We moved to our final base of operations on Thursday night, the town of Pienza. Another walled town with a medieval core of buildings, it was originally called Corsignano before Pope Pious II renamed it in his honor. Our walk was to the town of San Quirico d'Orcia, which you can see in the distance about 6.25 miles away.
We again had the opportunity for a yoga class when we returned to the hotel, led by Rudy, and this time with a final rest accompanied by flute music, played by none other than Gianni! What a delightful treat. Anne and I went out for a short wander through town just as the sun was going down and I got some shots in the beautiful pink light.
It is after 3 am and obviously I am not sleeping well. Still struggling with a bad cough and cold :-(
Just as we left town we passed a small old church built around 1,000 AD with an unusual round bell tower not at all typical of later Tuscan architecture. Gianni is explaining the imagery found in the carvings around the door, some pagan and some Christian.
This pic is taken looking back towards Pienza.
We walked through several miles of rolling fields all plowed and being readied for planting. The play of light was so lovely and my pictures do not begin to do it justice.
Gianni always gives us a break mid-morning with sweet treats he has brought along, and today a nice hillside invited the group to eat in a more leisurely fashion.
From L to R are Susan, Christine, Tony. Adrienne, Peter and Fran (apologies for misspelled names--I will correct at a future point in time).
The really special treat Gianni arranged today was a visit to a working olive pressing facility, called a frantoio. This one has been the family business for 300 years and is currently run by Hilaria.
We did a tasting and got a real surprise to find out what truly fresh olive oil tastes like,,,pepper! We learned a lot about the proper ways to press oil with only mechanical processes (what we call "cold-pressed") and I bought a liter of fresh pressed oi to bring home. Adrienne is here displaying pleasure with her purchase.
Had a nice soup of ribollita followed by decadent tiramisu and got a few more pictures of the town before being picked up for the return drive to Pienza. This cute little pace in the first pic is available to rent for vacations!
We again had the opportunity for a yoga class when we returned to the hotel, led by Rudy, and this time with a final rest accompanied by flute music, played by none other than Gianni! What a delightful treat. Anne and I went out for a short wander through town just as the sun was going down and I got some shots in the beautiful pink light.
Twice today, this morning and this evening, we have run into a film company working on a movie about the Medici family.
It is after 3 am and obviously I am not sleeping well. Still struggling with a bad cough and cold :-(
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