A public execution in a tiny Italian village...

We had gone to the local CooP store in Montalcino to stock up, so breakfast, snacks and wines were set while we stayed in this cottage. This first morning, we woke up to a blinding sun. Absolutely, stunningly binding as the red orb was directly rising up from the horizon, right on the other side of our one tiny window in the bedroom, its brightness cut right through the flimsy curtain material and set out eyelids on fire. Turning away and put pillows on our heads was futile. We were in the center of the Circle of Light.

Gosh it was bright!!

S made me some awesome coffee to get me over the grumpy mood... She always does have a way :-)  After breakfast, we set out to explore our neighboring villages.

The drive here was different than on the drive from Siena to this region. The small local roads led us through more lush and green aura. Vineyards abound. We stopped and took a picture back toward Montalcino from a far.

S mentioned it was perfect for a biking trip.  Hhmmm... No! I thought... too hilly for me. :)

We arrived at Monticchiello, a tiny tiny village on... what else, a tall hill. As small as SQd'O but a lot, a lot more charming. Someone mentioned to me his father-in-law could settle in here. And considering this person is in his mid 60's... Hahaha... I can imagine his FIL would be a lot older than us, but I gotta agree with the man, this town is cute with lots of charm.

As we walked through town, workers were setting up the stage for a local stage play later. S was telling me they were setting up for a public execution. I love her imagination and humor. But it was time to get out of Dodge as I was the only Non-White there. Hahaha...

We headed off to Montepulciano. A short 20 minutes drive away. It was amazing how close these small villages are away from each other, yet each retains its own charm. Montepulciano laid out similarly to San Gimignano, but was a lot smaller and quieter with less tourists and tours. As we were walking and getting hungrier, I noted a line outside a restaurant. I suggested we get in line, as the place was not going to be open until 1PM. It was 8 minutes away and we had a short wait. (These Italians were on time :-) and we were seated in one of many long communal tables. Soon food were ordered and served. We had a fabulous meal of soup and pasta, but soon I couldn't help noticing the locals around us were getting the Florence steaks.

So, patrons would say something to the proprietor, he drew a few lines on their paper place mats. Then he went in the back, which was 20 feet away, chopping sounds reverberated through... then he brought out a piece of porterhouse steak for approval.

And each of these steaks was bigger than Susan's head.

We were glad we didn't order because one of those would have lasted 5 days for us. But we were happy for the experience.

We took some pictures of the surrounding areas after lunch.

Montalcino and Brunello. As close to perfection as you get

We woke up, went to our favorite morning cafe, unsure that they'd be open on a Sunday morning. Like old friends at Cheers, they waved us in and brought our normal breakfast to us without having to order. We were so sad to leave that cute little cafe, as well as our fabulous, AIR CONDITIONING, apartment in Siena. Well, life goes on and so did our journey. We really truly loved that place and our host. Ciao Siena, we'll see each other again...

We found SR2 again, heading back south again. Our next home, which was 2 kilometers outside of the town of Montalcino, was not available until 3PM so we headed straight for Montalcino. We wanted to explore the town before decided to have lunch.

Most everything was closed on Sunday, there were local kids playing soccer in the church front courtyard. We went everywhere... to the old convent with a hospital high atop the next hill to the town center. Hiking back took a few stops for a breather.  But the view and experience couldn't be beat. We passed so many houses that were preparing this Sunday lunch, the great smelling cooking aroma was driving me insane with hunger.

The restaurant we decided on was terrific. We were a little early and was the only 2nd table seated (unlike most other times when we took the last :)  It had a fabulous view of the valley, great pate for S (in Italy, right?) and a nice flight of tasting Brunello for me. Not a bad start Montalcino.

After lunch we went to explore the rest of the town. Of all the places so far we've visited this trip, Volterra and Montalcino share the same vibe, and we would not think twice about spending extended time in either place. Before long we ran up to check in time, so I texted the hostess of our upcoming AirB&B to ask her for a recommendation for a nice Brunello. She is a local wine expert and runs a business educating and giving tours to local wineries, We picked up a nice bottle from her suggestion. Then we headed to her place.

Did I say 10 times or more S is a great navigator and travel partner? With the Google lady working overtime, we still needed S great effort to find the turn off to our new place. The driveway of pebbles was long and steeeeep... our little Fiat was about to die when we found the parking.

And paradise.

We checked into our new place, through those double doors there, The place was clean, spacious, with a small kitchen and a comfy bed. BUT NO AC. :(

It was hot but had a nice breeze going through. We popped open our bottle of wine and went back outside for fresh air, some coolness and relaxation.

We settled in, had our wine, relaxed, read, played on our iPad's. Soon it was time to head back to town for dinner. Afterwards, we stroll through town to take in the tremendous sunset.

What a great day in paradise.

14 towers and a... wedding?

The next day we got back on SR2, but we headed north this time. The towns of San Gimignano and Volterra were our next destinations.

