Belle Montisi

 Montisi - another beautiful Tuscan hill town.  It has 350 residents. It is built on an ancient Etruscan necropolis.  It is beautiful. It is hard to describe Montisi with words, so here are some scenes that captured my heart.

On the way to Montisi.

Villa Maddalena, our home for one week. The door we enter is the middle one.

Walking toward the villa. Notice the flag - one room of the villa is the clubhouse for one of the four contradas.

The Contrada San Martino bulletin board. Several bedrooms of the villa are above the San Martino clubhouse.

From the loggia of my room, I look out over the Tuscan hills and part of Villa Maddalena garden. Ah............

From this map of Montisi, you can see it's very small.

Plaques like this are all around town.  I suspect that this is a depiction of the annual joust.  I hope it's not a real person being beheaded.

Many churches throughout Tuscany have mini labyrinths on display.

One of a collection of frescos at the back of a small parking lot.

If I could move to Montisi I would soon look like this.

Is this a little hotel?

Another fresco.

Belle Montisi. If you add wonderful food, fabulous wine, engaging day trips to the country side and a villa full of extraordinary people to the experience you end up with an enchanting week in Tuscany.

Volterra II

It took us about 2 minutes to walk from our convent to the hilltown of Volterra.  Once through the city gates, we enjoyed strolling through the narrow streets.

Our first view of Volterra.

One of the many enticing alleys veering off from a main street.

We explored two museums - the Pinoteca (art museum) and the Etruscan Museum.

The Pinoteca is an art museum in an old palazzo.  It doesn't have a huge collection, but what it has is exquisite.  This is one of many sculptures that I enjoyed.  It was located in the courtyard - almost as an after thought.  It made me think of our grandson, Solomon Soup.

This Etruscan tomb top is unusual because it is in good shape, and because it portrays a husband and wife together.  

Margit and I needed a break from the tourists, and were lucky to find this bar that seemed to be lovely and unpopular.  It was a perfect place to rest between museums.

Everything in Volterra is exquisite - Mary looked down at us as we ate lunch at a sidewalk cafe in a quiet alley.

 One afternoon, Taylor and I walked downhill and outside a different city gate than we normally entered.  We discovered a neighborhood where the people who work in Volterra live.  Nondescript as the neighborhood is compared to the walled city, it was full of hidden gems.

We popped into 4 or 5 churches on the other side of the city gate.  Each one was exquisite in its own quiet way.

This diminutive gem is the Church of St Christopher.

The inside of St Christopher's shows the ravages of time - frescoes in disrepair, but beautiful nonetheless.

Wine tasting on the street.  The bottle on the left has the best - the Brunello from Montalcino - delicious.

There were so many things to see and do in Volterra, but we need to move on to Villa Maddalena in Montisi.  But first, we end our day with a wine tasting.  How perfect.

I Love a Parade

Arezzo
We arrived in Montisi on Saturday. Here it is Sunday and we are already taking a drive to the hill town of Arezzo.  It's the day of the monthly antique market.  However, when we get there we find that in addition to the market, there is a parade!

It's the day of the Joust of the Saracen!  This happens on the first Sunday of September.  The town is divided into  four contradas (neighborhoods), and every year they compete with one another in a jousting match. The purpose of the parade is to whip up team spirit and introduce all the contenders. Each contrada's uniforms have a different color scheme and style..............all of them quite fetching.

This man gave a speech before the parade began.  I think he said something like, "Let the games begin!"  His speech was received with much enthusiasm.

All the men in white had the same color page boy.  I suspect that they have something to do with the mayor and won't be jousting.

I love the chain mail beard. This outfit represents one of the four contradas.

Here's contrada number Two.

Number Three.

Number Four.

"This tournament has its origins in the early 16 C and commemorates Christian efforts to hold back the tide of Islam in the 14 C. A lively and colourful procession of costumed participants is followed by the main event in which eight costumed knights charge towards a wooden representation of the Saracen, aiming to hit the Saracen's shield with lances. The Saracen is mounted on a swivel so that part of the task of the knight is to avoid being struck back.  Each pair of knights represents one of Arezzo's four rival districts and their supporters each occupy a side of the piazza. The winner receives a golden lance"  from The Festivals of Tuscany Italy website.

We did not stay for the actual joust, but we all felt that the parade was worth the price we paid for the anxiety of driving, and parking on festival day.