Our fourth day in Italy would be the day that we began riding the rails. The trains in Europe are wonderful and can pretty much get you everywhere. For our first train adventure we decided to head deeper into Tuscany and visit Siena and Montelcino.
To get to Montelcino, the home of the famed and glorious Brunello wine and Rosa di Montelcino, we needed to take a train into Siena, then a bus to the small town. We decided we would get to Montelcino first, then spend some time in Siena before heading back to Florence.
We were very excited to get to the train station and buy our first train tickets of the trip. But as naive tourists, we took a long time buying out tickets and ended up missing the first train that we wanted to catch. A bit of a delay to the beginning of our adventure, but not too big of a deal. We were able to get to Siena by around noon and figured it would give us enough time to get to Montelcino for a late lunch and of course, some red wine! We purchased some bus tickets at the train station and waited outside for a bus. A lot of people from our train were also waiting on buses to other destinations. So we waited, and waited and waited. We soon realized that everyone that had been waiting on buses except for us had gotten their buses. But we had not seen any buses to Montelcino?? After about an hour wait we began thinking that we were just going to have to bag the idea of Montelcino and head into Sienna for the rest of our adventure. Both of us were a bit disappointed, but wanted to move on with our day.
We began walking back into the train station when a new set of buses began showing up. We read each one, none were Montelcino. So that was it, we were not going to get to Montelcino... then suddenly at the very back of the pack of buses another one showed up and squished itself into the bus waiting area. We ran to it praying it was ours. Yes, it was the bus to Montelcino!!
We rode the bus up through the hills and into Montelcino.
Montelcino is a charming small town with a large fort on it's highest hill. It looks like a beautiful castle. Some of you may be familiar with the name of the town as it is home to a castle that Rachel Ray got married- Brunello is her favorite wine. Tom Cruz and Katie Holmes also held their wedding. Neither of these wedding were reasons for our visit to Montelcino, just a fun fact. We were more interested in the Tuscan cuisine and delicious wine.
We had a lovely late lunch of spaghetti with tomato and garlic sause and pasta with wild boar- a Tuscan speciality. So so so delicious!! The cafe that we ate at had a beautiful view of the area and we enjoyed some of their lovely local wine. After lunch we stopped at a few shops for wine tastings and left with some local wine and grappa.
From there it was time to get to Siena. We caught a bus that took us to the small town of Buonconvento and transferred to a small train to Siena.
Siena was a really neat town filled with lots of great shopping. The main attraction for us was their piazza. Piazza di campo is the largest square (piazza) in Italy and deserves the attention that visitors provide it. We were lucky enough to arrive in the Italy during a time of celebration for Siena. This time of year they have a huge horse race called the "palio di Siena" or "il palio". Unfortunately the race itself occured the day we arrived in Italy. However, we were fortunate enough to briefly watch the festivities on the regional television upon our arrival. Little did we know that we would experience the continued celebration during our visit to Siena.
We had found a place to sit and enjoy some wine and appreciate the view of the piazza when we heard it all beginning. Loud drums beat from afar and got louder as they entered the piazza. A group of boys entered the end of the piazza wearing flags and beating their drums loudly. Behind them followed more people waving flags and marching to the beat. We soon realized that the large group was wearing different flags than what they were waving and attached to them were pacifiers- yes the ones for babies- and sucking on them as they marched through the square. From what we gathered, this was a ritual that the losers of the race followed on the wishes of the winners to show respect of the winners and good loser sportsmaship. Behind them were older men and women and children singing. They were part of the losing contradi, losing neighborhoods, giving praise for the winners, a celebration that lasts for about a month. It was quite the specticle, as we saw them throughout the town.
What an interesting day and great addition to our adventures.
~Robbie & Chelle
To get to Montelcino, the home of the famed and glorious Brunello wine and Rosa di Montelcino, we needed to take a train into Siena, then a bus to the small town. We decided we would get to Montelcino first, then spend some time in Siena before heading back to Florence.
We were very excited to get to the train station and buy our first train tickets of the trip. But as naive tourists, we took a long time buying out tickets and ended up missing the first train that we wanted to catch. A bit of a delay to the beginning of our adventure, but not too big of a deal. We were able to get to Siena by around noon and figured it would give us enough time to get to Montelcino for a late lunch and of course, some red wine! We purchased some bus tickets at the train station and waited outside for a bus. A lot of people from our train were also waiting on buses to other destinations. So we waited, and waited and waited. We soon realized that everyone that had been waiting on buses except for us had gotten their buses. But we had not seen any buses to Montelcino?? After about an hour wait we began thinking that we were just going to have to bag the idea of Montelcino and head into Sienna for the rest of our adventure. Both of us were a bit disappointed, but wanted to move on with our day.
We began walking back into the train station when a new set of buses began showing up. We read each one, none were Montelcino. So that was it, we were not going to get to Montelcino... then suddenly at the very back of the pack of buses another one showed up and squished itself into the bus waiting area. We ran to it praying it was ours. Yes, it was the bus to Montelcino!!
We rode the bus up through the hills and into Montelcino.
Montelcino is a charming small town with a large fort on it's highest hill. It looks like a beautiful castle. Some of you may be familiar with the name of the town as it is home to a castle that Rachel Ray got married- Brunello is her favorite wine. Tom Cruz and Katie Holmes also held their wedding. Neither of these wedding were reasons for our visit to Montelcino, just a fun fact. We were more interested in the Tuscan cuisine and delicious wine.
We had a lovely late lunch of spaghetti with tomato and garlic sause and pasta with wild boar- a Tuscan speciality. So so so delicious!! The cafe that we ate at had a beautiful view of the area and we enjoyed some of their lovely local wine. After lunch we stopped at a few shops for wine tastings and left with some local wine and grappa.
From there it was time to get to Siena. We caught a bus that took us to the small town of Buonconvento and transferred to a small train to Siena.
Siena was a really neat town filled with lots of great shopping. The main attraction for us was their piazza. Piazza di campo is the largest square (piazza) in Italy and deserves the attention that visitors provide it. We were lucky enough to arrive in the Italy during a time of celebration for Siena. This time of year they have a huge horse race called the "palio di Siena" or "il palio". Unfortunately the race itself occured the day we arrived in Italy. However, we were fortunate enough to briefly watch the festivities on the regional television upon our arrival. Little did we know that we would experience the continued celebration during our visit to Siena.
We had found a place to sit and enjoy some wine and appreciate the view of the piazza when we heard it all beginning. Loud drums beat from afar and got louder as they entered the piazza. A group of boys entered the end of the piazza wearing flags and beating their drums loudly. Behind them followed more people waving flags and marching to the beat. We soon realized that the large group was wearing different flags than what they were waving and attached to them were pacifiers- yes the ones for babies- and sucking on them as they marched through the square. From what we gathered, this was a ritual that the losers of the race followed on the wishes of the winners to show respect of the winners and good loser sportsmaship. Behind them were older men and women and children singing. They were part of the losing contradi, losing neighborhoods, giving praise for the winners, a celebration that lasts for about a month. It was quite the specticle, as we saw them throughout the town.
What an interesting day and great addition to our adventures.
~Robbie & Chelle
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