A wonderful Tuscan Medieval and Renaissance Italian hill town, Montepulciano is set on top of a narrow ridge of volcanic rock, much like Civita di Bagnoregio. With steep, car-free, walkable and winding streets made to discover its art and architecture, the town is a major producer of some great Italian food. Pork, cheese, thick pasta, lentils, and honey.

It is also world-famous for the region’s finest wines, the Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, a red wine made from the vineyards surrounding the town. Not to be confused with another popular wine, Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, made from a different grape from a region in east-central Italy.

I even had some tasty gelato here!

Monday, June 21, 2004:
I visited another Tuscan hill town today on a day trip from Siena. I took a 10:50am bus which took one and a half hours of winding through the scenic green and brown Tuscan countryside to get to Montepulciano.

We arrived at the main bus station, and then I took a smaller bus to the top of the town, to the Piazza Grande. The town is basically built on a slanted hill, so most people take the bus to the top, and walk back down. (I’m not sure why I didn’t walk up. I really could have.) After the small bus dropped me off, I spent about five hours in Montepulciano.

The first thing I did was go into a church, as I like to do whenever I visit a new town, the quaint and amazing Cathedral di Santa Maria Assunta.

My main goal of the day was to wander as many streets of Montepulciano as I could. But before doing that, I wanted to see a church that was down hill, out of the main area of Montepulciano. Tempio di San Biagio. The outside of this church was pretty unique, with a blue dome and a bell tower. I haven’t seen many blue domes around Italy. The inside was as beautiful as any other church, but differently shaped than others, kind of square-shaped, with a lot of white walls and ceilings.

I walked back up hill (guess I got to walk up hill after all) to explore the “back streets” of Montepulciano, to get away from the crowds, and to see how the locals live. It was during the middle of the day when people are at home for lunch, so I heard many in their homes talking in Italian, cooking (ahh, the aromas) and eating. (Too bad I couldn’t join them.) It was a very pleasant local experience.

I took photos starting here, and throughout the day, on the “windows and doors of Montepulciano.”

I then ventured through the touristy streets. I got a salami sandwich for lunch, and ate it on the steps of a church. Then ate a gelato on the same steps. After, I went into a wine store next door and had a sample of Montepulciano wine. The Italian cuisine! This town is known for their wine.

After eating, I entered another church, Chiesa di Sant’Agostino, which had a great sculpture outside above the door of Mother and Baby and two Saints. Inside it was white and cream colored, with organ pipes as part of the altar.

I continued to meander the streets. I sampled some more wine, and ate bread with some kind of yummy olive oil and sun-dried tomato thing on it. I still had time to explore till the 5:45 bus, so I went into another church, twice. The second time, I just sat for a while. I waited till the bells chimed at 4pm. Nice sound. This church, Chiesa di Sant’Agnese, had a great marble statue in the main altar illuminated by the sun that was shining on it through a window. A stained glass window was also lit by the sun, making a colorful reflection appear on the floor. And a dark painting was also brightened by the sun. It all felt so very “angelic.”

I wandered through a park, some more streets, and into a shop or two till about 5:20. I returned to the bus station, and took the bus back to Siena, arriving about 7:20pm. I found an internet cafe so I could check my bank balance (it’s all good!), and respond to a few emails.

And to check train schedules to Orvieto for tomorrow. So Italian!

Sweet Travels!

Some information on Montepulciano from Wikipedia.

But nonetheless, when one visits Limerick, does one actually expect that they write a limerick while they’re there? I would suppose not, but that is what happened to me. No kidding.

During my travels to Limerick, I actually wrote a poem. Although it is technically not the true five-line limerick, it is close enough. Here is my journal entry about my couple of hours in Limerick, and the poem I wrote, which is a summary my travels of my first two months in Europe, and how I even got to Europe in the first place.

Sunday July 4, 2004 (Oh, it’s the Fourth of July today…)
I got up about 7:30 this morning after another good night’s sleep in the hostel in Wicklow. I must have been tired from my Wicklow walk yesterday. After getting ready, I hopped on a bus, my Irish mode of transportation, which was to take me to my next destination of Killarney, on the southwest part of Ireland.

The Tallest Church Spire in Ireland

At about noon, the bus pulled into the town of Limerick, where I had originally planned to change buses right away. But as we were approaching this bus station, I noticed a church with a very tall spire. I just had to go see it! So instead of taking the 12:30 bus to Killarney, I chose to take a 14:30 bus, giving me two hours in Limerick.

Stained Glass in St. John’s Cathedral

I went to this church, St. John’s Cathedral, and inside it was beautiful – lots of stained glass. Oh, how I have become so enthralled with stained glass in churches! I sat quietly for a few minutes, contemplating. I found out that this church has the tallest spire in Ireland. No wonder I noticed it from the bus.

