Tuscan Day Tripper

A group of 4 of us started off at 9:30 am in a rental car to explore a few hill towns in Tuscany since we had a free day until rehearsal in Perugia that night. With no planned route we hit the road and went North. Our first detour was a beautiful lake called Lake Trasimeno, the 4th largest in Italy. It was overcast and still relatively early in the morning so I have a feeling the water wasn't quite as majestic had the sun been out in full force. But the view of the towns dotted around the lake was beautiful! We drove through Passignano, stopped at the small marina, and took in the view.

We got back on the road and the sights became increasingly picturesque. Driving through the Tuscan countryside, we passed by myriads of sunflower fields, large villas and rows and rows of grape vines. The further up in the hills we got, the more spectacular the view!

Our next stop was the beautiful city of Cortona. We walked past beautiful medieval architecture and even came across the oldest surviving houses in Italy! They reminded me of the waddle and daub houses in England with a jutting out 2nd floor supported by wooden beams. They were an unassuming row of about 6 tucked away in a corner, but it was obvious they were old.

After Cortona, we visited Montepulciano (known for their wine!) where we had lunch at this great hole in the wall place down an alley near one of the city entrances. We walked around for a bit then headed to an amazing church at the bottom of the hill town. Madonna di San Biagio was a majestic stone church off the main road with a tree-lined drive. There were a lot of locals sunbathing in the grass, which seemed a little weird. One older woman and her husband were in minimal clothing (ie. Speedo) attire taking in the sun at the back of the building. I too laid in the grass and just stared up at the church and the azure sky for several minutes. We didn't linger much after that and drove to the next destination, Montalcino, known for its medieval fortezza.

Near the parking lot was a little church with a courtyard out front and among the benches there was the top of a ionic column sticking out of the ground where we stopped to take pictures. We walked down the road to the main piazza (it kinda dipped and then escalated back up on the walk to the fortress). The fortezza was void of anything but a tour group in the middle and a closed cafe in the corner. On the other side of the wall was a courtyard and a view of the community calcio pitch.

On our way home we hit traffic and got lost in Perugia but after receiving instructions from a mechanic at a gas station who knew English, we made it back to rehearsal (albeit 40 minutes late).

--Sorry there aren't more photos. I've reached my allotted limit on Picasa so I will be exploring other outlets that don't make me pay for more storage :) Ciao ciao!