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.

Here are some of those tasty gelato journal entries. Let me tell you though, that each gelato was definitely worth every bite…

May 25 – Ancona – I had my first authentic Italian gelato at the train station! The signs were all in Italian of course, but I figured out the choices between cup or cone, two or three scoops, and then it came topped with cream. I got two yummy scoops, “cioccolato,” and nutella (a tasty chocolate and hazelnut combo)!

May 27 – Camponocecchio – A gelato dessert after a pizza dinner to top off a fabulous Italian experience. “Torta de Gelato” (ice cream cake) with fragola (strawberry) and decorated with sugar. Molto delizioso!!

May 28 – Vicenza – I had dinner in a self-service restaurant, which is a great way to have a good cheap meal. After dinner, I had to get a gelato. Actually this was my second gelato of the day. The first was this morning at a little café, where I also got a cappuccino. A cappuccino and a gelato – what a way to start the day.

May 30 – Venice – After a couple hours of wandering, and eating – I had a Panini, and my “daily” gelato, “mandarino” (Mandarin orange) flavored – I found St. Mark’s Square. I headed straight for the Bell Tower – I wanted to get to the top for the views.

June 2 – Trieste – Since this was my last day in Italy for a week, I had to go find a gelateria. The only place I could find one was at the train station. How convenient!

(see…i’m eating a gelato…)

June 12 – Gubbio – I had lunch of a pizza with spinach, arugula, and eggplant. Then I walked around this small town for a while and looked in their tiny shops. They have a lot of ceramic stuff and really interesting painted glass, several with sunflowers on them. Then I got banana and chocolate flavored gelato.

June 21 – Montelpuciano – I wandered through the touristy streets. I got a salami sandwich for lunch, and ate it on the steps of a church. Then I ate a gelato on the same steps. After, I went to the wine store next door and had a sample of Montelpuciano wine. The Italian cuisine!

June 26 – Orvieto – After visiting the cathedral, I wanted gelato, because I saw a gelateria on my way to the cathedral that looked really good. And it was absolutely the best gelato that I’ve had thus far in Italy! (And I’ve had a lot of gelato.) I got a tiramisu flavor, and a chocolate-rum flavor that was simply the best. It tasted like the chocolate rum balls that my Grandma used to make. Yummmmmy!

Later in the day, I just had to go back and have a second gelato at the same place. I ordered a refreshing peach flavor, and of course, got the same chocolate-rum flavor. Wow!

June 27 – Orvieto – I got up this morning to get to my next destination, and on my way to the train station, I got some fruit for breakfast, a pen, because my other one ran out of ink, and a postcard to mail back home. Believe it or not though, no gelato this morning.

June 28 – Corniglia, Cinque Terre – I walked up the main street of Corniglia, got a gelato, and continued on until the street’s end overlooking the water. It was so quiet around. I felt noisy when I started crunching on the cone of the gelato.

Later – Then I made a few phone calls, and checked email. I got another gelato, and am eating the gelato in bed as I write in my journal. “Stracciatella” – chocolate chip!

June 29 – Riomaggiore, Cinque Terre – I took a train back to Riomaggiore, and got a…drum roll please…gelato!

June 30 – Corniglia – I had a quick lunch and a gelato. Then by about 2 pm, I started on a great hike. It was trail #7a, which for a while was pretty steep. It went up away from Corniglia into the hillside. With all the trees and elevation gain it felt like a “mountain hike.”

July 2 – Portofino – I had to get money, and then I was hungry, so I bought a gelato. My last gelato for this Italy trip. I will be back to Italy in a few weeks though. I got two scoops, “cocomero” (watermelon), and “pompelmo rosa” (pink grapefruit) – both full of terrific flavor.

July 20 – Ancona – I got to the train station, and took a train which got me to Genga about an hour later. But not before having a gelato at the train station. Ahhh, to be back in Italy. I might have to re-learn the little Italian I know, but eating a gelato again is easy.

