We decided to rent a car - a cute little two door Fiat - for our drive out of Rome and into the Tuscan countryside. It was fun. Only a tiny bit crazy leaving Rome from our hotel, but we were on the main highway very soon. The weather was touch and go all day…. From sunny with beautiful clouds to getting caught in a downpour in Montepulciano - and even that was fun.
Our first stop was in Orvieto - a beautiful hill town about one hour north of Rome. We didn’t think this was going to happen, but we ended up in the town itself, driving the incredibly narrow streets. We actually found a place to park the car for a couple of minutes near the edge of town for some incredible views.
Our next stop was Montepulciano - another beautiful town with a really neat town square. These towns were built in the middle ages, and were incredible. We walked a few of the streets, then ate a delicious lunch at the Quattro Venti restaurant right in the town square. After lunch, we went to the Contucci Cellars - a place we saw on one of Rick Steves’ programs, and were lucky enough to have a wine tasting with Adamo - a charming Italian-only speaking vintner - who has owned his winery since 1959. We bought 6 bottles of his wine and are having them shipped home. (Not to be consumed Ryan! J ) When we left the winery, that’s when we were caught in the downpour. Fortunately, we had our lightweight plastic ponchos with us, which helped a lot, getting us to our car without being completely drenched.
We were then off to our final destination of the day - Volterra - another hill town in the north- west portion of Tuscany. This town was incredibly beautiful and active more with locals than tourists. And the views from the edge of town, and approaching town were some of the best inland views (outside of Yosemite and the Grand Canyon) that I’ve ever seen. We would love to spend more time in this area.
Anyway, our hotel was very nice, and Joanie actually ate wild Boar and I had grilled lamb chops for dinner… as they say, “when in Rome” (or Volterra!) And of course, we had our required evening Gelato at a café on the way back to our hotel.
Another beautiful, adventurous day… made so special by the countryside, the ancient towns and the sunny and cloudy weather. Bellisimo!
