This morning, we took a day trip to Lucignano, which is only about 10 miles from the villa. We can see the town from the villa as it sits up higher than where we are. After we parked, we found a bistro (Bar Bistro Fuoriporta) to have a café/cappuccino and a nibble. The café sits right outside the archway of the town, which like most of these medieval towns, is also a ZTL zone. Unless you have permission, you cannot drive a vehicle in the walled part of the town.
The museum and the churches were not open yet, so we just walked all over checking things out. Once the museum opened, we went inside and checked it out as well as a couple of the churches. The town is small so there is not a whole lot to see.
Rick Steves did mention the gelato place (Gelateria C’era una Volta aka Snoopy Gelateria), so we splurged and had a gelato early on, lol!
There was a butcher store (Macelleria Bruschi) next door to the gelato place, so we ended up getting some meat and cheese to have for a charcuterie board for when Catherine and Scott get in on Monday.
We headed back to the villa for some lunch and work stuff. We had a wine tasting at Il Sosso, back in Lucignano, at 4pm.
Il Sosso is a medium-sized winery, and they only sell about 80-90 thousand bottles a year. Our host, Caterina, is part of the family and gave us a tour of the winery and explained their wine making process. We then headed up to the villa where we tasted four different wines and they were paired with the typical meats/cheese/bread/olives. I really like the two whites they made so John bought more wine to ship home as well as a couple of bottles to share with friends at the villa.
We came back to the villa to drop off the wine, freshen up and then headed back again as John made reservations at a place (La Tavernetta) that has a great terrace/view looking over the town. It was still hot outside so not as pleasant as I would have liked, but it got better once the sun started going down.
Tomorrow, we have nothing planned except getting some work done on the blog and John will have work to do as well. Enjoyed another wonderful day in Italy – ciao!
LOVE how they shaped the tree!You don’t realize how small this “truck” is until someone stands by it, lol!Our cafes and nibbles.One of the medieval passageways into the town.We weren’t sure what this represents, but found it interesting!Loved all the passageways and the beautiful flowers everywhere!What a cutie and I didn’t even bother him/her as the napping was too important, lol!The tower with battlements is part of Lucignano’s medieveal fortifications. The towers were built in the 13th-14th centuries. The colorful banners represent the different contrade (districts), which are part of Lucignano’s Maggiolata Lucignaese festival. The town motto is on the wall to the left and the inscription translates to: “When one is strong, one is dear to friends and feared by enemies”. The Piazza San Francesco – Rustic medieval homes on the left and the Church of San Francesco to the right. The church dates back to the 13th century.Perusing the menu of the restaurant we ate at later in the day.An Italian sundial – an old system of timekeeping used in Italy until the 18th century, where the hours were counted from the previous sunset, so “24” coincided with the following sunset. Used for agricultural practices as it aligned more with daylight hours than mechanical clock time. It was painted on one of the town’s historic buildings.Inside the Collegiate Church of St. Michael the Archangel, the town’s main parish church.The Church of San Francesco – love the facade with the alternating bands of white and gray stone! Frescoes inside the church, which date back to the late 14th century.One of the wooden looms in a preserved silk-weaving workshop inside the convent.The “Tree of Life” inside the Museo Comunale di Lucignano. It’s a reliquary in the shape of a tree, made of gilded copper, silver, and enamel. It was crafted between 1350 and 1471. It symbolizes both the Tree of Life from the Garden of Eden and the Cross of Christ.One of the frescoes inside the Museo Comunale di Lucignano. It was originally in the Church of San Francesco, but was moved to the museum for preservation.A prayer bench inside the museum. Love the detail!Got my gelato fix!The butcher shop next to the gelato store where we got some wonderful cheese and meats!Another one of the beautifully sculpted trees.Let’s go wine tasting!One of their chardonnay’s that is inside a clay vessel instead of the normal stainless steel ones. They are testing this to see what the end product will be.Pretty little grapes growing……The Leopoldine Farmhouse where the tastings happen.Love this vine still growing!Inside the cellarThe still working fireplace inside the farmhouse.Lots of good nibbles!At La Tavernetta on the terrace for dinner and apparently he/she lives here, lol!Pasta with guanciale. Pasta with the wild boar ragu.Shock – cantucci and Vin Santo!