July 22 – near Camponocecchio – After looking at fields of sunflowers, I intended to go grocery shopping, but I went clothes shopping instead. I bought three items. Then I had a gelato. Clothes and gelato in the same day!

July 26 – Venice – I’m back in one of my favorite Italian towns. Right away, I began to wander the streets of Venice, but not before having a “pistacchio” flavored gelato first.

yummy!!

July 30 – near Camponocecchio – We went to a gelateria to get some freshly home-made gelato. My friend knew the man working there, who turned out to be very generous with the gelato we had. I had a cone, and he put four, yes four, flavors on it. Usually you only get two. Chocolate, peach/orange (that’s one flavor), melon, and coffee. And then he gave us samples of two other flavors to taste that he just made.

July 31 – Arcevia – After a while, a friend asked if we wanted to go get a gelato. Of course – never refuse a gelato, I say. We walked up a narrow street of the town, to the main square. There happened to be live music playing there. I had chocolate, coffee and nutella flavored gelato. Plus the gelato I had earlier today. Yikes! Maybe I need to cut back on the sweets a bit. Or not.

August 6 – Urbino – When I left the Oratorio, it was raining pretty hard. I stood under some shelter for a bit, and soon the rain turned into just a sprinkle. I walked up the street to a gelateria. They had the nutella flavored gelato, which seems to be one of my favorites. I sat on the steps of a piazza in Urbino, ate my gelato, and watched the rain.

August 14 – Verona – After the amphitheater, I wandered around a bit, and ended up on a pedestrian-only street, where they had lots of stores. I had to try on some clothes, but nothing was looking right. I did get however, a gelato, with three flavors – bacio (a rich chocolate hazelnut combo), pompelmo rosa (pink grapefruit (again)), and malaga (rum raisin).

August 20 – Vicenza – I biked to downtown Vicenza this morning. I thought that there would be an outdoor market today, but there wasn’t. I ended up going clothes shopping instead. And I got a gelato – “arancia” (orange) and “cioccolato” flavors. The orange was very refreshing. I spent a couple of hours downtown.

Hmmmm. Guess I better go get some gelato now that I’m done with this blog!

Sweet (literally) Travels!

But authentic pizza originated in Naples, Italy. The Neapolitan pizza, to be truly genuine, is to not only be made with fresh mozzarella cheese and fresh tomato, with hand-made dough, but is also to be cooked in a wood-fired oven.

When I was staying with some friends in Camponocecchio, Italy, Kelly actually owned a real wood-fired oven. So for dinner one night, we made pizza…

Thursday, May 27, 2004:

Ok, so dinner last night – what a fabulous Italian experience!! We had pizza. Real Italian pizza. Kelly hand-made the dough, cut fresh veggies and meats, and cooked it in her very own oven in her back yard. Wow. Now that is authentic!

the oven in the back yard

It was completely delizioso! And, I even got to make one myself!! It felt like I was really experiencing Italy. And, I’ve only been here for a few days.

me, baking a pizza

Specifically, to make the pizza, you take a baseball size piece of the dough, cover it with flour, and roll it into shape. Then you put your choice of toppings on. We had many choices, in addition to the traditional fresh cheese and tomato.

the kitchen

The pizza is then placed in the wood-fired oven with a long-handled “Pala Di Pizza” that slides the pizza in and out of the oven. A smaller version of the Pala, aka a “Paddle,” is used to turn the pizza while it is cooking in the oven.

the oven and the palas

Then you take out the pizza with larger Pala, place it on a wooden board to cool, slice and eat!! Yum!!

ready to eat!

To top off the fabulous Italian experience, we had a great dessert. Torta de Gelato – ice cream cake – with Fragola – strawberry – and decorated with sugar – filo-threads of sugar, to be exact. Molto delizioso!!

Sweet (and delicious) Travels!

History of Pizza complements of Wikipedia

How to make a Real Neapolitan Pizza….http://www.suite101.com/content/how-to-make-a-neapolitan-pizza-a120240