Surrounded by Chianti

Many people know that we developed a preference for Chianti wine when we lived in Italy. It has become our “vino della casa” (house wine) so you can imagine that we enjoyed walking through this region named Chianti. The red wine flows here, a 4 euro glass of the local wine is divine!

As we get close to Siena, we are also in a place where there are many grand structures that were built between the 12th and 16th centuries to defend the Republic of Siena. One of the most striking is the medieval walled town of Monteriggioni which we saw up on a hill long before we got to it. 

We are discovering one of the more difficult aspects of traveling “a piedi” (on foot). Unexpected situations become much more complicated like today when we arrived at our lodging 2 miles from town to find the restaurant there had closed. So after having walked a good part of the day, we had to walk back down the hill to the main road and then climb back up the hill to Monteriggioni. We had a great meal and celebrated Dave’s birthday and then splurged on a taxi to take us back to the hotel along the Via.

Today’s mileage - 9. 2 miles (11.2 after walking to dinner!)

                      Happy Birthday David!

                             Ancient roads

Sunflower fields to the horizon …too bad we are a few weeks too late!

Abbadia a Isola - A Benedictine Monestery on the Via from the year 1000.

Walking through farmland, todays’s destination is Monteriggioni, the walled medieval town by the arrow.

A closer view of Monteriggioni, built ~1215

          Papperdelle with fresh porcini mushrooms.

                      The local wine is the best.

Gisella from Sicily 

A view from the town wall.