Pienza and Abbey of Sant'Antimo

With the help of the internet, I was able to locate a cafe not too far away that offered breakfast. (In Italy, that is cappuccino [or tea] and a cornetto, similar to a croissant.) We drove there and were happy to find a parking spot. We went there again the following day as we were leaving Montepulciano.

Then we were on our way to tour around the hill country of Tuscany. The scenery was amazing, I kept shooting pictures out of the car window. Some turned out all right!

A typical hill town; not sure which one this was

Vineyard and olive grove side-by-side

The first town we came to was Pienza. Again, we found parking on the edge of town and walked in. This town is flatter than many, which was helpful.

View into the main square

We walked down a bit to a walkway overlooking the valley and the mountain in the distance.

Looking down a small side street

Another view of cypresses and olive trees above the valley

Our next stop was the Abbey of Sant'Antimo, a former Benedictine monastery. It is very old, with a land grant dating at least to the 9th century.

We stepped into the church, beautiful but quite bare. A daily mass was going on with priests chanting. There were three worshippers in the pews. A sign said the attendees were limited to ten.

The Abbey still has an apothecary shop, although the monks are long gone. The products are made by local people in the area. Lots of tea mixtures, liqueurs, soap, etc. We did purchase a few items.

An advantage of touring at this time of year is the lack of tourists. Even though a lot of places were closed up, we felt fortunate to avoid crowds of people, both because of Covid and just because it's more pleasant!

Tomorrow: on to Bagno Vignoni, a town built around hot springs.