Day Three - Sienna, Monteriggioni and environs

Tim and Jo left today. They're off to Rapallo today and then into France for a few days. It was great having them here for the few days and a shame we weren't all together for longer, but that was more to do with Anne and I arriving a week after everbody else.

Anne and I took off to Siena today - one of the main towns in Tuscany and the place where the Pallio is run twice a year. An early start had us drinking a cappucino in the Piazza Del Campo by 10:00am. It's an amazing town square, but how they race horses around there is beyond me. The Pallio is run on the 2nd of July and 16th of August each year. We are just down the road on the 1st and 2nd of July, so might try and make it back to Siena to atleast see some of the practice events. I'm not sure why they practice, because the race is all about the bribes and deals that get done between the various contrades to give themselves the best chance of winning.

We did a walking tour round the city, which basically took a circuitous route from the Piazza to the Duomo. As well as the great buildings and tiny little alleyways, there was also the best array of shops that we've come across to date. The town is also starting to get decorated in the flags of the various contrades that compete in the Pallio, so it's quite a bright affair. After a couple of hours walking, we got back to the Piazza in time for lunch in the square - pizza and a caraf of wine.

After lunch we visited Monteriggioni. We'd been there about 12 years ago when we were last in Italy and although it's a quaint little hill top town, there wasn't much there when we first visited. In the interim, all that has changed. The builders have been in and there's now a four star hotel, a couple of nice restaurants and some souvenir shops.

We then visitied Monte San Savino (Michelin rated, but a bit of a disappointment), Lucignano (also rated and a real treasure) and Sinalunga (looked good when viewed from the bottom of the hill, but couldn't quite live up to the promise up close). Lucignano was neat because when you entered through the two gates, rather than walking straight down the main street to the Piazza, the town was built in a circle within the walls, so you took a circular route to the piazza, which was nicely decorated with lots of summer flowers.

We've just had dinner back at the villa and have yet to plan tomorrow's activities.