I then did some other sight-seeing. I walked around the graveyard of another church, St. Mary’s Cathedral. I looked at some pretty old gravestones which had the Celtic cross, as I had seen previously in Ireland. You know, the cross with the circle ring intersecting.

Celtic cross in Black & White

I walked around King John’s Castle next, which was along a river. Here I was intrigued more by actually watching three people fishing. I always like to witness every-day life.

St. Mary’s Cathedral and Graveyard

But the funniest thing about my time today in Limerick was that on the bus just before I got to the town, I just happened to start to write a “limerick.” No kidding. And as I was walking around the town doing my sight-seeing, I continued to write my poem, even when I was contemplating in St. John’s Cathedral. No kidding.

I call it, “Living A Life Long Dream”.

There once was a girl from Seattle
Who needed to go and rattle
Her cage, so she could go travel
And see the world, and to her friends tattle.

So she quit her job, gave up her apt,
And put her car away.
She packed a bag, got on a plane,
And went on her merry way.

Off to London first, then on to Greece
To see the ancient sights.
And to hop around the islands,
With all of her might.

Then five days in Turkey;
A lifetime friend she made.
Who gave her a necklace,
The memory will never fade.

Off to Slovenia and Croatia,
With parks of waterfalls.
Experiencing, learning, growing,
And having a ball.

Italy was beautiful, with vineyards
In the rolling hills.
Exploring, wandering, playing,
Going wherever she wills.

Now she’s in Ireland, the town of Limerick,
Writing as she walks.
Looking at more churches and cathedrals,
Leaving her breathless, she can barely talk.

Who knows where she will travel to next.
That is left to be seen.
All she knows is that all this travel
Is living a life long dream.

Sweet (and poetic) Travels!

If needed, I might start off each blog with a brief description of the background of the selection so that it makes sense. Note, though, that I might intersperse other blogs in between these “Excerpts from Europe” blogs.

Background: A friend (Kelly) of a friend (Susan) was living in a very tiny town in Italy, and Susan was staying with Kelly. After just traveling in Greece and Turkey, I was taking an overnight ferry to Italy, to visit both Kelly and Susan, and to eventually spend a lot of my five-months in Italy…

Tuesday May 25, 2004 – I’m In Italy!
At the moment, I’m looking outside the window of Susan’s friend’s house in Camponocecchio, Italy. Wow, I made it here! I am sitting on Kelly’s couch, and there is a town church directly across the street, with a brilliant stained glass window above the door all lit up. A peaceful sight. So, here is how I got to this point…

the stained glass window

Last night on the cruise ship/ferry from Athens, I ended up watching a couple of movies. Then I slept on the couches of the ferry, as I did not pay for a cabin. I slept mostly right by the TV, but then I found a quieter spot later on.

In the morning, I still had several hours before we got to Ancona, so I basically lounged around. It was warm enough to actually try to get some sun on my legs, tummy and arms.

I also checked my email, and Susan said that she would meet me at the train station in Ancona. The ferry actually arrived an hour late, and I hadn’t realized it yet, but I had lost an hour going from Greece to Italy, as well. So now I am 9 hours ahead of Mom, instead of 10.

the church across the street

My first sight of Italy, while we were on the Adriatic Sea, was actually some snow-covered mountains. I will need to figure out what they were, because they seem too far south to be the Alps or Dolomites.

My second sight of Italy was the town of Ancona. Looked like a quaint nice town, with red-roofed houses, and several churches that I could see from the ferry. Of course, there was also the industrial side to Ancona, with the ports with ships and cargo stuff and huge cranes.

I got off the ferry, and needed to get to the train station. It was too far to walk, so I needed to take a bus, which was in the email from Susan. I asked the tourist info office how to do this. I used my first Italian words!!

I had to get a bus ticket at the “tobacco magazine” shop, and then walk just a bit to the square. Take bus #1 or #1/4. I got on #1/4, and I even had the bus driver tell me when to get off the bus at the train station.

the town of Camponocecchio

I had about a half an hour before Susan’s train arrived, so I had to get my first gelato!! The signs were all in Italian of course, but I figured out the choices between cup or cone, 2 or 3 scoops, and that it came topped with cream. I got 2 scoops, 2 yummy flavors, chocolate and nutella!

Susan got off the train and we gave each other a hug. Nice to see a familiar face, and nice to talk to someone I know. We had a quick bite to eat, then we took a one hour train ride, and got off at Genga Station. We had to walk about 10 minutes through this tiny town of Genga to get to Camponocecchio to get to Kelly’s house. We had, of course, chatted the whole time.

Sweet Travels!