Montepulciano

Our journey into the Tuscan hill country and Montepulciano began as I nervously tried to decipher the Italian bus system. We were certainly venturing into areas that were not as easy to navigate as the previous tourist meccas. The 1:10 bus never arrived and I noticed one other passenger looking annoyed/anxious by this before the next scheduled bus made it to the station. The 2 hour bus trip was stupendous. I'm so thankful that we didn't rent a car so we both could enjoy the fall drive through Tuscany. There was some confusion with our bus driver as to where we wanted to get off the bus. We were hoping to catch a shuttle up the hill since we were warned of the tremendous climb, but he convinced us to disembark early resulting in a strenuous trek to the hotel. When Chizia greeted us, she lamented that we didn't take the shuttle and hurried to grab us water, wine and snacks. The B&B also featured a wine bar and was the most luxurious place we stayed on our trip...even views from the bathroom were spectacular.

Our time in Montepulciano was spent hiking the city streets (no joke), tasting wine and enjoying Tuscan cuisine. Montepulciano is known for its Noble wine variety and most recently as a location for New Moon (see pictures). We wandered the town's wine cellar tunnels and even saw a portion of an Etruscan tomb.

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Siena

We arrived at the Siena bus station amid pouring rain and no map to send us on our merry way to the hotel. We struggled through the wet streets with our luggage and no taxis in sight until we finally happened upon our hotel. After lunch, the rain cleared and we hit the pavement to soak up Siena in a day. We began with the town's Duomo before heading to Il Campo for some people watching. We shared a street pizza and beer on the piazza. Later, we returned to the same area for dinner where we took one of my favorite pictures (me enjoying pasta) and Greg enjoyed his favorite meal.

The following morning, we set out to take some pictures now that the sun was out in full force again. While we were sauntering about the city walls, we decided to pop into the Basilica of San Domenico. Low and behold, this church houses the finger and head, but not the body of St. Catherine of Siena. How's that for a surprise?

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Florence

Ahhhh, Florence. Our favorite city. Its wide, clean avenues, Renaissance art and fabulous shopping kept both of us happy as we strolled between our villa bed and breakfast and the sights. Our first evening was a bit of a flop due to the language barrier with our hostess...she sent us to a steakhouse for dinner where we quickly gobbled down some pasta dishes before making a run for the door and to a local pub we discovered earlier in the day.

Our big day in Florence began with the Accademia and Michealego's David. INCREDIBLE. I never thought I would be so enamored with a marble statue, but you just can't beat the majesty of David in the morning light. We walked along the Arno River in search of lunch and then back to the Ufizi area for people watching after our tasty meal. Once inside the Ufizi Museum, we spent over two hours looking at Italian masterpieces. A quick gelatto to regain our strength and we were off to see San Croce. Somewhere in there we also popped by Dante's house for a peek.

We stopped by our room to rest and massage our tired feet before heading back into the the heart of Florence for dinner and sights. We woke up early the next morning to score some sweet deals (Italian leather jackets) before heading to the bus station and Siena.

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