Day 9 - Venezia!

18,715 steps, 8.38 miles, 22 floors

Sierra snapped this quintessential Venetian gondola guy photo, while I captured awesome video of a pigeon loose in a store nearby. 

We woke up bright and early to catch the bus directly to Naples, departing at 6:40am. As the sun came up, we were able to enjoy the views of the Amalfi coast again as we cruised inland. When we arrived in Naples, I thought we had a few stops left but a woman told us this was the station, and Sierra and I frantically grabbed our stuff and jumped off the bus...leaving behind her favorite earbuds. Sad face. 

At the station the ladies had trouble with my card so they told us to get on the fast train leaving in 5 min. They called over to the train so they would be expecting us. This was the "Italo" company, and the high-speed train so everything just seemed fancier and more modern. They were very nice, and this meant we would arrive earlier than expected in Venice!

Sierra has an impressive knack for falling asleep on trains. 

Having Wifi on the train is a blessing, because you have little else to do other than plan out your next few days. On the Flipside, the last thing you want to do when you have <24 hours in Venice would be to sit in your room and use the Internet.  

I'm always getting hit on by Italian Cougars. 

On the train there are a group of older women (maybe early 70's) who seem to be traveling together and having a great time. One of them speaks English, and tells us how she is from Salerno (on the Amalfi coast) but lives in Trieste now. She is traveling to visit her son in Venice. She and her friends give us treats and homemade espresso, ask us if the train feels fast (it supposedly goes 300 km/hr or about 185 mph), and tell us about a famous sail boat race in October in Trieste that we must see someday. She then tells us how southern Italians are the most gregarious and friendly to strangers. It kind of seems so!

Just getting into town, we stop for a quick shot before we check in. 

We arrive in Venice and its bustling with people and boats moving back and forth, and we find our Air BnB easily. Alessandro, our host, is a vivacious Venetian and a welcoming local. He rents out two rooms, and has a really cool style throughout every room in the house. We had planned to get out as soon as possible to see Venice, but Alessandro (and his cute little 12 year old dog, Gina) told us all about what to do in Venice. He gave us water and wine and snacks and wrote down places to go, how to get there, and what to eat. We were so happy to have his advice!  He speaks pretty good English but is clearly a perfectionist, and asks many questions as he wants to improve his English. It was nice to see such enthusiasm!

We take his map and decide to hit the 4-5 top recommendations. We got to a little bar called "la Cantina" and order Mortadella on Pan Nero (black bread). 

La cantina, the tiny wine bar and deli (that's some fancy meat hanging above)

We are supposed to have them slice with a knife, not the big machine. We have a couple of glasses of wine (still pretty inexpensive here) and I love every bite of the sandwich. The little cafe was pretty quaint, but it's on to  spot #2. We go to a place to cross the main canal by gondola, and follow Alessandro's advice to go to the right and get on the one for locals. We act like we know what we're doing and are able to ride for €2 each. We try some Cichetti, which Alessandro raves about and thinks Americans need to start serving. It's basically like Tapas but you just order 1-by-1, and it's usually like 2-3 bites of toast with meat or fish or veggies on top. I have some swordfish...but Sierra declines the fishy options for now. 

Riding the "local" gondola across the grand canal to go try some Cichetti

We walk all through the town and stop for gelato on our way to San Marco's square. I had warned Sierra about dive-bombing pigeons and advised that they can sense fear and don't let them see that you're afraid of them. I manage to catch a video of a pigeon stuck in a women's clothing store, and the use of a push broom to nudge him outward. Meanwhile, Sierra captures a nice photo of three gondola captains (?)...and then proceeds to tell me that while I was filming this ridiculous video and laughing like a little boy, she was getting some actual memorable shots. Haha. Touché. Her pic is at the top of this post. 

Snapped several cool shots in this picturesque town  

Meanwhile, in the most romantic city in the world...lotsa lonely selfies:

Selfies with a peace sign

More peace-sign selfies

I call this one "double selfie." Apparently if you're a witch, you can take a selfie with a smartphone and tablet simultaneously. 

