Volterra and San Gimignano i

This is a continuation of the Italy trip we took for work in April 2009. The Rome section of the trip is here.

The Tuscan part of the journey included one night in Montepulciano and two nights in Volterra. It was my second time in Tuscany; I had previously visited Florence and San Gimignano in my backpacking days. The trip marked my husband’s first trip to Europe so it was all new to him.

From Rome, we took the train to Siena, where we had reserved a rental car. I decided on the train rather than the bus because I read that the Europecar office was outside the city, not far from the station. We had a change in Chuisi. It all went very smoothly. We chose Europecar, primarily because they allowed Sunday dropoff, which Hertz and others did not. We rented a Alfa Romeo 159, a four-door sedan about the size of a Camry. Car worked well, although it was a little big for Montepulciano’s tiny streets. (The full insurance we bought came in handy).

Montepulciano is a picture-perfect Medieval hillside town – the highest in Tuscany. The streets are narrow, but you can drive through. Many of the streets are one way. It’s known primarily for its wine and outstanding views. It was about an easy 75 minute drive from Siena to Montepulciano. Very scenic. We found driving in general easier than expected, although the Italians do tailgate!

The city itself is extremely managable, although steep – older visitors may have a tough time negotiating the hills. The main piazza is centered by the town hall with its tower, which will be seen in the Stephanie Meyer movie “New Moon” opening this fall (the book was set in Volterra, which has a bigger tower/town hall…apparently the producers felt that Montepulciano was overall a bit more scenic). Which is true – there’s not a lot to do here other than wander the streets tasting wine and enjoying the incredible countryside views.

While Montepulciano seems primarily geared toward tourists, Volterra is a real bustling town, with more shops, restaurants and locally oriented conveniences. Volterra also has medieval fortifications, but it’s much older than most Tuscan towns, as it was one of the 12 major Etruscan cities (pre-Roman empire). We found the history and the town fascinating (and that’s even without the whole Stephanie Meyer/Twilight fame that is drawing young tourists).

Highlights, Tuscany:

La Locanda di San Francesco, Montepulciano.  This small hotel has only four bedrooms, so I imagine it fills up quickly in the busy season. I had accidentally reserved the room for Friday when we needed it for Thursday, but the owner, Cinzia, graciously put us up in the suite for the same cost. We were also able to park our car in the piazza directly outside. Among the touches that made this hotel special: Gorgeous views out windows on both sides of the room. A HUGE bathroom with a rainfall shower. Hermes bath products. A fabulous wine bar downstairs with wine made by Cinzia’s family (they have a brisk lunch business).

Tours in Volterra. We went on two walking tours of the city that were arranged through the tourism office. One was a two-hour tour, “Hot on the trail of Bella and Edward,” centered around the Stephanie Meyer book New Moon, which takes place in Volterra. Most of the other people on the tour were Italian – and rabid Twilight/New Moon fans - but the guide Vincenzio did speak English and would translate for us. The tour showed the sites from the book, and centered around the Piazaa del Priori, but also wove in Volterra’s Etruscan history. At the end, there was a “performance” from New Moon (with actors from the local prison!) that seemed cheesy to me, but the Twilight fans on the tour loved it.

Our second tour was three hours and concentrated on Volterra’s Etruscan history. It included a stop at the Etruscan Guarnacci Museum, which has a massive collection of funerary and crematory urns. We had the same guide as the night before, and learned quite a bit about the city’s history and rivalry with nearby San Gimignano. The photo here is of one of the town’s original Etruscan arches, parts of which pre-date the Roman Empire.

All in all, Volterra has a melodramatic and mystical side that the residents seemed to embrace. Rather than be insulted by the tourists searching for fictional vampire headquarters, the town is embracing it by hosting meet-ups for fans across Europe. As Vincenzio said, “We like things dark – that is what makes us Volterra!” Hard to dislike a town that turns Goth into an asset.

Food! It’s hard not to eat well in Tuscany. Among the highlights:

Osteria dell’Aquachetta, Montepulciano. You know those yummy boozy dinners that last for hours where you eat a lot of great food and drink a lot of great wine and have fantastic conversations with total strangers? Yeah, doesn’t happen to us much either. But it did here. We received the recommendation from Cinzia and trotted down the hill with a 45 euro bottle of Montepulciano wine. The inside was lively, with a roaring brick oven in the back, and a 50-something ponytailed owner who wore his belt wrapped around his waist like a teenager. The veal filet, which they show you ahead of time, was cooked a little too rare, but otherwise everything was spot on. A night to remember – if I hadn’t drank too much wine (actually, it was the grappa shot that killed me). At the end, the owner tallied it all up on a sheet of notebook paper.

Del Duca, Volterra.  We chose this restaurant to sample Volterran specialties such as wild boar (served in a sauce over tagliatelle) and roasted squab. Delicious!

Shopping: I did find a fabulous blue leather computer bag in a Montepulciano shop. As you can see from this wall of bags, it was hard to choose! All in all, I got a good deal for 120 euro.

Lowlights, Tuscany:

Happily, there weren’t any! Don had started to catch a cold and by the time we left, he felt fairly sick. Otherwise, no emergencies. We did scrape the undercarriage of our car while navigating Montepulciano’s narrow streets, but hey, that’s what full coverage insurance is for!