Montepulciano and Tuscany with the Family!!!

Wednesday November 4th

Woke up this morning to an empty apartment, the only nice thing about that was I was the only one using the bathroom…although it never seemed to be much of an issue when we had all four of us sharing one bathroom which contained the only mirror in our apartment as well. I spend the afternoon trying to catch up on the last of my work for the fall semester and getting a few groceries at the store. That was a fun experience because it was not until I was done shopping for dinner items for the family that I realized my debit card would not work because it has expired Oct 30, Mom and Dad where bringing my new card but I had to put a few items back at the store and get through the language barrier and a line of people behind me… oh well, I will probably never see those people again. After the grocery store I met with the owner of the two apartments our family was renting for our stay in Montepulciano. Everyone arrived at about 8pm and we were all ready for a nice warm meal. Tim, Dad and I went back to pick up a few last minute items at my apartment and then stopped at the Trattoria where my study abroad group had dinner every night and picked up a few bottles of wine.

Thursday November 5th

Each Thursday morning in Montepulciano there is a market at the bottom of town in the bus station parking lot. We decided to make this our fist adventure for the day and let everyone try out the little bit of Italian they had learned since arriving in Venice on Nov 1st. The market sells clothes, shoes, purses, linens, food, fruit, flowers and a few other miscellaneous items. Everyone did some shopping and then we met back up to grab some fruit for the rest of the week and picked up some items for our dinner that night: roasted chicken, pasta and pesto, artichokes, broccoli and bread! The rest of the day we spend wandering around the town, I showed everyone my apartment that had been my home for 10 weeks, we did a few wine samplings and then we stumbled upon one of the best things… The coppersmith of Montepulciano. We were walking along and we heard this ping, ping, ping and there he was working in his shop. He graciously called us and in and with my little bit of Italian and lots of hand gestures he explained that it was the work of his great grandfather, passed down through the generations, and the tools he was using were from his grandfathers. He showed us sketches of different pieces he had created and then he pulled a small round piece of copper out and began asking for my grandparents names, their children’s and spouses names and grandchildren’s names, and the date they were married. He created a beautiful piece with flowers, hearts, stars, initials and dates. He proceeded to tell us about the piece he created that sits atop the cathedral in Siena (which we would see the next day) and a piece he presented to the Pope! Wow- and we watched his create a one of a kind piece right in front of us. After leaving his workshop we went to his store on the lower street, Tim got a clock, I got a wall piece and my grandma got a bracelet. After our eventful day around town, we stopped at Crociani winery and filled up a few water bottles of wine to go along with all our market goodies and had a great feast right from Montepulciano!

Friday November 6th

Today we headed to Siena, it sure was a bit of an adventure getting there… should we use a map, the TomTom or the blue signs along the road…. In the end the blue signs got us to Siena (and later they got us safely back to Montepulciano!) As soon as we got to Siena we had to find the WC (water closet-bathroom) and some food. We had great big slices of pizza and then headed to Piazza del Campo- the main piazza of Siena where most of the towns roads meet and then onto the Basilica which had amazing tiled floor patterns and mosaics. We did some shopping and walking around town that evening, mailed a few postcards and find a great place to eat right outside the city walls. The girl working there helped us figure out the menu and was our private server since we were the only people in the place! I had a vegetable sauce over curly pasta (I should know the name for that), Mom had a pumpkin cream sauce and Tim had rabbit.

Saturday November 7th

Today we went to a few small Tuscan towns surrounding Monepulciano. Our first stop was Pienza- the town known for their Pecorino (a cheese made from sheeps cheese) The town also has a great view over the Val d’Orcia. We stopped at a little snack bar, had sandwiched with pecorino of course, a few of us had cappuccinos or gelato for our dessert! Our next town was Montalcino- know for their Brunello wine. On the drive their we was a few more small tuscan towns, great valleys, and overall amazing sites of Tuscany! We did a few wine samplings in Montalcinao, walked around the Fortezza, saw a group of local young boys playing soccer and then had a late snack in town. We had a plate of a variety of meats and one of cheeses served with honey- this was a first for me but it is absolutely delicious!! We accompanied our snacks with a nice Brunello di Montalcino! Tonight was our last night staying in Montepulciano so we all went to the Trattoria where I had most of my meals throughout the 10 week program. It was a great way to end my time in Montepulciano!