The scene at San Marco square is a familiar one, consisting mainly of: 

- big groups of Asian tourists, each with a camera out taking many, many, many pictures

- pushy salesmen

The fascinating thing was that while they had selfie sticks, they didn't really push them. One guy stuck a rose in Sierra's arm and refused to take it back, then followed us asking for money. Sierra nearly had to throw it back at him because he wanted our money. Then we noticed that even when Sierra took a selfie, all they did was throw birdseed at her feet.  Great, buddy...just what we need is to lure these lovely Venetian pigeons even closer. Brilliant sales pitch. While I can't speak for Sierra, my feelings were a little bit hurt that they no longer wanted to sell me a selfie stick. I feel like chopped liver. :( 

We wandered around on the waterfront area looking for a rooftop, but the one we'd been told about was closed. Then we couldn't find the pizza place on the waterfront that Alessandro recommended, but we saw a beautiful sunset for such a cloudy day. 

Okay we can take selfies too I guess

Sunset on a cloudy winter day

We enjoyed being semi-lost on the way back to the north side of Venice, then decided to hit up the two restaurant recos. The first place was called Al Timon and had a boat in the canal that people sit on when the restaurant fills up. We let the bartender choose a few Cichetti and a glass of wine, then go out and sit on the canal. 

Apps and a glass of wine out on the canal, in front of Al Timon

The tapas-style apps were fantastic, and somehow apps and wine in the touristy city of Venice came out to €10. Score one for having a local guide!  Then we went to Ai 40 Ladroni (Alessandro says "it means 40 theives, but don't let the name fool you they are nice guys") and had some pasta and a nice veggie side. Dinner was good, and we were ready to head in for the night. 

Day 8 - the Amalfi coast

12,202 steps, 5.43 miles, 61 floors 

Typing this up during a sunny, snow-capped bus ride from the Slovenian border town of Sezana to the Capitol city, Ljubljana. 

Enjoying the drive from Salerno to Amalfi

We woke up fairly early to catch the train to Salerno, with a 5-minute stop in Naples. We were told that Naples was dangerous, was "the armpit of Europe" and some other sage advice, so we were happy to be able to get into the Amalfi coast early. The downside was a forecast of 90% rain. 

When we arrived, we bought cheap tickets for the 1 1/4-hr bus ride to Amalfi, and were told to run to catch it. We got there in the nick of time...saving us from a 45-minute wait. The ride was beautiful, as it meandered along a tiny, cliff-side road the entire way. We often had to slow down to 5 miles per hour--or even back up a bit--to get past another massive bus or truck. Sierra and I would watch wide-eyed as our bus would be 2" from the rock face on the right, and the mirror on the left would be less than an inch from another 50-person bus. So we enjoyed the twists and turns, checked out all of the cliffside towns and beautiful churches, and watched Italian teenage boys kiss each other in extra-friendly ways (by American standards) to say hello and goodbye. It seemed that everyone who got on the bus knew most of the people on the bus. The joys of avoiding the tourist season, I suppose. 

Walking to our hotel from the Amalfi bus stop

We arrive in Amalfi and encounter probably the 30th or 40th Italian man to stare at Sierra for an uncomfortable amount of time. We get a tiny bit lost but it's a tiny town, and find the hotel in five minutes.  In the case of Amalfi and Atrani, Air B&B was both expensive and sparse, and several hotels were closed for winter. But we found a decent hotel with a view for a not-too-expensive price. We were so happy to see a somewhat cozy bed, an nice shower, a fridge, a decent heating system...and a very helpful and nice front desk staff. 

The duomo is about 50 yards from our hotel, in the main square of Amalfi. 

The rain starts to pick up as we head out, and we stop in for a quick bite. We just share a pizza and I don't get anything since it is still outrageously priced for a town so devoid of tourists. They charged €2 per person just to sit in the restaurant, while places in Sienna and Florence and Rome hadnt charged that much even if you were outside in the main piazza. This enraged a really arrogant man who called the waiter a liar and just made a huge scene the whole time. I originally thought they might be Taiwanese, but I'm not sure.  Whoever he was, he reminded me of arrogant Americans I'd see often a decade ago.  Now it seems Americans have chilled and others are causing more of a stir. Nevertheless, the waiter brought out that passive-aggressiveness I wrote about yesterday and spoke audibly to me and other patrons about the guests from the Far East. Ahh culture. 

We decide to go to Atrani (because my friend Roy said its a cool town with a cool little bar we need to visit), but the trail will be muddy and the highway is dangerous. So we just go through the houses. It turned out to be pretty cool...

Sierra overlooking the Med in front of Amalfi, at the base of our hike. 

We cruise up, down and around houses and through tunnels, and somehow find our way to Atrani. 

