Based on a recommendation from cousins Gary and Joanne, I made lunch reservations in Monteriggioni (above) online prior to the trip for 1:00 pm at Il Pozzo. After the ordeal in renting the car I wasn’t sure we would make it in under 30 minutes, but we got there in time. We parked in the lower lot and slowly climbed up the hill only to find another parking lot just outside the walls. I told Maritza we were building up our appetites.

We were seated at a garden table where I had a great lunch of pici with pine nuts, sage and olive oil. Maritza had an interesting starter of shredded artichoke with Parmesan cheese with pumpkin ravioli as her main dish. As you can probably tell by now, I’m not a big wine drinker, and I can just about tell the difference between a chardonnay and a cabernet. Our waiter recommended a bottle of Braghetto D’Aqui, Carnevale Giorgio 2001… we enjoyed it. Lunch ran about 45 euros.  http://www.ilpozzo.net/monteriggioni/en/#home-section

Monteriggioni was the smallest hill town we visited, a one-piazza walled city, founded in 1203 to guard Siena from the Florentines. We strolled a bit after lunch and I bought the neatest kitchen magnet of the city and its surrounding walls.

We continued along the road following signs to Colle di Val d’Elsa (above), about 15 minutes beyond Monteriggioni. Just as I’d read, you first come to an ordinary, modern (well, sort of) town. Finally we saw the old city perched on a hill. There were few people about. Colle has been in the glass-making business since the Middle Ages; Maritza got some of her Christmas shopping completed and I purchased a few gifts.

A little farther northwest was San Gimignano (above). What a beautiful city. I can see why all the tour buses stop here. It was filled with shops, but different from the ones in Siena — more craftmanship and fewer mall-type shops. I have a collection of miniature Gault houses of Provence. Here they have a shop selling Gault houses of San Gimignano. Oh, I was tempted, but the dollar exchange kept me from indulging -- that and my house is already cluttered with "stuff" I really don't need (but, they're so cute!). The city was filled with tourists even though we purposely arrived late. This was one of my favorite stops and I would have enjoyed exploring more, but I wanted to get back to our hotel before dark as we weren’t sure how to get there.

Before leaving, we stopped at the “Gelateria Artigiana—Gelateria di Piazza,” in the main square, www.gelateriadipiazza.com, for what would be the very best gelato of the trip. I had three scoops (equivalent to one scoop at Coldstone’s): saffron (fabulous!), tiramisu and black forest. This was dinner, and that was just fine!

By the way, San Gim was the only place on this trip where I found a hole in the floor for a public toilet — “No thanks, I’ll wait.”

We had no trouble finding our way back to the Villa. We just followed signs to the hospital and the camping ground, both near the hotel.

Sunday, May 14

Siena

A day with no agenda, so we decided to drive to Volterra (below), a pretty medieval town a bit off the beaten path. We split up and wandered, finally meeting for decent pizza at Da Beppino.

We spent the afternoon relaxing at the hotel. It was Mother’s Day, so we drove to a public telephone that evening where Maritza had a chance to talk with her husband and wish her mother a special day. I know she missed them and they were missing her. Around the corner from the phone booth, down a flight of stairs, and pretty much well hidden from view, was a pizzeria where we stopped in for salad and spaghetti. It was nice to be in a restaurant frequented only by locals and we enjoyed the opportunity to feel less like tourists.