Day 6 - Tuscany - Montelcino - Pienza

Heard the rooster crowing this morning, But it's easy enough to turn over and fall back to sleep. But we're up by 7:30 and prepare for another day of touring Tuscany. We head to Pienza where we spotted a caffe bar. Our breakfast consists of cappacino and pastry, surrounded by the beautiful village. After breakfast we hop back into our cars and head over to Montelcino, a town know for it's red wine. We find some parking and hike to the castle at the top. By now our calves are getting pretty tough, but we're hiking up and down some pretty steep streets here and I know I'll be feeling some knew ache tomorrow. But the sites are well worth it.

On the way back to the car we stop at a wine store for some sampling. The proprietor gives Greg a shot of grappa, Italy's firewater, for his birthday. That's a gift he'll never forget! Hiking back up one of many hilly streets we pull off to a side park, relax and ejoy the beautiful views of the Tuscan countryside. Then back to the agritoursimo for a little pool time.

Tonight our host family has prepared dinner for us. We begin our meal at 8:30 pm with wine and 4 different types of bruccetta: tomatoe, ricotta cheese & onion, mushroom, and cheese, and a, bread salad consisting of bread, tomatoes and shreds of lettece. The family wine dots the 15 foot table we're sharing with the family and two other couples. The second course consisted of 4 different homemade pasta dishes. (I'm writing this two days later and I'm having a difficult time remembering what they were - more wine kept appearing!) I know one was ragu, and another was mushroom in a cream sauce. The pasta is served with alot less sauce than we're used to. But it's delicious. After resting a bit, the third course consisted of roasted vegetables and green salad. Around 11 pm we reached the dessert course which consisted of a chocolate and lemon cake, and a tres leches-type birthday cake for Gregory. We sang happy birthday to Greg in english and italian. At midnight we pushed our chairs away from the table, offered to help with the dishes which was strongly refused. So we headed to bed, full of food and wine, and exhausted.

What a wonderful experience.