Val d'Orcia & Pienza

The drive south from Siena to Pienza is probably one of the best drives I have ever done. In reality, there's nothing "spectacular" about it like the craggy cliffs of the Dolomiti or the vast deserts punctured by distant mountains and mesas like the American Southwest. The valley is really just a series of small green hills with a smattering of farms and buildings here and there, and the occasional hill town or two now and then. Peaceful, but not jaw-dropping.

I think the beauty of the valley really comes from the way in which agriculture dominates the landscape, yet refrains from destroying it. Just like much of the country, farms, vineyards, and olive groves dominate every significant parcel of land. Every corner of the vista is occupied by roads, farms, olive trees, or at least a row of cyprus too neatly arranged to be natural. But each element almost undulates and conforms to the contours of the land. Farm hedges go up and down hill slopes, roads run along the hill sides. Everything works to form a wholesome entity.

Although small, Pienza importance is centered around its urban design, representing the classical harmony of the ideal city of the Renaissance. The only part of the town that actually conforms to the original Renaissance plan is the main square, the church, and the two buildings that flank it. Most everything else were built after the commissioning pope died or were the few remnants of the old town of Corsignano that was torn down to make way for the new Pienza. But the effect is still out-of-this-world, with the chaos of the mish-mashed buildings leading to the relative calm and order of the main square.

San Gimignano

Tiny, hilly crowded...I was a bit scared of going to San Gimignano. Everywhere you look, all you read about it is that its prettiness is hard to see through the crowds. The closer one gets to those towers, the more scared and excited one gets. But all the hype and impending disappointment were great: the town was amazing! Lowered expectations never fail to pay in great dividends. Small yet imposing and surrounded by fairytale hills all around, San Gimignano is just dripping with that touristic idea of "Tuscany". (An idea, I cannot lie, that I brought with me.) There were no crowds and the hills were great except for the lack of a "real" store and restaurant (this being low season, everything was closed.) I think three things were responsible for this: (1) I went smack in the middle of winter, (2) I arrived just as the sun was setting and the light was turning golden, and (3) and unseasonably warm winter kept the hills green without too much haze. Enough talk though, as we gloriously bask in the beauty of this small town-








Although the next day was cold and cloudy and rainy, nothing could have ruined the town for me as I freely walked around and had breakfast surrounded with nothing but silence.
Was the town really that special? Well, to be honest Arcua Petrarca or Cittadella can provided the same amount of charm and beauty at any time of the day and year. What the trip emphasized most was not that certain parts of Italy are more beautiful than the rest, but only that the country in general is beautiful, with some parts better at selling themselves than others. Which to some extent is good: let Tuscany have the crowds. It deserves it...and it keeps the rest of the country quiet. I will enjoy Tuscany when it settles down in the winter.

EDIT: Hey look!