Since arriving in Montepulciano on Saturday, we have managed to go out for a drive each day: on Sunday to Montalcino and Pienza; and on Monday to Cortona and Arezzo, two medieval towns in east Tuscany, with some nice scenery between. We had a picnic lunch to remind us of what we did in Italy 23 years ago: bread, cheese, salami and wine. We found an olive grove and parked the car, cracked open a bottle of good red, and gazed at the view all while supping,eating pecorino cheese, all wild pork salami between tuscan bread. We got back here just on dark, about 5.15 (earlier this week as daylight saving has just ended here) and ate at a local trattoria that was recommended by the owner of our apartment. It is called Osteria Acquacheta (linked to the left): a really good meal, with lots of people in the place, a bit like the long table nights at Omaha, but more chaotic. It was a bit of a United Nations at our end of the table: Greeks, Norwegians and Americans. When it comes time to pay the bill, the owner wanders over to the table and scrawls down the list of numbers on the paper place mat and adds them up in front of you: ours came to 63.80, so he crosses off the 80 as a “discount”, so he can call the resulting price “amazing”. Quite a laugh. The place is famous for its gigantic T bone steaks, so Barry wants to return to try one, although the other food is also very good. I was ecstatic over my rabbit and for dessert truffles diced over marsacapone. It is just coming into truffle season and there are even festivals for it! Will have to find one.
We had a fairly slow start yesterday, weather not so good with showers (but not cold). After a breakfast at a nice old cafe (Italian breakfasts are not much to write home about: a coffee and a croissant), we decided to hit the road for Assisi, via Perugia. We managed to get ourselves a bit lost in Perugia and couldn’t figure out where the centre of town was after we had parked the car, so we flagged that away and carried on to Assisi for lunch. Perugia is a university city, with heaps of cultural life, and it is set up on a big hill. We passed some students who were making speeches in the quad...there are many student protests here over some reform.
Assisi wasn’t as busy there as we had expected, a nice quiet place without too many tourists, but long walks all the same. Buildings are a light coloured stone. I am sure they have changed the layout of where the tomb of Francis lies, as it is nothing like I remember! There was a huge earthquake here in 89, with much damage, so maybe that is the case? Saints and churches do nothing for me I’m afraid, I am more interested in Etruscan ruins ( BC by heaps), rather than stories about some wealthy tailor’s son (Francis) having an epiphany and a bit of a breakdown in the 1200’s, and then going to live in poverty and happening to be kind to animals. What’s more he takes his wealthy heiress friend along for the ride and after she starves herself until hallucinating (eating disorder) she founds Sisters of the Poor and also lives by the motto of the Franciscans which are poverty, obedience and chastity!! (her name was Clare) Barry thinks these may be good names for a family considering having 3 kids, or could be the values we adopt at number 45?? Yeah right.
Although we hadn’t actually done much during the day, we were quite tired when we got back, so an early night. All that driving and concentrating and walking in between isn't just lazing about
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