Tuscan touring

It was such a wonderful feeling this morning waking up in Tuscany. I was awake quite early so slipped out on to the terrace with my book and let Shannon sleep. It was balmy but a beautiful breeze sweeping up from the valley.

Today was to be a touring day with Rosalinda, Stefano and the other guests at La Maesta. Each day at La Maesta is started with a hearty breakfast. We enjoyed conversation with fellow guests over fresh croissants, cereal, toast, juice and coffee. We were leaving around 9:30 so Shannon took the chance to wander the beautiful grounds and take some early morning photos. We were greeted by the many cats who have adopted La Maesta as their home and the family have a new pet dog, Lampo. He is a little skittish around strangers, so we haven't won him over yet, but we're working on it.

We piled in to the van and were off! We stopped in a medieval town, Sarteano, after a windy, bouncy and scenic Tuscan journey. The streets were quiet. Being Sunday people were either at church or resting indoors. We walked the pretty streets, stopping to take photos of carefully decorated front porches and narrow allies. Shannon and I stopped in a small artisan shop that was mainly selling ceramics. The friendly guy in the shop told us that everything in store is handmade by them. We bought four small espresso cups to take home with us.

Rosalinda and Stefano lead us up a steep hill to the medieval castle on top. It was the stuff out of fairy tales with its turrets and draw bridge. I hadn't paid attention to the low entrance and banged my head on the concrete quite badly. Fortunately I had my sunglasses on top of my head! They literally saved me from a very bad injury. I still ended up with a bad headache and bruised ego, but it could have been worse. My poor Ray Ban's copped it and are little scratched.

We piled back in the van and wound our way up a hill to the next stop, Radicofani. Rosalinda explained this is the highest point in the area. By this stage we were all quite hungry and ready for some lunch. The problem was, most things appeared to be closed. We walked up and down a few streets without a restaurant in sight open.

Stefano went and spoke to the local butcher and came out with a couple of options. We checked the first restaurant but it was full and the maitre'd clearly wasn't open to the idea of more guests. So we rejoined the group for the second option which was a small bar. They seemed a little hesitant at first to take 9 of us for lunch! We enjoyed local pasta dishes and crostini topped with different things, like lardo, formaggio, pomodoro (pig fat, cheese, tomato).

Stefano, messaging Shannon (across the room)

We then split for a while with two members of our group going up to the castle, while the rest of us decided to meander in town.

Rosalinda had discovered there was to be a small fiesta in the town, where they are celebrating the end of grape season. This was going to involve a competition where different teams race with a giant bucket of grapes up the winding streets. We had caught wind this would happen at 4:30. So a small group of us used up the time wandering the streets, stopping for a gelati and sitting in the shade of the square. The rest of our group returned and still nothing had seemed to start. It was nearing 5 o'clock and we were all enjoying a spritz or beer, waiting for the action when the heavens opened and the rain came down.

The thunder rumbled and still nothing seemed to be happening. So we made a decision to call it a day and head back to La Maesta. We started down the hill in the van and were stopped by the local police who explained the procession was about to start its way up the hill. We all jumped out to watch - it was fascinating. Groups of people, dressed in medieval costume paraded by to the beet of the marching. Each group was dressed in a different colour to represent which region they were representing. This was clearly an important tradition for the people of this town and we were happy to be a part of it.