Unfortunately we can't upload the time lapse I took of the hike but maybe I'll put it on FB. We hiked our way to Atrani and then made three loops looking for the place Roy recommended. With each loop, the rain picked up, the wind strengthened, and we wound ip in the exact same piazza somehow. Then we see "La Risacca" on this awning and head in. The place is a divy cigarette shop with video poker. I have a beer and take a picture or two to show Roy, but it really was the bridge-and-tunnel crowd of the Amalfi coast. I would find out in a few hours from Roy that this was not the same La Risacca, and it must have closed. Oh well...at least we had a cool hike, got drenched and our umbrellas turned to mush. 

We head back, and basically use the umbrellas like a shield against wind and rain.  We're soaked, cold...and I'm wishing a fireplace or comfort food existed in Italy. The rain lets up a little, and the way back was faster. 

A quick photo stop during the walk back to Amalfi. 

We get back and search high and low for a restaurant that's up the hill from the main part of town, and everything is closed either for winter or until dinner starts at 7pm. We stop at a little grocery and then head to the room for some dry clothes. 

This is what the produce stores look like in Italy. :)

We have a really nice dinner, which was actually surprisingly rare in Italy--we haven't been that impressed with the food--and then head back to rest up for our early-morning departure. The young regazza at the front desk had a lunch made for us for tomorrow and left it on our bed, since we're leaving so early that we'll miss the free breakfast. 

It was nice to have a solid hotel stay after the debacle in Rome. ...now off to Venice!

Day 7 - A winter day in Rome

23,728 steps, 11.31 miles, 22 floors

For our cover photo...here's Sierra taking in the Vatican right before dusk. 

We sleep for a whopping 11 hours--I guess we needed it. Ordinarily I would worry about a late start...but it's winter right? There won't be crowds like in summer (hint: this is foreshadowing)? This morning was my torrid affair with the diabolically-engineered bathroom, where I ran out of water pressure and hot water and completely drenched the tile floor, then gouged my forehead on a box with no wordly business being in a wall opposite a toilet. Sierra wisely concludes that she should shower in the evening, and we get going. 

We then make our way out and to the Colisseum. Apparently this is the one place in Italy that is absolutely jam-packed in February. It's noon already, so we have about 5-6 hours to see sights before dark, and the line looks like a 2-hour wait. Oops. Well, an American guy in a counter-culture hat spots my American-ness and talks us into paying him €25 euros each for a tour of the Colisseum, the Palatine hill and the Roman Forum. It would be the best decision we made today. We skipped the line, and joined a group of 40 people with an Italian guide who spoke English well. He regaled us with tales of the Colisseum, the games, and some misconceptions from Hollywood. 

In the middle, they've built a replica of the arena floor as it looked two thousand years ago. 

The Colisseum. Duh. 

Sierra's shot from outside the Colisseum. The outer two walls collapsed during an earthquake, but thankfully were reinforced before more of it was lost. 

Sierra's shot of the forum

This is the Forum, virtually in its entirety, as seen from Palatine hill. The Colisseum is on the far right. 

We learned that Gladiators were typically slaves or criminals. We learned that it took 7 (or was it 8?) years for a Gladiator to be freed...and few made it. Some free men (usually former soldiers) volunteered, largely because fame and riches came along. An incredible system of elevators and trap doors existed to launch exotic animals into the arena during a bout. This was one of many ways to show how far the empire stretched (the exotic animals present). We learned about Romulus and Remis, and about the emperors and the fall of Rome. It was an incredible learning experience between the two tours, reaffirming our satisfaction with our decision to pay the extra €8 or so for the tour. 

One of the most awesome sights through the trip is the selfie sticks we mentioned in Florence. There, only Africans seemed to be selling them. Here in Rome, it was only what I assess to be East Indians or Pakistanis, but I'm not sure. See for yourself:

The "selfie stick mafia" on the prowl. If I zoom out, you'd see 7,000 of these guys. ...or more realistically they would see you and try to sell you a selfie stick or a portable smartphone charger. 

We provide our readers with a bit of irony, as we snap a selfie of ourselves in front of the selfie stick salesmen. Later I would try to explain to one of them that my arm is my selfie stick. It would not dissuade him or reduce his tenacity in any way. 

The target customers for the selfie sticks. 

This ties in with another one of my quasi-racist observations: About 70% of the tourists around here are asian, and most seem to be Chinese. This could be because (I think) their new year just happened, or it could be because their currency is way up vs the Euro, but there are an unmistakably high number of Chinese tourists here. When you see the immense army of selfie-stick clad explorers, you can't help but think the enterprising fellows I mentioned before are probably driving Ferraris. You also can't help but wonder why they keep b-lining towards a tall, white man to try and sell these things. One guy nearly stabbed me in the eye with a portable charger. What a jerk person. 