San Gimignano was a large town. It had 4 huge public parking lots outside of the city walls, and 3 of the 4 were full by 10AM. The 4th and last one was so far out and down the hill that they had an elevator to get weary visitors half way up to town. Once inside the old 13th century fortified walls, the street were full of tourist shops and restaurants. We saw a Mexican (not Spanish) and a Chinese restaurant within the first 2 blocks. That was an obvious indication that this town was all for the tourists and tour groups.

It was unbearably hot in the old town square. Actually it's the old town Triangle. Think the old town designers of San Gimignano forgot one side? The center had many gelato places. Each calling itself "the best gelato in the world". A few had mist machines, which all they did were turned the humidity higher. Street performers competed around every corner. Mercifully we found the alley that led to the perimeter of town, off the beaten track. Then we were treated to awesome scenery.

Saw glimpses of normal life...

We took a rest in the shade of the old church, watched the local band setting up to perform and wondered how anyone could play under such relentless sun and oppressive heat.  Took them a long time, too long for them to play so we decided to move on to Volterra.

The drive to Volterra was wonderful. The scenery and terrain was very similar to Northern California. Except there were not many cars. :) We arrived at Volterra, parked outside the walls again, had to pay for it this time, and began our trek into town.

Did I say the whole friggin area was hilly?

We finally found our way on the fringe of the center of town. It was getting close to 2PM so S was worried, rightfully, that we needed to find a restaurant for lunch. We lucked out to a last table at a cute restaurant on the side of the town church. We had a fabulous meal, right next to the locals as they were singing Italian songs.

We wandered through town after lunch. I love this town. Not large and touristy as SG, not small as Pienza or SQd'O. Not loud nor too quiet. As we approached the lookout point, we saw some very pretty young ladies, in beautiful formal dresses walking along while having their pictures taken. Then a few graceful and beautiful older women with nice dresses and corsages, walking up into town. I told S they were going to a wedding and I was determined to crash it. In my shorts and sweaty and smelly from the heat. Luckily for them, or me... we could never find where they went. I'm still upset about not being in a nice formal Italian wedding.

Volterra, I will see you again, and that wedding, here I come...

Time for a country ride...

We started our 2nd full day in Siena with a quick breakfast of croissants and coffee. Haha, we actually had all our breakfast the same way. We found this cute little cafe a few doors down from us. By the end of our stay in Siena, we were "the regulars" :)

After breakfast we began our long trek back to our car outside the walls. Phew... walking there at an earlier time in the day, and not having to lug our luggage made it slightly better. We set our Googlemaps lady for Pienza, and set off looking for good old SR2. We were going to be on that road quite a bit the next few days.

This was our first drive out of town into the Val d'Orcia valley, and it was a phenomenally beautiful drive. Neatly parceled land in all different hues of gold and green, undulating hills, majestic Italian cypress, and magnificent mansions. On and on and on, we thought we saw a postcard perfect view then we turned a corner and saw more of the same perfection. We pulled off the road a few times to admire the surroundings. Took us a little longer to reach Pienza, but the pleasure was all in the journey. :-)

Walking into Pienza I fell in love with it instantly. Perched on a hill, the walk in from the parking lot led us through small quiet quaint streets.

I can imagine it would be really annoying with a few bus loads of daytourers descending at the same time. As it was I only saw 2 tour guide flags, the town retained its quiet small village charm. The view down the valley was fantastic.

We wandered around looking for a place to have lunch. I picked a cute little restaurant at the end of the long walkway through town. Nice outdoor sitting. Trattoria Latte di Luna. It was so hot by this time so the large beer and cold sparkling water were so good going down... I had tagliatelle al ragu and it was so good. If it hadn't been so hot that i kinda lost my appetite, I could have a few more dishes. The food was that good.

After lunch we set off for San Quirico d'Orcia, only a few short kilometers from Pienza. We parked at the bottom of a hill and walked up quite a way to the center of town. By then, jet lag, lack of sleep, the heat all got to me and I had to sit down in the town square to rest up. SQd'O is a much smaller, sleepier town than Pienza. S liked it a lot better.  Too quiet for my taste.

We went home to our fabulous AC apartment. Went back out later that night for some gelato. I've been pressing S to get some gelato, being such a huge ice cream fan that she is... When she finally had some, she finished hers and most of mine.

Wake up... your new city awaits...

Well, at least it was not 4AM but I woke up QUITE early from jet lag. The wifi in the apartment was perfect so after I had caught up with everything... personal stuff and world events and social media and games and a few movie trailers... It was still barely first light. LOL... I decided to get up and go for my first Siena walkabout. The city was still asleep, was quiet and quite deserted except me, the street cleaners, garbage clean up crews and very few other early stragglers. None of the shops was open. The whole town had a surreal and serene feel about it. Clean, unspoiled, uncrowded. I ventured to imagine the Siena of yore... I walked for a couple of hours as the city began to wake and the crowd started to fill... I was able to capture a glimpse of the Tuscany hills awaiting...

