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I have always
taken public transportation in Europe (buses, trains, bikes, and even
planes), but my mother wanted to try renting a car
so we could enjoy
some of the smaller towns in Tuscany. We picked it up on August 5,
2015, in Orvieto. |
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Since we were not picking up our rental car until 10:30 am, we enjoyed
the nice breakfast buffet at Hotel Duomo. They had pastries,
toast, yogurt, fresh blackberries (!), and even blood orange juice! |
We walked through town then
took the funicular back down to the train station.
It was much less crowded than
when we arrived! |
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| We enjoyed the
views while riding the funicular! | We
even passed the other funicular car on the way down! It was so
much like last year in
Lugano or on the
Peak Tram in Hong Kong (but not that steep). |
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We picked up our Hertz rental car two blocks from the Orvieto train
station. (We got an Alfa Romeo Giulietta instead of the expected
Fiat.) Our first stop was Montepulciano. We parked in
parking lot P5 (behind the bus station) and took the public elevator up.
(We parked in a white spot, which was probably free parking, but we paid
at the parking meter just in case.) |
We entered the old town at Porta al Prato. Montepulciano reminded me
so much of
Mont St. Michel and
Les Baux de Provence! |
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| Piazza Grande in
Montepulciano was under construction, but I got some pictures with its
buildings, Palazzo Communale (left) and the Duomo (right). |
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We hiked up to San Francesco in Montepulciano for a nice view, then we
started making our way down. We stopped by a little grocery store (alimentari)
and got a bag of croissants and some cold pop for lunch. Yum! | From
Montepulciano, we drove to Pienza, where we snagged a great parking spot
across from the Coop grocery store. |
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| Pienza is small but has nice
views of the nearby countryside. It reminded me of a combination
of Trogir, Croatia,
and Frankenmuth, Michigan. |
We grabbed some gelato to
enjoy while strolling in Pienza! |
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From Pienza, we entered our most stressful session of driving: Siena!
Yes, follow the soccer ball signs to the Stadio parking. It only
took us three loops around to follow the signs correctly and a
three-point U-turn when we overshot the entrance to the lot. Then
the spaces were tiny! But we found this great spot right next to
the stadium. I should never complain about US parking lots again! |
The walk to our hotel, Albergo
Bernini, from the Stadio parking lot was not very far. Albergo
Bernini is right on a main tourist thoroughfare. We paid 85 euros
per night ($94) + tax + 5 euros per person per night for breakfast. |
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Our room was spacious but sparsely furnished. It had two comfy
beds, a big closet, two nightstands, great air-conditioning, a desk, and
a chair or two. My mother said it reminded her of an old Southern
bedroom. (Only a limited number of towels were provided, though.)
It was all we needed. | Our room was
ensuite with a shower, toilet, sink, and bidet. I prefer showers
with curtains because they are less constricting. This shower
curtain did not keep the water in, though, so I flooded the bathroom
whenever I took a shower. Also, the soap provided is a one-day
soap; with the language barrier, we were given liquid hand soap instead
of another bar, but we made it work! |
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For our first dinner in Siena, we just went to touristy
Ristorante San Domenico
around the corner from our hotel. It had a busy waitstaff, a
pretty view, and yummy pizzas. I had the sausage and onion
pizza--delicious! (The only negative: smokers! I live in a
non-smoking world in the U.S., and it was quite shocking to have to eat
with people smoking all around us. It was not appetizing.) |
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