Pienza is historically significant in that it is the birthplace of Pope Pius II. If there was ever any doubt about who had the power in ancient Italy, touring this area serves to set the record straight. Pope Pius II was a member of the Piccolomini family, which had a number of Popes, Cardinals and other very influential posts. Pope Pius II basically had the town of Pienza built for his vacation village. It is set on a breath-taking spot in the Val D'Orcia, where you are looking at Mt Amiata, the highest peak in Tuscany.
We got to Pienza right about lunch time and had a nice lunch sitting on the city wall overlooking the valley. We brought our own picnic, but bought a few sandwiches from one of the local shops. They have a specialty here that is a roasted boar, and it was really tasty on a sandwich. When we finished lunch, most of the village was still shut down for the lunch hours, so we wandered the streets for a bit. Shelley and Margaret stopped for a post-lunch coffee, so Charlie and I took off for a while on our own. We eventually found our way to a gelateria and enjoyed some of the local fare. Charlie had amareno, and I had a mix of amareno and stracciatella. Both were really good. I wish I could remember the name of the shop we went to because it was off the beaten path at the end of town, and there seemed to be a large collection of locals there which makes me think we stumbled onto the best one in town.
After the gelato break, we headed for Palazzo Piccolomini. This was the home of Pope Pius II ( born in the 1500's ) and it remained in his family until the early 1960s. At that point, the sole heir to the family fortune had been killed in battle, so the palace was donated to a charitable organization to keep it going. The tour was one of the few we have done while in Italy, and it was very well worth it. Most of the rooms are still open to the public, and there are a number of interesting artifacts dating back to the Pope's day. There is also an amazing family tree map on one of the walls that shows the breadth of influence of this one family. The tour cost 8 euros.
We spent the rest of the day wandering the small side streets and soaking up the sun. It was a great afternoon. We then returned to Podere Ampella where the kids and I played football ( the European kind ) with the kids in the yard. We then headed out for dinner at La Canapaccia. This little farmhouse restaurant was recommended to us by the owner of the place we are staying. It is on the road from Torrenieri to Buonconvento, and would be very easy to drive right past. We pulled up and there was not another soul in sight. We assumed we were at the wrong place, but were soon greeted by Federico, one of the owners of the restaurant. It was obvious they were not expecting dinner guests, and we offered to come back another night. However, they insisted that we stay. After some time, Natale ( loosely translated Christmas ) the other owner of the restaurant came out to greet us. He was the kind of person you dream of meeting when you travel to Italy. He has a huge personality, obviously loves to take care of people, and made this dinner very memorable. We started with some sliced meets and aged pecorino cheese with honey. We had some of the local brunello and rosso ( produced by this restaurant's winery ) along with our meal. For the main course, Natale recommended a pici pasta ragu with wild boar. We basically said "whatever you think is best", and off he went. He came back some time later with a huge plate of an amazing tasting pasta. The wild boar had a very unique flavor, and it was simply divine. We ate until we could eat no more, then ate some more. For dessert, Natale took the kids back to the kitchen and let them pick out whatever they wanted. They chose ice cream. He then recommended we try a local custom, which was a biscotti-like bread called contucci ( no idea if I spelled that right ) dipped in a dessert wine made of cherries and grapes. Spectacular. Then came the highlight of the evening.
Natale came to the table and said "I will sing for you." He fired up his keyboard and proceeded to sing Frank Sinatra's "My Way" at the top of his lungs. By this time some friends of the owners had joined us in the dining room and they were all singing along as well. It was like we were sitting in some movie scene. We received some good-natured ribbing from the others in the room for various American things, and then told them we had to leave. It was 9:45 and our kids were starting to drag. "You Americans, you don't know how to enjoy things" was the response to that. When we explained our kids were about to fall asleep, he cut us a little slack ( but not much ). We decided that we are going back on Saturday night to celebrate our anniversary. I cannot think of a better place. When we told Natale this, he said "I will prepare a feast for you. I will wait for you Saturday night."
An amazing day. If you come to Italy, but do not seek the discomfort of wandering off the tourist path, you miss out on things like this. We have been so fortunate on this trip to encounter amazing people that would not show up in any book or recommended hotel. The easy thing to do would have been to just turn our car around and leave. Instead we had the most memorable night of our trip.
Tomorrow we are headed to Castiglione Del Lago, a small village on one of the lakes here. We just looked at a map and thought it looked interesting and probably different from what we have been seeing. We shall see.
Have a great anniversary!!
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