We wake Thursday with no clear plan on what to do. We toss about the idea of Siena, finding a hike around Mt. Amiata, and walking around Montepulciano (but somewhere along the way we must have picked up the Montalcinese aversion to Montepulciano and immediately rule out that option). In the end, we decide to visit Monte Olivette Maggiore, go shopping in Pienza and have lunch at Latte de Luna.
First though, we have breakfast at Bar Alle Loge (no matter where we go, two paste and two capuccini costs us eight euro), then off to the lavenderia to pick-up the clothes we dropped there on Tuesday. I still believe that 16€ for all those clothes is a good deal but Chris leans towards wishing he packed more instead. Of course, Chris can only get one wear out of an outfit while, if I use a bib, I can get two – three.
We drive to Monte Olivetto Maggiore using the dot-to-dot method, San Quirico, San Giovanni D’Asso, that town Kaydee stayed in that begins with a “C” whose name I always forget, and finally the abbey.
We visited the Abbey with Pauline Priore during our 1999 trip (personally, I can’t believe we drove all the way here from Florence). However, neither of us remembers seeing the Sodoma frescos about which everyone talks. We decide there’s no way Pauline would have skipped these and they must have still been under restoration when we first visited.
We park above and walk down towards the abbey, stopping in the gift shop first. I end up purchasing some honey but pass on the bath lotion for the girls. I can’t find a fragrance I think they’ll like.
Next we head to the bathroom for a quick potty break but a tour bus has just arrived so we opt to return later, on to the frescos.
We pull out the listing I printed from Slowtrav, determine at which fresco we enter the room and begin to proceed around. Chris likes trying to translate the Italian description and then checking his guess against the Slowtrav material. We think we can tell which frescoes are by Sodoma and which aren’t because there are a few that seem to have disproportionate heads, bodies and hands while others seem to have normal proportions and more vibrant colors but given what we know about art we could be totally and completely wrong. Something else we notice, many of the women really look like men with long hair, like “big hands” from Seinfeld. I chalk this up to artists using male rather than female models but again, I may be totally and completely wrong.
I think Chris likes viewing the frescoes more than I expected he would; examining details, looking for hidden animals and they make us both want to learn more about the story of St. Benedict. I think Chris especially likes that we find a fresco that seems to be missing from the Slowtrav list. He has me take a picture of it and the corresponding description so Pauline can add it to the website.
After we’re through with the frescoes we head back to the bathroom and discover one of the grossest things I’ve ever seen. The bathrooms reek, and when I get inside I find out why; they’re Turkish toilettes and obviously someone had more than a bit of indigestion and … wel l… missed. Gross! Chris said his side wasn’t much better, “Time to get the new monks down here to clean.”
We high tail it out of there and head back to the car, taking a different path than the one we took coming down. In the car we plot our course towards Pienza and decide to go back via our old stomping grounds in Castelmuzio. Dot-to-dot method, we travel San Giovanni D’Asso, noticing the restaurant there that I still would like to try, Montisi, and Castelmuzio. Funny how these roads used to bother me but now, after the harrowing roads we took to get to Montalcino on Saturday, I’m not bothered at all.
Coming down from Castelmuzio, to the valley between it and Santa Anna, Chris spots a wild pheasant, stops the car, turns down a white road and sends me scampering about trying to find it and take a picture of it. No luck, upon hearing and seeing the car, that bugger ditched into the brush and while I could hear him I couldn’t see him.
I hop back in the car and ask Chris if he’d take a bit of a side trip and visit Santa Anna in Camprena. He’s game, and we turn off our road onto the white road that leads to the former Church. By the way, now that we know what trail markers look like, we see them all over and think about all the different hikes in the area we’d like to take.
We park before the church and walk down to the entranceway. Some bikers enjoy their lunch in the shade of the building as we enter. I expect to see workmen, having heard the church was under renovation but no such person around. What we do notice are signs in German all over the place. It appears some sort of German outfit has bought the church and is turning or has turned it into a B&B combined with an art institute. (website: http://www.frescomalerei.de/TOSKANA_0.html) After we discover the room with Sodoma’s frescos, the middle one seems the best restored, we wander around the grounds and stumble upon two different classes, one in discussion, the other painting. No one seems to mind us wandering.
While we admire the view and pick out Montalcino in the distance, Chris asks if I’d mind going to Boccon Di Vino for lunch instead of Latte de Luna so we can enjoy the view and the food one more time before we leave. Sure, I’m game.
We head back to the car and call the restaurant before hitting the road. Chris tries to understand the best he can the Italian being rapid fired at him. From what he can make out, we have a reservation but we cannot sit outside. I’m figuring they must have a big party but you still get a nice view from the dining room, so we go.
When we pull into the lot, we see a large German tour bus; ah that explains why we’re in the dining room. But no, that’s not the reason either; as we approach the patio we see no one is outside due to some big winds whipping around.
Inside, a man we have not seen before greets us but when the young woman and young man who have served us previously appear, they greet us warmly and lead us to our table, the last available. A large tour group occupies most of the room and one other couple. For such a large group, they’re relatively subdued and we enjoy a peaceful lunch.