I grabbed some croissants and coffee for breakfast and headed back to the apartment. Time to wake the princess.

After breakfast we went out together. I showed S where I had gone, then we went to other areas of the city. Siena was a great city in that it was of moderate size, had a lot of history and amazing monuments, but to me, the most endearing thing about it was it was still a real, living city with everyday people, not completely overrun with tourists if you went a little off the beaten track. There were so many amazing, cute little nuggets of regular life around each coners. Including some naked lady stalking out her window at passerbys

We took a break, had a beer in one of the restaurants in the Piazza del Campo square before we went back for lunch in our apartment and rested before we went back out to check out the rest of the city and the Palazzo Publico museum. There I found the original Italian FacePalmer.

We had an amazing dinner at La Tarvena di San Giuseppe. Appetizers, pappardelle with porcini in wild boar ragu sauce, dessert and a fine bottle of local red wine. The Campo square was lit up and casted a beautiful sight on the setting sky.

Landing in the Old Continent and finding our way in Siena

After the transfering mess in Paris, we arrived in Florence withour having to go through passport control, or customs service. Since we only took carry-on bags, we breezed through the airport and found our shuttle to the rental car terminal. Man... the weather was hot and quite humid. I was sweating... ah hemmm... a bit when I was checking out our new ride for the next 8 days.  Opted for the add-on TomTom GPS, which turned out to be useless, worthless waste of money.

We made our way through the parking lot to our new ride, a white Fiat 500

At least it has AC. LOL

We made our way slowly out of Florence. It was not bad using the TomTom. S as always was great as Co-Pilot/Navigator.  As we got near Siena, the TomTom started losing signal. On.The.Highway.

We turned my iPhone on and started roaming. Punched in the destination and GoogleMaps lady was our guiding angel. We ended up spending a lot of roaming overusage charges for her. And appreciated every penny.

We found a free parking lot just outside of the walls. Spotted an open spot right away, unloaded our stuff and began our long, long, and HOT trek to our apartment in town. Our great AirB&B host met us outside the apartment door and showed us up to our place for the next 5 nights. This place was beyond fabulous. Right in center of town, had a lift and AC. Found Gold !

The apartment was modern, spacious, and beautiful. Could not have been any happier with it.

We unloaded, rested a while, and went out to say hi to our new sity.

We tried to get a walk in table at La Taverna di San Giuseppe, a great local restaurant that had been highly recommended. No go. But we made reservation for the next evening. We then strolled around looking for something that looked appealing. After a long day of travel, we decided to have pizza. Snagged the last 2 spots at TeKeVoi on a long communal table to share with other Italians. Needless to say the pizza was good.

After dinner it was time to turn in. Long day...

The journey begins...

It's been a long time coming... almost a year of planning including getting the Business class tickets on non-stop overseas flights through Air France, hotels booked and canceled, hundreds of rooms and AirB&B reviews... we were finally on our way to Europe on our 3 weeks plus vacation. This was to be our longest time traveling, being away from home in one stint. I was excited. I thought S was too, but I suspected she'd also be a little ambivalent about being away from our home for so long. But as always, she was all game.... We said good bye to the house and climbed into our ride to SFO under bright California summer afternoon sunshine.

Check in process was smooth with Air France. We went through security quickly. At least at SFO the TSA has done an excellent job with the international security lines. We found the AF lounge, and were soon settling into our little seating area and started hunting for food. We had not eaten lunch so the little fingerling sandwiches were extra special tasty. :)

Soon came the call to board. The boarding area at the gate was an absolute mess of humanity. We crawled along. When we got to our seats, there was no welcoming drinks. Business cabin in the A380-800 was spacious, seat was comfortable. Lie flat but not completely horizontal.

There was delay of close to 30 minutes before we pushed off from scheduled departure time. Then came first drinks, with a box of mixed nuts/mini pretzels. Really ?!!! Meals were served from a rolling cart, unlike Business and First Class from other carriers, where they would ask your order and brought it straight to you from the galley. Not top shelf service. The appetizer with lobster meat was fantastic. But then I spilled salad dressing directly on my shirt. Boo!

The main course, as said earlier, was served off the cabin cart. Kinda took a lot of the luster off... It was not very good either. We managed to grab a couple of hours of sleep after the meal. The flight was smooth and the cabin comfortable.

The transfer at CDG from one plane to the next one, onto Florence was one of the low points of the trip. Our plane from SFO landed and took close to 20 minutes taxiing to the gate. Then we had to go through a long line to get through passport control. Even with Sky Priority stauts, we were late for the scheduled departure time to Florence. Fortunately for us, that flight was delayed. Unlucky for many of our flight mates, they missed their next flights and had to scramble fantically to reschedule.

Finally the delay was over, we got on the tiniest airplane in AF fleet, and off we went to Italy.