In addition to being a wine region, this part of Tuscany is also famous for pecorino cheese from Pienza, a tiny town about 15 minutes from here. We had a charcuterie picnic at Caseificio Cugusi at the base of the mountain and sampled some of their amazing sheep cheeses. Romans introduced hard cheeses to Europe. …

We spent today wandering around the hilltop village of Montepulciano and touring more of the wine cellars. The Piazza Grande is the cultural and historical heart of town.  The Palazzo Comunale (town hall) in the Piazza Grande was inspired by the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. The travertine marble well in the grand square dates from…

Pitigliano is a walled clifftop town partially carved out of volcanic tufo rock.  The town is best known as “the little Jerusalem” due to the historical presence of a Jewish community (mostly people fleeing Rome during persecution). There is evidence the town was occupied in 1061 AD but was likely inhabited during the Etruscan times…

This morning we visited the Cascate del Mulino, a natural hot spring made up of a series of waterfalls flowing into terraced travertine pools.  We played under the waterfalls and had a relaxing soak.  This afternoon we visited the local Mambrini Viticoltori Winery in the tiny town of Poggio Murella.  Our tasting was conducted by…

This morning we picked up our rental car (who we named Giovanna) at the Termini train station and set out for the ruined city of Ostia Antica on the west coast. This large archaeological site close to the modern town of Ostia was once the main harbour city for ancient Rome.  This first Roman colony…

This morning we visited the Baths of Caracalla.  Built between 212 – 216AD, the baths are now a well preserved ruin.  Caracalla fell into disuse in 537 when the aqueducts that supplied water to the city were destroyed by ‘the barbarians’ (Ostrogoths).  They were further damaged by an earthquake in 847.  The huge bath house…