Today, we opt to share both primi and secondi. Both start with the complimentary tomato and bread soup drizzled with grass green olive oil that we love. Although I’ve already have had one soup, I opt to try the ceci soup with crispy prawns; it’s a creamed chickpea soup topped with two large lightly fried prawns. Delicious. Chris returns to the gnochetti with black truffles; also wonderful.
For our secondi, I have the lamb chops with a nut coating (I believe hazel nuts) and celery puree, very interesting. Chris has I believe the stinco with polenta, also good. Ranking our secondi we say the Venison takes first place, my steak with spinach and lentil second, the lamb chops third and the stinco fourth. Ranking the primi is harder – they’re all wonderful.
We also shared the Castelnovo Rosso 2002 as well as a bottle of water. When the bill comes Chris gives them his credit card as I thought I’d left mine back in the apartment, turns out it was in my pocket. Anyway, now Chris’s card gives us fits, but I have enough cash to cover it as it came to under 100€ (can’t remember exact amount) but that’s pretty much the last of our cash.
On our way back to town, we stop at the enotecca Dean mentioned as having free Internet access when you buy a bottle of wine. It’s on the road from Siena into Montalcino at the second to last curve before you hit the walls, parking is limited though and don’t make the mistake we did of pulling into the lot reserved for the busses that make the Siena-Montalcino run.
Once parked, we dodge across the busy street and head inside. We both expected a cheesy place just based upon the amount of advertising we’d seen by them in roadside signs but it’s actually very nice. Chris says it has one of the best selections of wines he’s ever seen in Italy. They have two terminals near the front of the store, on high tables so you must stand to use them.
While I check my e-mail and write the girls, Chris checks through the labels and says the prices are comparable to those he’s seen elsewhere. We do not buy any though, since Chris’s card is giving him fits and I’m almost out of cash. We do buy though one of the cool double-notch openers Chris has seen and which Daphne from 3 Millenium told us about on our previous trip. I guess that’s enough to qualify for the free access, or if I understood her, access is always free, either way, mission accomplished.
We leave and as we find ourselves doing often these days, lament the fact that we won’t have more time to spend at this store nor to try it’s corresponding restaurant, which may be more than the tour bus stop we originally thought.
Back within the walls, we park the car, grab much of the stuff in it so we can begin packing in the morning, and hike down to our apartment. Clean clothes hung and Buon Ricordo plates in a pile ready to be packed, we head out to the ATM machine for more cash and shopping.
Uh Oh! The machine says we have no cash left. Now in the days of my old bank, if I’d empty my checking account, they would automatically transfer money from my savings account to cover and I’m thinking the new owners of the bank decided against this one little luxury. I’m also thinking I should have transferred funds from our “rainy” day account to checking before we left because we’re finally feeling the “tax day” pinch.
Either way, we needed to get to an Internet point and fast. We decide to hike up to the top of Montalcino, try that ATM (just in case it’s an ATM problem and not another Kim mismanagement problem), and if that doesn’t work, drive back to the Enotecca. However, as we head back down Via Mazzini to our apartment, I glance to our right into the TIM store (Via Mazzini 30) and for the first time all week, notice computers in the back. DOH! An Internet Point has been there the entire time. The room is filled with kids playing computer games but we grab a machine, log onto our different banks and do some quick moving of money. One euro later, we’re good to go.
Well the realization finally hit home, I’m not working any more so we really shouldn’t be spending all that money on those great meals we’ve been having. We should have cooked more and done more picnics. Of course, with two days left in our trip, what difference does it make? After beating ourselves up a bit over some drinks at Bar Alle Logge, where by the way they served us some lovely appetizers – frittatas and bruschetta, plus that drink I had the other night (I think Breno) we head back to the apartment to shower and get ready for dinner.
Tonight we’re off to Grappolo Blu again, after learning our lesson on Tuesday night, we made a reservation for 9ish. It’s just a moment after we arrive than we’re seated in the back room next to the bar.
After our earlier scare, we’re back to vino rosso della casa, which I have to admit isn’t anything wonderful; I believe it’s a local cabernet blend.
I don’t know about the rest of you but I love eyeing what other people order to see if anything looks interesting. Saturday night, the couple at the next table shared an interesting pasta dish with peas; tonight I see another gentlemen enjoying it. It’s the Conchiglie (shells), I believe and I give it a whirl. Chris’s reason for returning tonight has been his desire to try their tagliatelli con tartufo, so that’s what he opts for. I have to tell you my conchiglie is wonderful, it has bits of peas and I believe pancetta (though it could be guanciale but it’s so lean), and it appears as if they finish the pasta off in a sauté pan with the meat and peas because some of the pasta is caramelized which gives it a nice texture. Also, there’s definitely some crushed red pepper as there’s a bit of a kick. Chris enjoys his tagliatelli but we both agree mine is tonight’s winner.
For our secondi we both want the salsiccia and fagiole (not liver mind you) and that’s what we order but Luciano returns to tell us they’re out of the sausage, bummer. Chris orders, hmmm … can’t remember, and I’m deciding between the pheasant with lemon herb sauce and the tacchino. Luciano tells me to have the pheasant and that’s what I do. Both our secondi’s are delicious an as an added bonus, Luciano has one half order left of the sausage that he brings for us to share. Yum. Chris finishes with a sambucca but I pass on the after dinner drink then we’re back home and to bed.