I digress, and onward we press towards Vatican City. We find an awesome place for a 3pm breakfast. It was the first real breakfast we've found, and it was an American breakfast (apparently we are the only ones who think it's the most important meal of the day). We also share three deliciously-large meatballs and add two more Cappucino notches to our belt. We walk out in the general direction of the Vatican and see this:

Film crews prepping for a Roman chase scene in the next Bond film

We walk along the river and through some quaint little alleyways until we get up to Vatican City. The line is massive, and we both agree not to spend the rest of daylight in line. I've been inside and she hasn't, but maybe we'll check it out later in life. We still have so much of Rome to see!  We did have time to relax a bit outside...

The Vatican - Basilica de San Pietro (is I believe how they say it)

Okay I'll admit, Sierra's photos are better than mine. 

Just three dudes having Coronas at the Vatican. 

We then grab some Gelato and make our way through town to the Spanish steps. 

Note to self: I cannot fit in there

The view of the Spanish steps and the piazza d'espana from the top. 

Our seat near the bottom of the steps 

As we get closer to home, we decide to stop at Restaurante RomAntica, below our place. ...and boy was it RomAntica: they had some sweet throwback R&B jams playing all evening. We had some white wine (a rarity on this trip), some pretty good pasta, some salads and then headed upstairs to clean up and pack up. Gotta head to Amalfi early!

I decided to sneak into the kitchen after they finished cooking to snag a couple of glasses and enjoy one of our Montepulciano wines. This was of course a tactical decision to lighten the load since I'd been carrying 3 full bottles. 

Day 6 - from Siena to Roma

16,486 steps, 6.76 miles, 21 floors

Today is the day we head to Rome...

A view from outside the Colisseum, late afternoon. 

We woke up and went to the bus station, but there was no bus for an hour (it's a Sunday in Italy), so we hoofed it to the train station. I may not have mentioned that with our 45-lb backpacks we now try to book a place to stay right by the station. But in Siena, we walked about 1.5 miles with some serious "weight belts" added. After many switchbacks and a few escalators, we were in a food court right above the station...with 30 minutes to spare before the 9am train to Salerno. 

Really? Typical Italian is hot dogs and burgers?

We skip the typical food and go for a croissant. It's really hard to find a breakfast in Italy that isn't a Danish and a cappuccino, but you know: When in Rome. Heh heh. So after whining to each other about how we both want a ham and cheese croissant, we see that the guy just takes a regular croissant and injects it with marmalade or chocolate. So I guess outside of McDonald's, most places can't "inject" ham in liquid form. So we'll stick with the sweet stuff. We board our train for Rome and head out. 

The train is the fullest we've seen in a while, and we've learned that most people don't sit in assigned seats, so rather than booting the people in our seats we just go to the next cabin (this is the first train we've seen with 6-person cabins). Sure enough, an old lady comes up and stands by me and keeps saying seat numbers and pointing. I wait for her to tell us to move, but she doesn't. She just talks for a while and moves on. Italians seem to like passive-aggressive confrontations: They say their opinion of you to someone else right next to you. So it's good to just ignore people here.  

We get in and we're at the other Rome station, so we have to take the subway to our place. We find it without too much trouble, but it's a funny pad. It's a Chinese family and they rent out a room or two, but live in the apartment. So while we were in Rome, our apartment felt like living in mainland China...but with 4x the square footage. Let's chat a bit more about this guesthouse:

- the bathroom window opens to the kitchen

- there's a randomly-placed wooden box above the toilet (you'll notice a gash on my forehead in the next week's worth of pictures. Said box is the culprit)

- the shower is a claw foot tub with a sprayer. They don't have a curtain so the floor gets soaked. Yet they have a lady who seems to just stand there waiting to mop at all times. So rather than buy a curtain or something, she just mops within seconds of leaving the bathroom

- the shower lost pressure when someone turned on the kitchen sink

- oh...we share the bathroom with several others

- there's a sign that says "attention passengers, please use towel clean under toilet no wet for person safety" or something to that effect...which I think meant to towel off the floor after you shower. 

- the kitchen is usually in use in the evening and the entire place smells like asian seafood dinner 

- the bed seems to be a cheap box spring 

...but the thing is, we had a safe, clean place to sleep within a mile of the Colisseum. So we head out. 

