Let's go for a drive....

This past Sunday we decided to rent a car for ourselves and go for a drive in the Tuscan and Umbrian countryside.  Destination?  Cortona, Montepulciano, and Pienza!

First, the car:  a Lancia Ypsilon!  Adam could practically reach bumper-to-bumper...

Fortunately, he wasn't the one who had to sit in the back seat (sorry, Joel and Kendall!), but he did the all the driving since he could drive stick-shift.  We set out from Florence and drove south towards our Cortona, but made a quick stop at the first of several Etruscan tombs in the hillside:

We then went on to Cortona, where we entered through the original city walls (and observed the Etruscan, Roman, and later walls):

and found an incredibly hilly, incredibly beautiful town:

Up and to the left is the main square, where we visited the Etruscan Academy Museum of the City of Cortona (MAEC):

had lunch and hung around in front of the Palazzo Communale:

and began to take in the Tuscan and Umbrian countryside!

It started off a foggy day (and we learned the meaning of the Italian word "nebbia" as we drove on the roads), but as the day wore on it became clearer and clearer.  After a few missed turns we followed our noses wound up in the wine town of Montepulciano:

where we folowed the advice of Rick Steves and went to the Contucci winery:

We then left Montepulciano (you can see it in the distance on the hilltop)...

and traveled to beautiful Pienza to get some cheese with our wine!

We found its narrow "main street,"saw the Duomo there,

and took in a few more of the sights.

We made it a point to get some pecorino fresco, since it's a favorite of Joel's and they have more cheese than you can shake a stick at!

And for the curious:  managing Italian highways was a breeze.  Following roads from town to town was mostly a breeze -- but it was a little nerve-wracking when Laura's phone decided to ask for her SIM unlock code (which was safely stored in a bedside table in Florence), so we were without maps.  We followed our noses, though, and with Laura as navigator everything was fine.

Returning the rental car at the airport within a half an hour of it's return time?  Utter chaos!  Very poorly marked signs, and we wound up on two different highways in the process.  But all in all, a great day.  Va bene!

Until next time, ciao!