaurant is a large, jolly Italian who moved from table to table to make sure everyone was enjoying themselves. He was the one to bring out the platter of fresh fish to choose from and the massive Florentine T-bone steaks for approval before they hit the grill. I had fresh ravioli filled with sage and ricotta with a black truffle cream sauce. Michael had wild boar Ragu over hand-cut pappardelle - both were delicious. We were looking forward to breakfast and it didn’t disappoint. In fact, it was sensational.
The buffet tables were groaning under freshly baked bread and pastries, fruit (including melon and figs), cured meats, cheeses, and a frittata. All that plus eggs made to order and endless cappuccinos convinced us to return in summer.
We returned the car without a scratch and caught the train to Rome where we would finish our one month tour of Italy. Our Airbnb was modest but affordable and close to the train station where four days later we would catch a train to the airport.
Rome is another city we’ve visited a few times so we hoped to explore parts of the city we’d missed. As always, we took a free walking tour but this one filled the bill because it was promoted as a “Non-Touristy Free Walking Tour”. Our guide was great. She had a real passion for her city and took us places that were near main attractions, but far enough away to deserve a different narrative.
Our fellow tour mates and our guide (on the left) waiting to peek through “The Hole in Rome” as it’s known.
If you put your finger through the keyhole, you are technically in another country. And, if you peer through the keyhole, you can see Saint Peters Basilica across the river on the other side of Rome.
We visited the remains of the Circus Maximus; an arena built in the 6th century B.C for chariot races and the precursor to the Amphitheatre. We toured the historic Jewish Quarter. And finally, a walled enclave where the revered Knights of Malta established The Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta in 1834. This little patch of land qualifies as a sovereign nation with its own flag and currency - not dissimilar to the Vatican City (which you can see in the distance through the keyhole).
Other days we set a course for a market or church and just meandered until we found it. The Mercato Monti market turned out to be a great discovery. It was like shopping on Italian Etsy, only in person! There were two floors filled with vendors selling cool clothes (new and vintage), crafts, antiques, books, records, jewelry, and home goods.
You could spend hours at the Mercado Monti Urban - a treasure trove of one-of-a-kind creations.
We had one last Italian dinner at Trattoria Cadorna, a local place recommended by our host. It opened in 1947 and looks much the same as it did then. The family still runs the restaurant and we felt welcome and were certainly well fed.
We said goodbye to Italy, but we weren’t going far. Just across the water to Malta where we would see our favorite dentist “Doctor X” for a bit of dental work. I have written about Malta more than once so search the blog if you are interested. It is a fantastic place. And Savina Clinic is a fantastic (and very affordable) dental and implant clinic.
After 10 days in Malta, we flew to Manchester to attend our Goddaughter’s wedding in England in the Cotswolds over Thanksgiving. Finally, we arrived home in Seattle on December 1st to enjoy the holidays with family and friends.
Michael and I wish you Happy Holidays, and may all your travel dreams for 2020 come true!
Thanks for following along,
Debbie and Michael Campbell
The Senior Nomads