In front of the Roman Forum, Sunday evening. Our last photo before I lost a battle with the Chinese bathroom. In real life we were in color. This is just a camera trick. Since these columns are 2000 years old I thought B&W would make it look more like the 1950's, which is kind of like the time of Ancient Rome. 

We needed to chill for a bit first, but then went out for a late lunch before we hit the Colisseum. There was no shortage of wine bars, and we managed to eat some healthy food for a change. Veggies, avocado, etc...instead of the usual starch and cheese. Then we headed to the Colisseum to find it was closed for the day at 4pm. We decided we'd see it tomorrow, and walked around the Roman Forum. We walked through what remains (virtually nothing) of Circus Maximus, which held 200,000 spectators in its prime, and then we saw one impressive structure after another. The sun was coming down, so we just wandered and looked at the magnificent, overpowering structures as far as the eye can see. Apparently a census at the peak of the empire counted 1 million free men...so if you count women and slaves, the estimate is about 2.5 million living in Rome. I had forgotten how awe-inspiring this city is, and we're glad we have the entire day tomorrow to explore Rome. 

These are the "less famous" structures near the Colisseum and the forum. 

I really loved this building...it looked like 2 stories of Colisseum, with two stories of old English style on top. I believe it was a theatre but can't remember now. 

The other side of the Forum at dusk...this pic (and most in Rome) doesn't have a filter...even though it probably looks like it does. 

We slowly make our way down the maze of italian streets, looking for a great tapas place I read about. We make a stop for a snack and then trod on. When we find the place, it is overflowing with people, but in a seemingly trendy neighborhood. We go across the street for a glass of wine and some weird artisan italian food, including artichoke flan and whatever I ate. We decide to walk home and then get hungry again. We stop in what looks like a tourist trap and share some ravioli, and try the "spritz" that so many people drink around here:

This DayQuil-looking drink is champagne, club soda, and some liquer I'm told is "Apple" but I do question. It's sweet but might be really good in the summer. 

We head home and call it a night. We decide on no alarms, and when we wake up, we'll head to the Colisseum again. 

Day 5 - Sierra and Travis' Tuscan wine adventure

9,791 steps, 4.3 miles, 25 floors in the rain

We wake up to the first rain we've seen all week, and unpack some things we want to get rid of in order to lighten our bags a bit. We go buy a box and mail 8 kg of stuff back home. What a relief to free up some space! We then find some food and wait for the bus to the train station, where we'll head to Montepulciano for a few hours. 

Tempted to buy a case and ship home for €100...but just bought one. :)

There was an 8am train (way too early) and a 12:15pm, but unfortunately we just missed the 12:15...shortening our wine country time by an hour. But being good proactive types, we used the time to look at all possible train itineraries for the last 5 train journeys we will make in Italy. Things look pretty good the next few days (plan is Rome tomorrow for 36 hours, then 36 hours in Amalfi, then an overnight stop in Venice with about a half day to get a taste of the city, then a fun journey to Slovenia with a couple of cool stops on the way). 

We depart for Montepulciano at 1:25 pm. The train station is 6 miles from the town, so we hope to be able to catch a cab! In Montepulciano there appear to be three wineries (all within a mile or so) and there is a cool town from what I hear.  We're taking a risk by not knowing exactly how to get there or if they are all open, but we thought a little adventure might be fun. It was €28 round trip total for both of us, whereas it was €180 per person to join a group wine tour...so yeah we'll do our own thing haha. 

We get to the stazione and there are no cabs. We try to figure out how to call a cab from a pay phone, but it didn't workout...so we go to the nearest coffee shop and Sierra asks the man at the counter to call for us. The cabbie drove pretty aggressively but was a nice Italian man with flowing golden locks and fancy sunglasses. He was quiet but nice and gave us a map to he town. He didn't know where the wineries were but took us to the main square. 

 The old duomo with the unfinished facade. Apparently this was common: They ran out of money or for some other reason we're unable to put the marble facade in place. Looks cool to me. 

We went inside and it was beautiful and Classic by American standards, but kind of your run-of-the-mill Catholic Church by Italian standards. I threw the church a couple of Euros and we lit some votive candles and then went on our way. 

The view of Tuscany was quite impressive, and the train ride was along a rolling horizon dotted with big houses and hilltop villages. 

