France/Italy roadtrip – Montalcino | alison richards

After my not-so-successful exploration of Siena (besides the cathedral, of course!), I drove quite a long way to Montalcino.

Before I even got to the hills, I passed this lovely driveway of a house, lined with cypress trees. I had to stop! I parked some distance away where it was safe and walked through the tall grass on the side of the road to the start of the driveway. It was lovely though!

When I got close to Montalcino, I drove up and up and up until I found a parking area that I hoped was close to the top of this hillside town, and walked the rest of the way.

Montalcino isn't quite as well-known as Montepulciano nearby, but it was still buzzing with people. Maybe it was the wine bringing them in, as Montalcino is famous for its Brunello. I was REALLY having an off day today, as I forgot all about this at the time and couldn't quite remember why I'd put it on my map, AND didn't go for a wine tasting. Oh, the shame!

However, I did redeem myself a little by having a pretty good wander around the amazing fortified town, visited the church and the old hospital.

These little Piaggio Ape vans were everywhere, as they didn’t take up too much room on the narrow roads

These sets of stairs were everywhere! I could only feel sorry for the poor people who had to walk up and down then every day

The symbol of Siena. Montalcino was a border town of Siena until 1555, when Siena was defeated and it became part of Florence.

It was time to move on and I picked to go down a strada bianche road in search of a church. But I had to keep on stopping, as the view was just so glorious! It took me a loooong time!