Montepulciano, Italy

We're on the road again. Our destination is Montepulciano, Italy. All of you Twilight fans will know it as the filming location of the recent "New Moon" movie. We aren't sure why since Stephenie Meyer's novel takes place in Volterra, but this time last year, Montepulciano was bursting at the seams with film crews and groupies hoping to catch a glimpse of their favourite vampire. We squeezed into Mark and Elaine's Fiat Panda with and all our bags, and gratefully accepted a ride into Cerbaia where we caught the bus into Florence. Once there, we went to the train station and joined a huge line up of people all trying to buy tickets or get information. We saw self-service ticket machines, but it wasn't until we spotted an English speaking attendant that we felt confident enough to give it a go. She did all the work, we handed over our Visa card and voila, we had our tickets! More importantly we were able to leave the train station and get "due cappuccini." At 11:30 am, our train pulled out of the station and we we were on our way. It was definitely the milk run, but we enjoyed seeing the countryside. We went through Arezzo, past Cortona and along Lake Trasimeno. At 1:30 pm we arrived in Chiusi, exited the building and found a bus that was leaving immediately for Montepulciano. It is great when the connections work out so smoothly. There was only one glitch along the way. We were supposed to get off at the bus station in Montepulciano and call the owners of "Al Poggiolo" to come and pick us up. We made the mistake of getting off on the road below the old town. This meant we had to walk to the top of the town with our packs on our backs. Anyone who has been to Montepulciano will understand what this means...a steep incline. Plus we had no idea where we were going. We had to stop along the way and ask for directions. One of the restaurant owners (Guiliano from Acquacheta) called "Al Poggiolo" for us, gave us a map and sent us on our way. A short time later we were in our apartment, enjoying the fabulous vistas of the Tuscan countryside.
Montepulciano is a great base for exploring the Tuscan countryside because it is so centrally located. We did not do much travelling from here. Partly because we elected to wait until the end of the week to rent a car, and partly because we were quite happy to putter around our apartment, shop for daily meals and explore the streets of Montepulciano. The town felt authentically Italian. There really weren't a lot of tourists around. There are a few sights to see: the 16th century cathedral, the Piazza Grande and the Palazzo Communale. The Palazzo Communale is the town hall and the building with the clock tower. It is also the site in "New Moon" where Edward plans to reveal himself as a vampire because he thinks Bella is dead. At the last possible second, Bella bursts onto the scene and throws herself at him to prevent his reveal. The vampire lives another day and the star-crossed lovers are re-united.
Back in the real world.....there are some fine restaurants in Montepulciano. We had an enjoyable evening at Acquacheta later in the week. It is very popular and reservations are a necessity. They are famous for their slabs of beef, served rare. We went for the late sitting of dinner (9:15 pm - who enjoys eating this late?) and outside we met Scott and Teresa from North Carolina. Funny enough, we had seen them earlier in the day at the restaurant where we ate lunch. We started talking and then ended up sitting together at dinner. It turns out that, between lunch and dinner, Scott and Teresa had gotten engaged. They were in a festive mood so we helped them celebrate. (FYI - we had rabbit for our second course. It was very tasty.)
Montefollonico - Across the valley, on a neighbouring hillside, is the town of Montefollonico. It is small and quaint and not touristic. After talking to Elena and Margherita about it, we embarked on a cross-country walk. Down a long, country road beside the grapevines. Up a dirt track through the bush. The final push on the main road leading into town. When we arrived, we were hot and sweaty and hungry. We didn't make it further than the local bar where we used hand signals to order two ice lattes (they don't really have a name for it here so we are always listing the ingredients.) Then we plonked ourselves down in the shade and consumed our picnic lunch. Our intention was to meander through the town, then find an alternate walking route back. On our way out, we stopped to talk to two German residents of Montefollonico (Helmut and Uta and their dog Corinna) who were also sitting outside. That was as far as we got. The bar had closed for the afternoon, but when the security alarm was triggered, the owner arrived to check things out. Thanks to Helmut and Uta's connections, another round of beverages was ordered and we continued our chat. Helmut and Uta have lived in Tuscany for seven years. Uta is an author and Helmut is a photographer and photo scout. If you want to come and photograph classic Tuscan scenes, Helmut is your man. For a fee he will take you around to all the best spots and you can shoot to your heart's content. Several hours passed by and then Helmut made us an offer we couldn't refuse. Uta needed to go home to work, but he offered to take us on a tour of Val d'Orcia in his car, and then return us to Montepulciano. What a privilege! Craig did his best with our little, digital camera and we spent a wonderful afternoon with Helmut. It goes without saying that we would have had a difficult time finding these locations on our own. Many thanks to Helmut and Uta for their kindness. For us, these random encounters are the highlight of our trip.
Helmut's Photos

Pienza - Now, with a Fiat Panda of our own and our trusty GPS, Craig is ready to drive in Italy. We decided to make a short trip up the road to Pienza. It is only a small town of about 2200 residents, but it is World Heritage-listed because of all its historical monuments. There is the Piazza Pio II, the cathedral, the Palazzo Piccolomini and the Palazzo Borgia, all built between 1459 and 1462. Pienza was the birthplace of Pope Pius II and he took it upon himself to have the entire town rebuilt. We had already been there earlier in the week with Helmut, but we had to go back for a second look. The view of Val d'Orcia from Pienza is breathtaking.
In the blink of an eye, another week has gone by. We are going to spend the next week exploring Umbria. We have our Fiat Panda which means we are now independent. We won't have to rely upon public transportation or the kindness of strangers. This should allow us to get off the beaten path and cover a fair bit of territory.

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