It was cold and rainy (but if it's going to be cold and rainy I'm glad it was here instead of Florence and Cinque Terra), and I was trying to find the 3 wineries that appeared on yelp. We followed a sign into a "cantina," and found this old building with a happy, round-faced old man named Adamo, who is pouring wine tastings. I asked "parli inglese?" (Do you speak English?) ...to which he replied "solo Toscana!" Haha. Apparently he's a loyal Tuscan :).  We tried 3 wines and he made us try the Quattro ani a second time. He told us the 2009 was the best and there were 30 bottles left, so we bought one for only €23 ($25), which seemed like a bargain compared to Napa or the Willamette valley. 

We soon learned from Adamo that he is a big celebrity in "Americano" because he met Rick Steeves and was on "TV, radio, PBS!"  Here's the page out of Rick's book:

We learn that this Cantina we happened upon is kind of a big deal. 

So I read the article and find out we're in the castle of the royal family, and the other person who works there is descended from a family who has lived here since the 11th century.  We learn how to say "the best," "fiancee" and a few other useful terms, then Sierra says a sweet arrivaderci to Adamo so we can go check out the place. 

Sierra and Adamo, shortly after he gives her a big kiss on the cheek and says "Oooohhh Bellisssimma!"

We walk through this cool old palace and take a bunch of photos--here are a couple:

Contucci Cantina barrels

We head outside and continue walking through the narrow, rain-soaked brick roads looking for Fattoria Della Talosa (we see signs but no cantina), and end up stopping into a little room called Gattavechi. We walk into the empty shop and slowly a woman makes her way out and behind the counter (keep in mind that very few in this town speak English so we have to learn 3-4 words and some key hand motions to explain that we want to taste the wine).  She begins to pour the Vino Nobile, made from the local grape of Montepulciano.  An American (or maybe Canadian) came in and blasted out "Where is a place to buy coffee?" ...now at this point, Sierra and I had been in Tuscany long enough to think it highly unusual for a person to just state a sentence in English and expect any kind of comprehension. Also kee in mind that Sierra and I speak like 10 words of Italiano.  But we know key words like "caffe," "dové" (where is) and "cappuccino"...and we know how to point. So we somehow form an international diplomatic bridge and help the Italian lady show the Americans where to go for coffee. We try two more wines, each was outstanding and each one is better than the rest. I see that the third was a 2007 reserva and saw it on the shelf for €30.  Not bad for such a fantastic wine, but then we see that the other two we liked were €8 and €13. Done. I mention the prices because we started to realize that while Italy isn't cheap--good wine is cheap. You can buy a good bottle at dinner for like $10, which would probably be $50-100 in the states.  So drinking wine saves money obviously. 

Underground at Fattoria Della Talosa

We find Talosa and are directed downstairs by the words "prego (and a hand gesture to enter) ...my winery is your winery." We look around and take the above pics, then make our way upstairs and are greeted again by the guy at the desk. He speaks great English and walks us through the regulations on wine in Tuscany--including why growth is restricted and which regions grow which grapes, why they are blended to a minimum %, and how vino Nobile cannot be grown legally outside of Montepulciano. He had a few opinions about the "laissez-faire" wine making in Chile and Argentina. Really nice young guy who moved from Sicily for a job and hopes to open his own wine shop or winery someday. We bought a third bottle and then figured we should get food. 

Not much seemed to be open near the piazza, which is typically where the action is. We had a cappuccino and a pastry and started walking to the bus station to try to save a few bucks getting back to the train station.  Low-and-behold, we walk down the hill about 100 yards to find tons of shops, restaurants and wine bars. Oh well! We had a great day so no need for regrets, but if we come back to Montepulciano in winter we'll know there is more excitement to be had. 

Sierra discovers there's much more to the old town of Montepulciano as we trek to the bus station 

We get to the bus station at 6pm and find that the next bus is at 7. The station is full of Italian teenage boys, store employees and two policemen having a drink. We find a bartender who speaks English, and ask him to call a cab. Our same driver shows up in 5 min and takes us to the train. 

When we get to Siena we hit up a place called Guidoriccio that has great reviews online, but is very close by. It's about 40 degrees and windy and rainy so we aren't eager to be outside long. The waiter/owner is incredibly nice and happy, and gives us his recommendations. He won't recommend a wine until we tell him what food we want. We order a big feast of cheeses, a pumpkin quiche, some grilled steak and Pici--the Siena pasta specialty that we hadn't tried. They even brought us a free appetizer in case we weren't eating enough, and then he recommended an organic chianti for us...for about the price of a nice glass back home. 

Guidoriccio's hand-written menus each had a different design.  

The place was underground, all-brick and cozy. A tasty last meal before we leave Tuscany and head to Rome.